DIY Seashell Hair Clips for Total Mermaid Vibes

It’s nearly the end of summer! And that means we need to catch every last drop of all the sunshine we can get. This DIY is beach perfect because you can use seashells that you find right on the beach. We made them the same day we made this DIY Surf Spray.

It’s such a pretty way to use seashells and will make you feel like a mermaid! These barrettes will dress up any occasion and may be perfect for your next Summer Beach Party or even your Halloween costume too.

So let’s make these DIY Seashell Hair Clips for Total Mermaid Vibes!!!

To make these DIY Seashell Hair Clips, you follow really similar steps to our DIY Flower Barrettes that you can find here or our DIY Mid Century Mondrian blog that is linked right here.

The trick is you need the right supplies. You need the right type of hair clip and the right type of glue. But these supplies do all the work and the steps are really easy!

Supplies to Make DIY Seashell Hair Clips:

Small Seashells (2 inches or less across)
E6000
Hair Barrette Blanks
A Small Piece of Parchment Paper
A Bit of Patience

For your first step, add a small dab of E6000 to your parchment paper. Immediately put the lid back on the E6000. It will prevent the glue from getting gummy and unusable. It’s always best to work with E6000 just a small bit at a time because it begins to set quickly. It has a really strong hold, and it’s hard to get the container open again if you allow glue to get all over the dispensing nozzle.

Coat your barrette blank in E6000 but be sure to not get any on the clip – just the blank.

Find a flat surface on the back side of the shell. Press the seashell and barrette blank together. Although E6000 is quick to get tacky, you will need to hold the seashell in place for at least a few minutes. Make sure you line up the seashell in the exact position you want it to be in now!

Flip the seashell over to make sure that you have plenty of glue across the entire barrette blank. It will be easier to hold in place in this position. When it’s upside down, you can make sure that the base is flat across the shell and that’s the glue will hold once you let go of it.

Here’s a larger hair clip that we made too! In this version, we placed the seashell along one edge. With this style of clip, just be sure that every part of the clip that’s touching the shell has plenty of glue!

Now, it’s a waiting game because E6000 takes a full 24 hours to completely dry. Don’t try to wear your DIY Seashell Hair Clips before then because you will end up with broken clips and glue in your hair!

Once your E6000 is totally dry, you can peel any glue that is showing where you don’t wait it. This glue actually peels really easily.