12 Easy-to-Make Seashell Craft Projects

I love the beach and coastal lifestyle, so obviously I love to collect and craft with seashells. My current seashell collection has over 150+ specimens and growing. I like to use my leftover seashells in various craft projects and to decorate my home.

Besides the Passionate About Crafting Blog, I also own another blog called Two Classy Chics, which is a mom & lifestyle blog. It's my largest and most popular blog. With that said, I've been posting the majority of my seashell craft projects over on the TCC Blog and wanted to highlight them here on Passionate About Crafting. 

Here are 12 Easy-to-Make Seashell Craft Projects

* Seashell Windchime - Made with clam shells, paint and clear fishing line. This one will take you a few hours to make and you'll need a lot of smaller-sized clam shells to make it.

* Tropical Fish Seashell Yard Art - Made with a large clam shell, scallop shell and craft paint. 

* Seashell Soap Dish & Trinket Dish - I love making these and giving them out as gifts along with a bar of handcrafted soap.

* Painted Clam Shells for Summer Yard Art - You can use stencils or free-hand your own summer designs onto large clam shells. 

* Patriotic Design Painted Shells - These are fun to display in your flower beds, on your front porch, around the swimming pool or to decorate your table during summer picnics. 

* Painted Puppy Dog Seashells - My grandchildren loved making these adorable puppy dog seashells. Fun to display if your a dog owner and love dogs! 

* DIY Coastal Style Flower Pots - You can easily paint your own terracotta flower pots and then decorate them with your favorite seashells. 

* Seashell Crabs Yard Art - You can make these adorable red crabs with large clam shells, pipe cleaners, acrylic craft paint and some glue. A fun way to decorate for summer! 

* Home Decor Metallic Painted Seashells - Use metallic paints in bright colors to paint some of your seashells, toss them into a larger shell or basket to decorate your home.

* Displaying Beach Vacation Memories - Collect sand and seashells while on vacation and then display them in a glass memory block. 

* Seashell Refrigerator Magnets - I like to turn my smaller shells into refrigerator magnets! A quick and easy project that also makes a great little gift. 

* Panda Bear Painted Seashell - My granddaughter loves panda bears and made this adorable Panda Bear by utilizing a large clam shell for his head and 2 smaller shells for his ears. Cute! 

If you enjoy crafting with seashells you'll want to check out all of my Seashell Craft Projects by visiting my Two Classy Chics blog. You'll find over 100+ craft project designs! 

DIY Garden Stepping Stone Kits with Solar Lights

I love doing crafts...all kinds of crafts. In addition to crafting, I love being outside working in my garden or on our various landscaping projects. Today, I am going to tell you all about these fabulous DIY Solar Light Garden Stepping Stone Kits from HomenYard.com.

HomenYard sells all kinds of DIY Garden Stepping Stone Kits in a wide variety of different designs. Some of them come with a solar light that you embed down into the stepping stone when you make it and others are without the solar lights.

What I really love about these DIY kits is that everything is included except for the water! That's right, everything is included! You will get the plastic mold, the cement mix, stirring stick, the colorful jewels, broken glass pieces, solar light (in those type's of kits), full step-by-step instructions and a color photograph of the completed project.

We got a few of these garden stepping stone kits and have been making one every few weeks when our grand daughter comes over to visit. She loves arts & craft projects so this is one that she can do with our assistance. Basically, we do all of the mixing and pouring into the mold and she does all of the decorating with the included faux jewels, stones and glass pieces that come in your kit.

Once you have it made you will let it sit out in the sun on a nice warm or hot day. Let it sit out for a good 24 hours and then you simply pop it out of the plastic mold. We found that these plastic molds are reusable too...so save them and get some additional supplies to make more!

I was really impressed with the quality of these completed stepping stones. Once completed and hardened they are super-weighty and about 2 to 2 1/2" thick. These are not cheesy, thin and flimsy stepping stones at all. A really nice quality!

The solar light that is included comes with the solar rechargeable battery already in it. You will follow the directions to activate it and it will need a good day or two in the sun to fully charge up. I was amazed at how much light is given off with just one of these stones! It's not too bright and not too dim, it's just perfect in my opinion!

Head on over to HomenYard.com and take a look at all of the DIY Garden Stepping Stone Kits that they have to offer. They are really affordable kits and very nice quality too!

Disclaimer: Shelly H. received a complimentary stepping stone kit to review and feature on her craft blog. No monetary compensation was received. Her opinion, thoughts and words are 100%  unbiased and are true. Your opinions may differ.

Kids Crafts - Hand Painted Ladybug Garden Rocks

Last week the family went hiking at a local park. While walking along the banks of the creek we came across some large smooth river rocks or creek rocks and brought a few home to craft with. These smooth river rocks measure 4" up to 6" in length and all of them are oval shape.

We decided to set the kids up and let them do a little craft project with some of the river rocks we brought home. Most of the rocks were the perfect shape and size to turn into ladybugs. Here is how we made them.

Hand Painted Ladybug Garden Rocks

Large Smooth Oval Shaped River Rocks
Red and Black Acrylic Paint
White Chalk Ink Paint Pen
Paint Brush, Paper Towel, Water
Waxed Paper
Clear Acrylic Spray Sealer

Lay down wax paper, old plastic table cloth or old plastic placemat to protect your table surface. Use an old plastic margarine bowl lid as your painting pallet. Squirt the red acrylic paint onto the lid and have the kids paint the entire front side of their river rock with red acrylic paint. Let dry for 20 minutes. Flip it over and paint the other side; let dry for 20 minutes. If needed, repeat if the river rock needs a second coat of paint.

Squirt black acrylic paint onto the lid and have the kids paint a head and a stripe down the ladybug's back. They then need to paint black dots or ovals for the polka dots. We did find that we needed to use 2 complete coats of black acrylic paint. Let dry.

Using a White Chalk Ink Paint Pen dry on 2 oval shaped eyes. This type of paint pen dries within seconds but to be on the safe side we waited 5 minutes and then added a smaller black circle; left dry for 20 minutes and then used the White Chalk Ink Paint Pen to add the pupil. Make sure your "rock pet" is completely dry before proceeding.

Take your garden rocks outside and lay them on a sheet of plastic or waxed paper. Spray one side of the river rock with clear acrylic sealer. Let dry for 30 minutes; flip over and repeat. We gave all of our ladybug garden rocks 2 complete coats of acrylic sealer to seal in the paint since we were placing them outside around the house and in the garden.

If you love this easy kid's project...check back in a few weeks for some additional "rock pets" that we are painting. Fun and a cheap craft project for the kids!

Kid's Craft Project - Soda Bottle Bird Feeders

Plastic Soda Bottle Bird Feeder

My 6 year old grand daughter has been spending a lot of time with us this Summer. My daughter is pregnant with baby #2 and working a full-time job, so we have been helping out and babysitting my grand daughter 2 days a week.

When she is here...I am always looking for new kid's craft projects and activities to do with her. We like quick projects that are easy-to-assemble and if they utilize items that we normally throw away, that's even better yet!

Two weeks ago we whipped up some quick & easy hanging bird feeders that we made from empty 2 liter plastic soda bottles. Here is how we made them.

Decorating the Bottle!

Soda Bottle Bird Feeders

2 Liter Plastic Soda Bottle (clean & empty)
Jute Rope - 24 to 36" in Length
Sequins and Tacky Glue
Paint Pens/Markers
1/4" Hole Punch
Scissors
Bird Seed

Cut off the bottom 1/3 of the plastic 2 liter soda bottle. Make sure you get an even & smooth edge. Use the hole punch to punch 2 holes into the soda bottle which will be used for hanging. Use tacky glue and sequins to decorate the outside of the bottle. In between the sequins my grand daughter used paint pens and drew little designs and words that are related to birds. Let dry for one hour.

Tie a large knot on one end of the Jute rope. Thread the unknotted end through one hole until the knot stops it from pulling through. Thread the other end through the other hole and knot again...this will form the hanging cord. Fill with wild bird seed.

You can hang them from a branch in a tree or from an outdoor plant hook on a large porch. We made several of them and have them hanging in trees all around the yard and the birds have really enjoyed using them!