Bring a little bit of the sea and shore to your walls with this DIY seahorse and coral wall decor. This is an easy-to-make coastal art project using sea glass, beads, and paper clay. It’s also a great handmade gift idea to create for the beach lovers in your life.
You can easily personalize the art by varying what you use to fill the sections of the seahorse, as well as using different paint colors than the ones shown.
If you’re looking for an easy, inexpensive DIY coastal wall decor project with a 3D look, this is it!
supplies:
- Creative Paperclay (16 ounce package) or other good quality brand of paper clay
- resealable bag (like a ziploc bag
- rolling pin or thick wood dowel
- sharp cutting tool (such as a clay “clean up” tool or an old X-Acto knife)
- cotton swabs
- non-stick work surface (such as parchment paper or silicone mat)
- small dish of water and an old towel
- seahorse and coral patterns
- birch wood painting panel (this creates the shadow box)-
- your favorite colors of paint & a brush for applying
- sea glass (or deco glass), glass beads, rhinestones, etc. to decorate the seahorse
- strong clear adhesive glue
If you enjoy this seahorse project, you may also enjoy making this sea turtle art or these other paper clay projects.
STEP 1: download the seahorse & coral pattern
Start by downloading the FREE patterns for the seahorse and coral art HERE. Print the patterns and use scissors to cut them out. The seahorse should print at a size of approximately 7.5 inches tall (19cm). If you need a larger or smaller size, you can adjust the scale option on your printer settings.
step 2: set up your work area
For the first part of this project, you’ll need the first 8 items from the supply list above–a 16 ounce package of paper clay, a non-stick work surface, a resealable bag, rolling pin or thick wood dowel, small dish of water, towel, cotton swabs, and a cutting tool. I like using an old X-Acto knife for a cutting tool because you can be fairly precise with it and that pointed tip comes in handy for details.
step 3: make the seahorse
Open the paper clay package and take out about 3/4 of the clay. Place the clay on your work surface. (Parchment paper, silicone mat, and slick plastic all work well for a non-stick surface.) Keep the paper clay package containing the unused clay sealed tightly inside a resealable bag so that it does not dry out while you are working.
Use a small rolling pin or wood dowel to roll out two slabs of paper clay. Each slab should be about 1/4 inch thick. The process is very much like rolling out pizza dough or a pie crust! The clay has the same consistency and soft feel of pastry dough.
Place the seahorse pattern on top of one of the slabs, and use your cutting tool to cut out the 6 interior sections as shown below.
Next remove those 6 sections of clay. If you’re using an old X-Acto knife like the one I used below, you appreciate how easily that sharp tip will ease those sections out.
Now, place the slab of clay with the cutout sections on top of the uncut slab of clay. (see photo below)
Position the seahorse pattern on top of the two stacked layers of clay, making sure that the pattern lines up with the interior sections that were cut out in the previous steps.
Next use the cutting tool to cut along the outside edge of the pattern, cutting through both layers of clay.
Use cotton swabs and your finger tips dipped in water to smooth away the rough areas on the top, sides and inset sections of the 3D seahorse.
STEP 5: make the coral
Next, the coral. Set the paper clay seahorse aside, and roll out another slab of Creative Paperclay for the coral. Use the same process for cutting out and smoothing the coral shape.
step 6: time to dry
Let the paper clay seahorse and coral shapes dry completely. The clay will air dry to a lightweight, durable, hard finish. Drying time will vary depending upon the temperature and humidity of your work environment. If you don’t want to wait days for the clay to air dry, you can speed up the drying process in a couple of different ways. One way is to place the clay shapes in an oven on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper on the very lowest setting. Another option is to place everything outside in the sun (if the weather is hot), or in front of a warm heater to make the clay dry faster.
You’ll notice that the top surface of the seahorse and coral (which are directly exposed to the air) will dry faster than the bottom. When the top side of the shapes are dry and firm enough to handle without damaging or cracking the clay, carefully turn the seahorse and coral over so that the undersides can dry as well. Placing the seahorse and coral on a metal rack (the kind used for cooling cookies after baking) will also help the clay to dry faster and more evenly.
If cracks appear as the clay dries or if there are areas along the edges that are rough after drying, don’t worry. You can smooth and fill in any cracks with more clay after after the shapes have dried a bit, or you can use a fine grade sandpaper (such as a 220 or 320 grit sandpaper) to buff away any rough spots or edges once the clay is completely dry.
STEP 7: sand & paint
When the paper clay is dry, sand the seahorse and coral shapes if needed to smooth away any rough areas. Then you are ready to paint.
The paper clay seahorse and coral can be painted with just about any acrylic paint, chalk paint, craft or spray paint. For this project, I used paint samples from Home Depot and Lowe’s. Typically those little 8 oz. samples are used for trying out a color on your walls. They’re great for projects like this though because there are hundreds of different colors to choose from. If you’re trying coordinate your DIY art project with the color scheme of a particular room, it makes getting that perfect hue so easy! Plus, the samples are inexpensive. Like under $4.
To create a shadowbox effect, you’ll need a 10 x 10 inch cradled wood painting panel similar to the one in the photo above. Ordinarily, you would paint on the front of the panel, but for this project you’ll need to flip the panel over to the back so that it resembles a tray. Paint the panel sides and interior in colors that will complement the sea horse and coral.
You can get a painting panel many places, but I highly recommend the kind made by American Easel. I used to buy cheap student grade wood panels, but after having to repair or patch gaps in them with wood filler, I finally realized that I was spending so much time trying to fix the flaws that it wasn’t worth the savings. American Easel wood panels are made of birch and poplar and the craftsmanship is exceptional. They are usually only a couple of dollars more than the cheap student grade ones that are made of pine or MDF. Definitely worth the price.
step 8: add sparkle
Experiment with different combinations of tiny seed beads, sea glass, glass beads, metallic deco glass, and gems to fill the inset areas of the seahorse until you find an arrangement that you really love.
Once you’ve decided upon your favorite combination of beads and glass, secure everything with a very thick layer of strong adhesive glue to make sure that all those small little pieces stay put. I used Aleene’s Tacky Glue–it will be opaque at first, but will dry clear.
step 9: assemble
When the glue has dried from the previous step, assemble everything to create a 3D shadow box look.
Start by placing the frame at a diagonal angle (Step 1 above). Next, turn the coral shape over so that the unfinished back is facing up (Step 2 ). Use a strong glue to attach “spacers” at different points. The spacers will elevate the coral from the back of the frame to create a 3D effect. In the photo above, I used these wood caps, but many other items will work just as well–pieces of cardboard, bottle caps, etc. You just need several small objects, relatively the same thickness, that will keep the coral positioned a slight distance away from the frame back. (If you paint the spacers the same color as the coral & seahorse, it will camouflage the spacers from being seen from side view when the art is finished and hanging on the wall.)
Apply glue to the raised end of the wood caps/spacers, and then adhere the coral to the back of the frame. (Step 3) Let the glue dry. A fast drying glue (like Gorilla clear epoxy or J B Weld clear epoxy) is a good option. Both of these glues dry in about 6 minutes, and they are super strong.
Turn the seahorse shape over to the unfinished back, and use glue to attach spacers just like you did for the coral. (Step 4)
Then apply glue to the raised tops of the spacers, and carefully position the seahorse on top of the coral.
You can add a saw tooth picture hanger to the back of the frame (at the top) or a ribbon loop, and then your DIY seahorse and coral wall decor is done! Ready to hang or give as a beautiful hand made gift.
If you enjoyed using paper clay for this project, you might enjoy the sea turtle art project that you can find HERE.
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