How To Make DIY Wall Art With Seashells

Finding the right piece of wall art to hang in your home can be challenging especially if your space isn't a standard size. After a recent update to our living space, I was on the hunt for the perfect wall art for our living room. I had a hard time finding anything pre-made and affordable that would fit the space so I started dreaming up some DIY ideas instead. 

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If you have ever found yourself in the same situation don't worry because the project I'm excited to share with you is completely customizable, affordable, and easy to make! But first, let me tell you where I found my supplies to make this cool custom wall art. 

Our family had taken a vacation to Hilton Head, South Carolina a few years back and every day we spent a lot of time walking the beach along the ocean collecting shells. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with all of these seashells but I knew I wanted to incorporate them into something that would remind us of this amazing family vacation. Unfortunately, when we got home from our trip we jumped right back into our normal busy life and the bucket of shells got set aside waiting for a day when I would have the right idea and time to make something with them. 

Repainting a room can have an inspiring effect on you and that is exactly what happened after I painted our living room a completely new color. While repainting, I decided to make one of the walls in the living room an accent wall and chose to use the deep blue color, Hale Navy by Behr. With the painting done it was time to add some wall decor. After staring at the narrow, empty space next to a window on the accent wall I had a light bulb moment - the seashells from our trip a few years ago would look amazing in that space! 

I came up with the idea to make a custom DIY seashell wall hanging with the seashells from our trip by mounting them onto a narrow piece of wood and hanging it in that small empty space. I LOVE how it turned out and wanted to share how I made it with you today. 

How To Make Custom DIY Seashell Wall Art 

Making this custom seashell wall art piece was so easy anyone can make it! A variety of different-sized shells makes this piece look more natural too. I even used broken shells since that is what I found on the beach along with a bunch of unbroken shells.

Materials For Seashell Wall Art

• seashells
• wood - you can buy this at your local hardware store and they can cut it down to the size you need.
• glue - I used Wellbond Multi-Purpose glue because it has a super-strong bond once cured
• picture hanging kit

Clean Your Shells

Seashells purchased from a craft store have already been cleaned so you can skip this step if using them for this project. 

If you are using shells you picked up on the beach I highly recommend cleaning your shells before using them. Wiping them off with a little soap and water and then soaking them in a solution of equal parts water and hydrogen peroxide should clean them up without harming their natural colors. 

I don't recommend bleach unless you want your shells to all turn white.

Set your clean shells out on a clean dishtowel or paper towels until they are completely dry.

Prepare The Wood Base

While you are waiting for the shells to dry you can prepare your wood base. If you are using a pre-cut piece of wood from the hardware store make sure to wipe it down to remove any sawdust. I chose to keep my wood in its natural rough state so it resembled the coarse texture of sand but if you want a smooth surface you can always use some sandpaper and sand it - just make sure to wipe off any sawdust after sanding. 

The wood I used for the base was a narrow piece of maple that I left unstained and in its natural state since the color reminded me of beach sand.  

Arrange The Shells On The Wood Base

This step is very important to do before permanently gluing the shells to the wood base. 

I really wanted the shells to look just like they did on the sandy beach by the ocean so I placed the shells in no particular order on the board making sure some were slightly overlapping other shells, some were upside down and others were right side up. I filled any open gaps with smaller shells or broken pieces of shells and sand dollars allowing some shells to slightly hang off the edge of the board. 

Attach The Shells To The Base

After I had all of the shells laid out on the board I grabbed my bottle of glue and plastic work gloves and started securing the shells to the board one by one. 

I highly recommend the clear Wellbond glue because it securely bonds about anything, has a narrow dispensing tube that makes it easy to get between small spaces like little seashells, doesn't cure immediately, and is non-foaming. 

You do not want to use super glue since it bonds immediately making it impossible to re-arrange the seashells as you attach them to the base. 

Once all of the shells are glued onto the wood base let your wall art sit for a bit until the glue has cured according to the directions on the glue's package.

Attach A Picture Hanging Kit

To hang my seashell wall art I purchased a picture hanging kit to install on the back of the wood base. Depending on how heavy your piece is make sure to get the correct kit so your artwork isn't too heavy for the kit you use. You definitely don't want it to fall off the wall because you used a picture hanging kit that couldn't support the weight of your piece. 

Aside from the time I had to wait for the glue to cure properly this project took less than two hours to complete from start to finish! I love how it turned out and that it didn't cost an arm and a leg to make because I had all of the supplies on hand already. If you don't have any of the supplies readily available the overall cost to purchase them is minimal making this a very budget-friendly DIY project. 

The best part about this project is that every time I look at my finished custom wall art I am reminded of that amazing family vacation!  Good memories!

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Be sure to check out these other easy DIY projects you can make in a few hours!

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