DIY Sea Turtle Beach Wall Art

Perfect for sea lovers, this DIY sea turtle art project is easy to personalize with your favorite colors of beads, sea glass or gem stones.   Create it as a charming piece of beach house decor, or make it for someone special who loves handmade gifts with coastal flavor. 

You can get completely different looks for your sea turtle art simply by using different paint colors and craft supplies.

While the turtle in the photo below looks like it’s made from metal, it is actually created from paper clay painted with a layer of metallic paint.    The sea turtle in the photo above is created from paper clay as well, but coated with white paint instead of metallic.

If you’re new to paper clay, you’ll love how wonderful this stuff is.

Paper clay has a smooth texture that feels similar to the type of clay used in pottery classes.  You can cut, shape, roll and model it with ease.  When you’re finished creating, the clay will air dry to a lightweight, durable finish.  It can be painted, sanded, drilled, and embellished.   And there are no smelly fumes like you’ll often experience from other types of clay, such as polymer clay which requires oven-baking.

I hope you’ll enjoy using it for this sea turtle art project! You might also enjoy this seahorse and coral project, this paper clay dragonfly project, or these other free paper clay tutorials.

step 1:  make the sea turtle

For the first phase of this sea turtle art,  gather the supplies pictured below:  a 16 oz package of Creative Paperclay (or other good quality brand of paper clay), an airtight container or bag for storing leftover clay,  a rolling pin or wood dowel, a sharp cutting tool, cotton swabs, a non-stick work surface, water, and a soft cloth.

You’ll also need these patterns for the sea turtle body and shell which you can download for free.

Print the patterns and use scissors to cut out.  Make sure your printer settings are configured to print the patterns at 100% scale or they may not print out at the correct size.

Now open the package of paper clay.   Take out enough clay to create the sea turtle’s body and place it on a non-stick work surface.   (Parchment paper can also be used for your work surface.)  Place the unused clay in a sealed bag so that it will not dry out. 

Then use a rolling pin or large dowel to roll out the paper clay to a thickness of about 1/4 inch ( 5mm).

Next place the sea turtle body pattern on top of the clay.

Use a sharp cutting tool to cut the shape from clay.  An old X-Acto knife works really well.

Move the sea turtle body aside, and use the leftover clay (along with additional clay from the sealed bag if needed) to cut the sea turtle shell.  Roll the clay to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch (5mm) again.  Place the shell pattern on top, and use a sharp cutting tool to cut it out.

Now it’s time to adhere the shell to the body.  Dampen the edge of the turtle body and make hatch marks along the outside edge  as shown.   This will help the outside edge of the shell to grip and stick to the body section.   Carefully lift and position the shell onto the body.  Press gently so that the two layers will stick together.

Then use water, fingers, and cotton swabs to smooth the rough edges.

The clay will now need to dry completely.    It can take one day or several days to air dry, depending upon the temperature and humidity of your working environment.   If you’re in a hurry, you can place your sea turtle art on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and dry it in an oven on the very lowest setting.  If it’s a hot day, you can also place it outside in the sun, or on a cold day, place it near a heater.

As the sea turtle dries, the upper shell part of the clay (which is exposed to the surrounding air) will dry faster than the clay underneath.  Once the turtle has dried to the point that you can handle it without it losing its shape, flip it over so that the underside can dry.

part 2:  paint & embellish

Time to gather your favorite colors of beads, gems, sea glass or colored stones.   You’ll also need a very strong adhesive (like Gorilla glue or J-B Weld epoxy), metallic paint, and sandpaper (220 or 320 grit).

First use the sandpaper to buff away any rough areas on the clay sea turtle.   You can also use a small bits of paper clay from the package to fill and smooth any areas that need to be smoothed out. 

Next apply a coat of primer.  Either a spray can of primer or the kind that has to be applied with a brush is fine.   (The primer coat isn’t a “have-to” kind of thing, but it does make a nicer surface for the metallic paint to stick to.)   After the primer dries,  lightly sand any areas that need smoothing.

Next give the sea turtle a metallic finish.  I used two coats of Rustoleum’s Specialty Metallic spray paint for this step, sanding in just a few places between coats. Sanding in between coats of metallic paint will give you a smoother finish. A 320 grit sandpaper works well.

And now for the really fun part.  Decorating!

You’ll need a strong clear adhesive to make sure that all that sparkle stays put.  I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue, but any good craft glue will work.

Fill one section of the turtle shell at a time with a generous amount of glue. Then add your choice of sea glass, beads, gems, sequins, rhinestones or other small objects.  I used a combination of sea glass, glass stones, and Czech glass beads in crystal turquoise, matte turquoise, medium metallic turquoise, small metallic turquoise, and silver lined turquoise colors.  

You can change the look of your sea turtle art by using different colors of glass beads and stones or by skipping the metallic paint, and going with white paint instead.

If you would like to make a frame to display your turtle, it’s easy! All you need is a 10 inch x 10 inch square birch wood panel and an inexpensive strip of wood. (You can find wood strips in the molding aisle of a home improvement store like Home Depot or Lowe’s.)

Cut the wood strip into 4 pieces that match the length of each of the sides of the wood panel. Miter the ends of each piece with a 45 degree angle cut.

Glue the wood strips around the edges. If there are any gaps where the strips meet in the corners, just fill them in with a little wood filler.

As you can tell from the photos, I painted part of the panel prior to gluing on the wood strips (white paint for the sides and a sea glass color for the bottom). I also poured a layer of clear resin over the bottom to give it a high gloss finish. The glossy finish makes a great reflective surface that looks like glass. It’s a nice complement to the shiny stones & beads that fill the sections of the turtle shell. You can see photos and complete step by step instructions on how to I mixed and poured the clear resin HERE in this tutorial.

To complete the frame, choose a coordinating paint color to paint the outer edges and sides of the frame.

To attach the turtle, first adhere a wood block or other object to the center of the frame. (Use a strong epoxy based glue like Gorilla Clear Epoxy to hold it in place.)

Then glue the sea turtle to the block. The block will elevate turtle so that it looks as if it is floating.

Add a sawtooth hanger to the back of the frame, and then you’re good to go! Your sea turtle art is now ready to hang or give as a gift.

If you enjoyed this project, you may like these other paperclay projects. Have fun creating!

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