How to Jazz Up Boring Old Seashells🐚

 Do you have a bunch of old seashells sitting around that you don’t know what to do with? Maybe you found lots of seashells on a recent trip to the beach and are looking for creative, fun ways to jazz them up! Well never fear, Colleen is here with three great ideas to turn your boring old seashells into beautiful display pieces. And the best part? You don’t have to be a great artist to make these yourself, anyone can do this with supplies they may have sitting around their house. So let’s get started!!

The first and easiest way to use old seashells is to display them in see through or open faced containers:

  I used a variety of different containers to display my shells. Any see through container will work: mason jars, plastic bottles, glass cases, baby food jars for smaller shells, plastic food jars, plastic or glass dishes etc. just be sure to wash out anything before using! You can also display your shells in any container or box just with the lid off or propped open. Just look around your house and see what you can find. You can also fill up your container with sand, glass beads, fish tank gravel or stones before adding your shells if you want. Then arrange your shells anyway you like and display your finished product in your home for the summer!

The next way to jazz up boring old seashells is to paint them!

 I find that bigger shells work better for painting but any size will do. Just use any kind of paint you have on hand, you don’t have to have fancy metallic paint like I do. Any kind of acrylic paint or watercolors will work fine. I also used glitter glue to decorate my shells after I painted them but if you don’t have glitter glue, shake on glitter will also work as long as you add it while the paint is still wet. Stick on jewels, colored markers or paint pens would also be great to decorate your shells with. Also please wait for the paint to dry before displaying your shells or else you will have a paint mess on your nice furniture!

The third and final way to use old seashells is to make clay sculptures with them.

 I made this cross of out of air dry clay and pressed shells, beads and stones into it. After the clay was dry I then painted it with metallic paints and glitter glue. There are lots of sculptures you can make with shells: mermaids, fish, beach scenes or any kind of sea creature will work. Or if you’re not as artistic as I am, you can just flatten a piece of clay and press shells into it to make a beach stone. Now don’t flatten it too much because your clay should be fairly thick or else your shells might not stick in it or it could crack. Once the clay is dry you can paint it or leave it as is and display it in your home or or if you made a stone you can put it outside in your garden when the weather is nice.

Happy Creating!!

Colleen🐚