Beach Themed Christmas Ornament

One of our favorite family traditions is to gather sand and small shells every time we go on vacation at a different beach, to make an ornament for our tree. We love gathering everything while we are on vacation and it is so much fun to look back on the fun trips we have taken together when we pull out my mom’s Christmas tree every year. They are really simple to make, we have started labeling them with vinyl with the beach and the year too, so we don’t forget which is which.

You will need:
an ornament, I prefer the plastic ones that come completely apart because you can use larger shells than if you are trying to fit them in a small whole
Sand and shells from the beach
Hot Glue
Ribbon or Trimmings

Fill your ornament with your beach memories and close up. Make sure is looks the way you want it to, because you will hot glue it shut. Using hot glue and cord or ribbon, glue the trimming around the edge of the opening. This is make it look festive AND seals it shut. Wrap the trimming all the way around and leave enough to use as the tree hanger.  Hot glue a bow or other trimming to the top of the ornament, to cover up the hanger in the background.

We have beach themed ornaments all over my mom’s tree and it is so much fun to be able to look back at the wonderful trips we have taken together, each with a little piece of the vacation.

What about you, do you make vacation ornaments?