crafts: Beach In A Jar

I grew up about 30 minutes from the beach.  I was always there as a kid playing in the sand, as a teenager laying out with my friends, and as a twenty-something shopping & laying out.  I love the beach – I mean, who doesn’t?!  The one thing I don’t love about the beach is the sand you find everywhere afterwards.  It isn’t until you get home and take a full, deep, cleansing shower that you will completely rid yourself of all things sand.

Well, with this activity, you can bring the sand home, but it stays in a pretty little jar.  No shower is needed ;)

So, let’s make a "beach in jar"!

What, you might ask, is a "beach in a jar"?  Well, with some jars, sand, shells, and sea glass, we’ll put it together to make our very own "beach in a jar".  This is a fun activity for the kiddos to learn about the beach & and enjoy a sensory experience playing with the sand & shells – yippee!

This is also something you can make with the kiddos as a memento from your favorite beach or a family vacation spot :)

Supplies you will need:

• jars (I repurposed baby food jars –  little T went through them like a starving cheetah!)
• sand (I acquired mine from the actual beach – HA! – really, I’m NOT joking, I filled up a grocery bag full of sand & brought it back home with me!  But, if you are not crazy like me, they do sell sand at craft stores or Amazon too.)
• sea glass (you can buy it by the bag at craft stores or Amazon )
• sea shells (you can also get this in a bag at craft stores or Amazon )
• washi tape (for the label) – check out my washi tape board for other cool ideas for using washi tape!)
• white address labels (for the words on the washi tape)
• circle labels (for the kids names on the top – I used these 1 1/4” round labels in “gravel” from Paper Source)
• hemp cord (for jar decoration)

Now, by no means do you have to do all of these things…but my over-achiever-ness, detail oriented mind can’t stop :)

Tools you will need:

• hot glue gun & glue (to seal the lid of the jar shut when you are done, because they will want to bring it EVERYWHERE, and you don’t want that sand EVERYWHERE, do you?)
• cup (for sea glass & shells)
• bowl (for sand)
• spoon (to scoop sand)
• white high gloss spray paint (to spray the lids of the jars the night before)
• dust buster (to vacuum up sand – okay, now I’m micro managing – okay, I’ll stop now ;)

Happy beachin’ sand-free! :)