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Print Bed Sheets with Seashells

You are here: Home / Stencil art / Print Bed Sheets with Seashells

July 30, 2009 By Rose Fine Crafts 5 Comments

This bed sheets shell decoration is an easy ‘beach cottage’- home summer crafts.  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 Cottage nowhere how far you are from the ocean”.

 

shell sheets

 

Supplies for Your Bed Sheets Shell-Decoration Project

    All you’ll need is

  • White sheets, such as the ones below
  • Fabric paint
  • Foam paint brush
  • Handful of perfect clam-shaped shells of various sizes.
White Flat Sheet
White Sheet Set

 

 

Craft Project Instructions

Shell Printing Made Easy : 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.

decorative shell prints how-to

Bed Sheet Fabric Painting Tips, 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.

shell adorned sheets 'how to' tutorial

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 various decorative pillows, eg. those your white wicker chair or on your bed. 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

shell mosaic frame w pearls

 

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

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

source: Martha Stewart, at http://www.marthastewart.com/article/shell-sheets?lnc=6de6802fb632c110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=craft+of+the+day_recipe_b

Filed Under: Fabric paint, Stencil art Tagged With: beach, bedroom, seashell crafts



Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Suzanne says

    July 15, 2010 at 4:11 pm

    How cool! This would look good framed~maybe 3 or 4 in a row.

    Thanks!

  2. Maryann @ Domestically-Speaking says

    July 15, 2010 at 7:31 pm

    What a fun idea!

  3. Shannon says

    July 15, 2010 at 8:41 pm

    ok, this is amazing. Love it…. Now I think I need to rob my daughter of her seashells so I can try this. :-) Thanks for sharing!

  4. Ann says

    July 16, 2010 at 7:44 am

    Lovely and so do-able! I would love to try this is sandy and turquoise colors. Thanks!

  5. Riya says

    October 9, 2010 at 12:24 am

    awesome …………………………………….
    this is easy n very descent painting…………………….
    Thanks for sharing this wonderful idea

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