Seashell Art: Rainy Day Creativity

Are you looking for something creative and fun to do when swimming is not an option?

Perhaps there is a red flag warning, and it’s not safe to get in the water, or maybe it’s dark and thundering and raining.  Rest assured, conditions will change soon.  It is guaranteed.  However, you may find yourself with two or more children or teenagers who are bored.  No need to turn on Netflix or hand them the devices; it’s time to gather up those ocean jewels you’ve been collecting and get creative.

First, you’ll want to clean the shells you’ve collected.  Some recommend using a 50/50 bleach solution or brushing the shells with toothpaste, but we’ve found that soap, water, and a little elbow grease do the trick—especially if you’ve made sure that nothing is living in or among your collectibles.

You could get fancy and chip off any barnacles and sand down the rough edges.  Either way, when you’ve finished cleaning and polishing up that shell, you need to decide what you want to do with it.

Painted shells can serve as souvenirs, jewelry dishes, candles, soap trays, centerpieces, or even as Christmas tree ornaments.  They can be brushed with gold paint and polished to be elegant and fancy or painted with acrylics to be fun and whimsical.  They can be glued together to make sculptures or glued to picture frames or wreaths.

If your seashell is perfect and you want it to remain in its natural state with a little shine, there are a couple of things you can do.  You can wipe it with baby oil or mineral oil.  Or for a more permanent shine, you can paint the shell with a satin-finish polyurethane or even clear nail polish.

Whatever you decide to create with your Gulf treasures, you will have a memory made and a cute souvenir to show for it.

Franklin County is OPEN for business and ready for visitors!  We have an abundance of exciting outdoor activities, open-air restaurants, and places to stay.  Book your trip today!