Souvenir Sand Necklace, Magnet, or Ornament

Just before we got on the shuttle for the airport, at the end of our wonderful family trip to Hawaii, my husband ran down to the beach, grabbing one of the water cups and a ziploc bag, and scooped up a bunch of the Hawaiian Sand. He remembered that we had some empty glass ornaments at home, and thought we could make a souvenir ornament out of the sand from Hawaii. Brilliant idea!

It is a fun, cheap, and easy souvenir from our travels. I am thinking we should do this for ALL our beach vacations! I love getting ornaments from all our vacations and this one is so cheap and easy, and they turned out great!

I also decided to make a necklace and magnet after making these with my daughter

Here is what you will need for the Magnet, the Necklace, or the Ornament:

Sand from your vacation
Empty glass ornament – if making the ornament
E6000
Stamping Blanks (optional)
Jump Rings – for stamping blanks or for the necklace
Etching Cream (optional) or Sharpies, or paint
Eye Screws – for the necklace or stamping blanks
Magnets – if making the magnet
Letter punches (optional – if using stamping blanks)
Necklace – if making the necklace
Funnel
Mini Glass Jars with Cork Stoppers

For the Ornament:

Simply fill the ornament with the sand using the funnel. I used a little E6000 glue around the top of the ornament, so I am certain that the top stays on the ornament – since it is kind of heavy with all the sand. Now, you can write on the ornament, so you remember where the sand is from. You can simply write on the ornament with some sharpies or get some paint and paint on the ornament. I like putting where the sand is from and the year of the vacation. I used Etching Cream – I simply made a stencil with my Silhouette machine (or you can buy stencils), placed the stencil on the ornament, spread the etching cream over the stencil for 10 minutes. Wiped it off, removed the stencil and I was done!

I also decided to add the place and date on a stamping blank. I stamped the blank with the Place and Year, used a jump ring, and put it on the ornament.

For the Magnet or Necklace:

Fill the Glass Jars with sand using the funnel. Use a little E6000 glue around the opening of the jar, and then firmly place the cork back in the bottle.

Now you could use a sharpie or paint to put the place and year on the bottle. If using stamping blanks, take an eye screw, place a little E6000 glue on the top of the cork. Now screw the eye screw into the cork where you put the small amount of glue. This way you are certain the screw stays put! Feed a jump ring through the eye screw and add your stamping blanks to the jump ring and close the jump ring.

If making it into a necklace, simply feed the necklace through the jump ring and you’re done!

If making into a magnet, use a little of the E6000 glue and place the magnets in the glue. It does not take too long to dry. I used two magnets (they are VERY strong magnets for being so tiny!) at the top and the bottom of the bottle. One would have been enough, but I wanted to be sure that it stayed put on the refrigerator!

Very EASY, cheap, and simple souvenir to remember all your beach vacations!