Easy to make sand dollar necklace and earrings

My favorite beach has been nicknamed sand dollar beach by my kids and I because during low tide, you literally can not walk without hearing the crunch of sand dollars underneath your feet. 

I know for most of you, it's a treasure to find a sand dollar if you are on a beach.  It used to be the same way for me too.  I remember spending the summers on Kiawah Island, South Carolina. We would dig up sand dollars with our toes while we were splashing in the waves. 

Once I discovered my favorite beach, sand dollars are easy to come by for me.  My kids love having contests to see who can find the smallest sand dollar. One time, my daughter found a sand dollar that was smaller than an eraser on a pencil!

We happened to be at my favorite beach last week, and my daughter and I started combing the beach for smaller sized sand dollars and we started dreaming up ideas of things we could do with them.

Making jewelry was the first thing both of us thought of. So today, I'm going to show you how we made a necklace and earrings with sand dollars from my favorite beach.

We collected as many small sand dollars as we could find. Some of them were really small {less than a quarter of an inch} and some of them were bigger {two inches}.  If you don't live close to a place where you can find sand dollars, you can order them here.

I always collect more than we need because no matter how careful you are, there are bound to be accidents.  If you are using sand dollars you find, you will need to carefully wash them off in tap water and then put them in a bleach bath {50% bleach, 50% water}  and soak them for several hours. Rinse off your sand dollars and if they are as white as you would like them, carry on.  If they aren't soak them in another bleach bath and repeat the process.

Once the sand dollars are the desired color, use mod podge and paint it on the fronts and backs of your sand dollar letting it dry with each coat.

Phew!  The prep process is the worst part!  Now on to the fun!

The only thing you need to make the earrings is some E6000 glue and some earring blanks. I loved that these had a large base so that the fragile sand dollar could have some support behind it.

For the necklace, you need your E6000 glue, a bail and I cheated and used a pre-made necklace because a) it was 50% off and b) it was way easier than buying all the clasps for the necklace. I got all of the supplies at Hobby Lobby.

Squeeze your glue onto your bail and/or earring posts and follow the directions for attaching your sand dollars. It's easy peasy!

Let your jewelry dry and wear your unique piece!

I love how they turned out! During the winter, I'm going to be happy that I have a little piece of the summer with me.