How to Make a Seashell Wall Hanging

Learn how to make an easy seashell wall hanging for your home using your shells from the beach. 

When my little guy started preschool last year, every day he came home with something from nature – leaves, acorns, sticks. You name it, and he brought it inside.

I finally put a nature bowl in the mudroom where he could drop off all of his goodies when he entered the house. 

Wherever he goes, he always finds something for his nature bowl.

This year we were lucky to vacation by the beach, and my son collected more seashells than even his nature bowl could hold.

While we were on vacation, I set my kids up to do some seashell crafts and figured I would do the same.

After all, the seashells were so pretty and would make for nice memories from our trip.

Seashell wall art was also perfect for this month’s DIY challenge. 

Each month we have been collaborating with a talented group of DIY bloggers, and this month’s theme is any 2-hour DIY project.

How to Make Seashell Wall Art

Making this seashell wall art was super easy! You just need a few crafty things to throw it together. 

As far the seashells, you want to find seashells that are a good size for the wall art that you are making.

If you are making a big piece, you can use larger seashells or a combination, but if you are making a smaller piece, you’ll want to use smaller seashells, so you can make tight lines with your shape.

Materials for Seashell Wall Art

• Seashells (see above tip for size)
• Wood – You can buy this from the craft store or use scrap wood or driftwood. I bought mine from Hobby Lobby. Here’s a similar one. 
• Glue – I used hot glue because that’s what I had at the time but mod podge would work well
• Pencil
• Scrap paper
• Scissors

Instructions for Heart Shaped Seashell Art

Below are the instructions for making seashell wall art for your home.

Clean Your Seashells

First, you’ll want to clean your seashells well.

I rinsed the seashells with dish soap and water to get the sand off.

Then I let them sit in a bucket of one part water and one part hydrogen peroxide.

No need to use bleach!

Choose or Make Your Background

For my wooden background, I picked up a decorative piece from Hobby Lobby.

It was pallet wood that had a driftwood look, so it was perfect. 

You could make the background with scrap wood too.

Choose Your Shape

I decided to do a heart because we just love the beach.

To get the shape, I drew half the heart on a piece of scrap paper. 

Then, I folded the paper in half and cut it. This way both sides of the heart were symmetrical. 

Next, I cut out the heart and traced it onto the background wood.

Arrange Your Seashells

The next step is to arrange your seashells onto the shape you drew.

I started by doing the perimeter of the shape.

I lined up the curves of the seashells with the curves of the heart, filling in smaller seashells where I needed them.

Glue Down the Shells

Once you are happy with the arrangement, you can start gluing down the seashells. 

Again, start with the perimeter of the heart and work your way around. This part is a little tedious, but it’s fun to see it come together.

Time and Cost of the Seashell DIY

The seashell wall art took me less than 2 hours and the cost was just the background wood – which was around $6.

It was a very simple DIY and I love the way it turned out. It’s a fun way to remember our wonderful trips to the beach.

Be sure to check out the other projects you can do in two hours!