Crafts That Preserve Your Beachy Souvenirs

By Bonnie Owens on August 24th, 2009

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Another summer has come and is now almost gone.  The kids are gearing up for school and your mind is turning towards towards the facets of fall.  Gone are the lazy days of lounging in the sun while the kids play in the sand and the sea.  As you pack up the bathing suits and life jackets and sand toys, you may come across some of the many mementos that your kids brought home to remember the beach by.  For example, my son had a baggie of sand in his pail marked “Santa Monica sand”.

My kids, like many, are notoriously nostalgic.  They won’t let me discard any of their things, even if they are worn out, broken or forgotten.  For this reason I try to reuse all that I can.  When I came across these baggies of sand and buckets of seashells, I hesitated about putting them in our memento box.  I knew the sand would spill and the shells would break making a mess of everything in there.  Instead, I thought it would be nice to preserve them through one last fun summer day of arts and crafts.

Sand Candles

Get creative with your sand by making these sand candles.  You can use the very bucket that your child collected the sand in as a mold for these candles.

Tools and Materials:

• Beeswax, 1 pound per candle
• Candle dye
• Candy thermometer
• Scissors
• Wooden spoon
• Assorted molds with flat bottoms
• Sand
• Paintbrush
• Wooden craft sticks
• Large plastic container or bucket
• Square-braided cotton wicking, number 4

Directions

1. Place beeswax in a double boiler over medium heat.  Each 1-pound piece will yield a 4-inch-tall, 3-inch-wide pillar candle.  Monitoring with a candy thermometer, heat beeswax to 175 degrees.  For a heavier coat of sand, heat the wax to 190 degrees.
2. Add about 1/8 of a cake of dye per 1 pound of wax.  Blend with a wooden spoon.  To test the color, dip a wooden craft stick into the wax, and allow to dry.  Add more dye in small pieces until you achieve desired color, remembering the finished color will be slightly darker than the stick.
3. Combine sand with water by mixing with your hands until sand packs firmly enough to hold an imprint. Cover bottom of container with several inches of sand. Set mold on top, and pack additional sand tightly around it, making sure mold stays upright. Grip mold firmly, and carefully ease it straight up and out of the sand.  If the sand wall crumbles, mix in a little more water, and begin again.
4. Cut a piece of cotton wicking to several inches longer than the height of the candle, and dip it into the melted wax to stiffen it.  Use a pencil to make a hole in the bottom of the mold.  Place one end of the dry wick in the hole, and bury it, using the pencil.
5. Making sure the wick stands upright and centered, pour the wax into the mold in a slow, steady stream.  Don’t pour too fast, as the wax will make a dent in the sand.  If you are making more then one candle, return the wax to the stove between pours. Let the candle set until completely cool (overnight, if possible), and remove it.  Dust off excess sand with a paintbrush, and use scissors to cut off the excess wick and wax at the base.

Sea Shell Wind Chimes

This is a fun way to reuse sea shells of all shapes and sizes and any drift wood your child may have found as well.  You can hang it on your patio or decorate your child’s room with it.

Directions

Find two sticks 6 and 3 inches long. Use cotton string of varying lengths; tie one end around a shell or piece of sea glass and the other end to one of the sticks. Use two same-size pieces of string to connect the sticks. Tie a 24-inch string to the top one to hang.