Bed Sheets with Shell Print - Easy Home Craft

I came across this easy & free tutorial on how to make shell printed bed sheets, while I am prepping my future craft photos & articles on “How to create a Beach Shack nowhere how far you are from the ocean”.

(Thank you, Martha Stewart, for your ‘Craft of the Day’  today!)

This free craft tutorial is such a good companion craft to our shell picture frame craft project.

What’s You’ll Need

for Your Shell-Decorated Sheet Set

All you’ll need is plain (white) sheets, such as these here, some fabric paint, a little sponge, and a handful of perfect clam-shaped shells.

White Flat Sheet

White Sheet Set

Craft Project Instructions

This is a delightfully simple craft project, yet you want to be neat when doing this, to keep the variances and messiness contained to a reasonable level.

Step by Step

1. Find a few perfectly shaped scallop shells at your beach (or buy some at your dollar store).

2. At the dollar store, also pick up some fabric paint and a sponge brush or little sponge.

3. Lightly sponge the desired colors onto the ribs of the shells, leaving the grooves blank.

4. Now bring your painted shell to your clean work station #2. Cautiously put your sheet on top of the shell and lightly rub the sheet to transfer the image. Lift off the fabric with care.

5. Rinse the shell, and repeat with the same shell or follow your design or pattern.

Craft Color Tips

When you choose your colors, consider the color scheme of the room it is in. While the pictures seem to used a warm yellow and magenta red, some wonderfully sunny colors, this project will also be divine in aqua, blues and yellows, creating different look. 

If you use colored sheets for this project, realize that you’ll need darker tones of paint and that the color of the fabric will work on the imprint as well. So, if you add yellow paint on blue sheets, you’ll get a green result.

Painting Tips for Neatness & Getting it Right

Use less rather than more paint, as this makes it easier to avoid filling in the grooves of each shell.

Clean each shell completely before using it for the next imprint. This is why you really need a bunch of shells, so you can clean in batches.

Set up 2 work stations: one to paint, and another one to make the imprint. Ensure that the imprinting area, where your sheets will be, stays neat and that there is no paint on your hands or anywhere other than on your tiny shells.

Allow yourself ample lead time to finish this project.  I know this would make a wonderful handmade gift set, however, I noticed that it is much easier to avoid mistakes when I allow for a little interim drying time here and there.

Planning & Practice Makes Perfect

This is certainly a craft whereby if you’ll practice a few times you will be much happier with your final project.  So make a bunch of practice imprints on a few other pieces of cotton fabric before you begin on your big cotton sheets.  (Who knows… perhaps these pieces of fabric may later become an eye pillow, or offer the ideal decorations for a laundry bag). 

When you are ready to begin your ‘real’ project, start with your pillow cases, before you work on your heavier sheets. You might find that easier. Don’t only practice imprinting, also experiment with the paint colors, and with developing either a straight line of similar imprints, or a design or pattern.

Tips for Getting the Shell Prints in a Straight Line / Your Own Design or Pattern

Once you have decided which line or pattern of shells you will use, create it onto the fabric before your begin imprinting. You might want to create removable marks at regular intervals on your fabric first which are to become center of each shell in a line.  If you use sewing crayon for this the marks will easily come off in even a cold water wash.

Once you get the hang of it, and know exactly how much paint to apply, how to line the the shells up neatly, and how to avoid accidents, you are ready to go.

‘Fine Craft Guild’ Interior Design Tip

Don’t stop at decorating your sheets & pillow case. Also consider adding a row of whimsical shell imprints onto your white cotton curtains and onto the little pillows in your white wicker chair. Your fabric pieces you practiced on might come in handy in extending the shell theme into your room. Depending on the messiness of the practice fabrics, you can either use the best bits in decoupage, use the entire piece of the fabric.

Show me your end results!! I’ll post the pictures.

Other Beach-Inspired Crafts

Fun summer beach crafts, either to decorate and create that wonderful beach home, or to simply have a good time with the kids, at the beach or … at the ‘pretend’-beach in your garden:
A Beach in a Pot, a Garden Project Extra-ordinaire
Waterproof Picnic Blanket for the Beach
Bed Sheet with Beach Shell Print - Easy Home Craft