Jar of freshwater (for rinsing shells and mixing paint)
Watercolor or acrylic paints and brushes
Painted Shells
With rounded frames and smooth, chalklike surfaces that soak up paint, seashells make good palm-size canvases for your seascapes. To start, rinse a few shells with freshwater and let them dry in the sun. You can paint pictures on the inside of each shell, letting each color dry before adding the next for a crisp picture or letting the colors blend for an abstract splash of color. Set out in the sun until dry.
Scallop or other ridged shell
Craft glue or hot glue gun (Mrs. Dweck only)
Acrylic paint and paintbrushes
Fishing line (optional)
The shapes of shells often suggest other objects--limpets look like tiny parasol shades, jingle shells like pearly fingernails and a pair of mussels like a butterfly. This angel, made by gluing together three shells, doubles nicely as a holiday ornament. Use craft glue or a hot glue gun works even better.
The first step is to lay out your collection of seashells. You will need to try different combinations to get the right shapes, but basically you'll need a medium-size fan-shaped shell (such as a scallop, lucina or clamshell); a small, round-bodied shell (such as a moon, top, bubble or cowrie shell); and a small bowl-shaped shell (such as an ark, tellin or cockleshell). We used a scallop shell for the angel's dress, then glued on a cowrie shell for her head and a small cockleshell for her bonnet. Once the glue dries, you child can paint on a face and hair, and tie or glue a loop of fishing line around the back of the bonnet for a hanger.
- Scallop or other ridged shell
- Craft glue or hot glue gun (Mrs. Dweck only)
- Acrylic paint and paintbrushes
- Fishing line (optional)
The shapes of shells often suggest other objects--limpets look like tiny parasol shades, jingle shells like pearly fingernails and a pair of mussels like a butterfly. This angel, made by gluing together three shells, doubles nicely as a holiday ornament. Use craft glue or a hot glue gun works even better.The first step is to lay out your collection of seashells. You will need to try different combinations to get the right shapes, but basically you'll need a medium-size fan-shaped shell (such as a scallop, lucina or clamshell); a small, round-bodied shell (such as a moon, top, bubble or cowrie shell); and a small bowl-shaped shell (such as an ark, tellin or cockleshell). We used a scallop shell for the angel's dress, then glued on a cowrie shell for her head and a small cockleshell for her bonnet. Once the glue dries, you child can paint on a face and hair, and tie or glue a loop of fishing line around the back of the bonnet for a hanger.