Ombre Seashell Christmas Tree

Who says that Christmas decor can’t be found on the Beach! This gorgeous Ombre Seashell Christmas Tree is the perfect addition to your coastal DIY Christmas Decor, and it was made with all Dollar Tree supplies. Merry Christmas in July!

Seashell Coastal Christmas Tree with blue and green Ombre background, real sand and shells at the bottom, seashells in the shape of a Christmas tree, and a white sparkly starfish on top, with a nautical rope tree trunk. DIY coastal nautical Christmas in July decor.

You’re gonna want to sit down before scrolling this blog post because I’m about to blow your mind with cuteness with this Ombre Seashell Christmas Tree!

If you don’t celebrate Christmas in July now, you will after seeing the coastal cuteness I made for a Craft event that I was in over on Facebook.

The event was called “An Old-fashioned Christmas”, and I may have strayed a litttlleeeeee bit from the theme, but what can I say, I’m a crafty rebel!

This Coastal Christmas Tree is PERFECT for a beach home, if you spend the holidays in a tropical location, for Christmas in July, or even if you just miss the warmer weather.

So run to the Dollar Tree (or to the beach!) and stock up on seashells, sand, and sea glass, and lets make a Seashell Christmas Tree with an Ombre background!

This post may contain affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a cent more!)

Supplies Needed to Make an Ombre Seashell Christmas Tree

seas shells, sand, and sea glass in the bags from Dollar Tree.

Paint sticks or wood background (I used and old fence I found outside)
Seashells
Sea Glass
Nautical rope
Starfish
Diamond Dust
Sand
Jumbo popsicle sticks
Mod Podge
Paint: White, and various blues and greens
Packing tape
Candle wax
Hot glue gun

How to Make a Coastal Christmas Tree

I made this Ombre Seashell Christmas Tree on video. So you can WATCH the tutorial by clicking below.

Amanda holding the completed project on a Facebook live thumbnail.

Watch the video HERE

For my background, I used pieces from an old fence that I found outside my apartment, and stashed in my craft stash for 2 years. It’s highly unlikely that you will have a random fence piece in your stash, so you can just as easily use paint sticks or any type of wooden background.

For paint sticks, line them up and then brace them together using jumbo popsicle sticks or smaller pieces of paint sticks. The back will look like the below pic. It’s a hot mess but who cares it’s the back! Yours will be neater if you are using paint sticks. You can see the nails and everything on my fence but I love the character!

The back of the project showing that the fence slats are braced together with large popsicle sticks and paint sticks.

For the background, I did the “Chippy Method” using wax and packing tape. First, rub the candle wax all over the surface of your wood background/fence. Then paint the ombre right over the top.

I started with very light tan at the bottom where the sand will be, and then blended into lighter teals, greens, darker teals, and then into blues. It’s best to watch the replay to see how I did this, as it’s very hard to explain in writing!

You can mix the colors that you have together to get new colors and make for a better ombre effect. Don’t worry about the blending being perfect, just make sure you don’t let your paint dry in between colors, or it will be more difficult to blend.

The ombre background all chipped and distressed to look worn and old.

Dry your paint completely, and then use packing tape and place it on top of the paint, and rip it off. This will “chip” the paint and expose some of the white below, giving it a worn, distressed, and beachy vibe.

Next, Mod Podge real sand to the bottom tan part of the background. I did about a 2-3 inch portion of the bottom, making the sand more heavy at the very bottom and lighter towards where the “water” starts.

Real sand mod podged to the bottom of the background of the project.

Glue a small piece of nautical rope as the Christmas “tree trunk”, and some smaller shells around it as “presents”.

The bottom of the christmas tree with sand, seashells as "presents" and nautical rope tree trunk.

Now to build the Seashell Christmas Tree! Just glue the shells line by line until it forms a tree. I started with 4 shells on the bottom, and then 3, and 2, and 1.

Glue small pieces of sea glass as the “ornaments”.

The seashells glued to the background in the shape of a Christmas Tree.

It wouldn’t be a Coastal Seashell Christmas Tree without a starfish tree topper!

Paint a wood starfish white, or use a faux starfish (from Dollar Tree!), and then Mod Podge Diamond Dust on it to give it that sparkle. Glue it to the top to finish it off.

A white sparkly starfish on the top of the christmas tree.

Did I blow your mind with this one or what!? I am absolutely obSESSed with how this turned out and I hope you are too!

Now if you’re not into the whole Coastal Christmas, don’t worry I’ve got a ton more Christmas Tree crafts that you will love. My fave right now is this Wooden Shim Christmas Tree so make sure to check that one out.

You can barely see it in this pic, but the Coastal Christmas Tree looks so cute with my Summer Burlap Banner! Merry Christmas in July!

Are you going to make an Ombre Seashell Christmas Tree? If you do, I’d love to see it! Pop on over to our free Craftspiration Facebook group, and join in on the fun by posting a pic of your Tiered Trays, DIY’s and crafts. I just love to see all your creative and crafty creations.

If you’ve got a million projects on your crafting ‘to-do’ list like I do, than you need my FREE Craft Project Planner so you can plan to make *all the things*! When you sign up for the craft planner, I’ll also send you lot’s of fun, easy, and budget friendly ideas for you to fill it up with!