Sunday, May 21, 2017

It's Summer...Hurry Up Christmas!

Happy Sunday and I got something to show you today!!

So summer time is here and many folks will be heading off to the beaches and I have a little project that will be making you want Christmas to hurry up and get here! Okay, Okay I can hear some of you saying "OKIE YOU'RE NUTS!! WE DON'T WANT TO THINK ABOUT CHRISTMAS DURING THE SUMMER"...but wait!! Just hear me out and see for yourself....and at the end of the post I will remind you that you thought I was crazy!

So when I went on the first Cricut Cruise back in 2011 we were told to gather some sand from each beach so we could use on some of the projects, and for whatever reason I have kept that sand for years...like 6 years to be exact! *okie wonders who the hell keeps sand for 6 years in baggies in a closet* Anyway my friend Karen was coming for Christmas and I wanted to make her some gifts and I had to be careful about what I made to make sure she could pack it for the plane ride back home. I had been working on some glitter ornaments and it occurred to me that I had sand from the cruise and wondered how it would work in the clear plastic ornaments. I used the same method for the sand as I had the glitter, coating the inside of the ornament with Minwax Polyacrylic and the pouring in the sand and moving the ornament around so it would be coated well. 

So go ahead and ask..."Okie how did it turn out?" and to you I say....I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Here is a close up of one of the ornaments. While gathering sand at the beaches I gathered shells as well and most of them where small, causing me much frustration because I wanted bigger shells but boy have those small shells came in handy for crafting projects!! I used some Maya Road twine to go around the top of the ornament because it mimicked rope well, then used a glue gun to apply the shells. I decorated each ornament differently at the top with shells and twine.









Here is a picture of the ornaments on the tree in regular light. It's pretty cool to see how each sand is different from the other. I thought San Juan had the darkest sand but oddly enough it was Megan's Bay that had the darkest sand!  By using different point size with the fonts I was able to put the name of the beach and the location which is a nice touch because as I get older I tend to forget things a lot more easily.








At night time the ornaments almost change looks because of how the light hits the inside and almost illuminates the sand.

Karen loved the ornaments and I love the set I made for myself. We will always have a unique way to remember our first cruise!









Now remember at the beginning of the post where y'all thought I was crazy? Yeah ya don't think I'm so crazy now do ya!! So remember to take those baggies with ya to the beach and get ya some sand and shells while there and get busy making some Christmas ornaments when you get home and now y'all can be saying "IT'S SUMMER....HURRY UP CHRISTMAS!!"

7 comments:

  1. Such a good idea. My daughter brought back sand when she went to France from the beaches of Normandy. She put some in a jar and gave to my Uncle since he had been there during WWII. Kicking myself that I didn't bring any back from Western Samoa but how many 15 yr olds would think of it. LOL. Thanks for the idea! Hopefully my 57 yr old self will remember to bring something back to do this!

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  2. Great idea! We always try to pick up a unique Christmas ornament when we're on a vacation to somewhere new. This would fit the bill for our next beach vacation!

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  3. Great idea...I do t beach personally but my kids do. I'll have them bring me some sand! LOL

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  4. Those are beautiful! I have sand from the Monterey Bay in Cali that I refused to leave behind when I moved to Texas. I've had it 8 years now lol

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  5. I have some sand and shells from the first time I went to Florida in 1970 and then some more from about 1978. Now I know what to do with the sand and shells. In 1970 I was pregnant but did know yet. Every time I look at the ocean, I got sick but we blame the movement of the waves. The second time we went I had both of my boys by then and I have kept the sand all these years telling my husband that I was going to make something with them "someday". Now I know what to make. Plus while writing this I got another idea. Thanks for sharing. I love the ornaments but never thought of using sand instead of glitter, such a great idea!

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  6. What a fabulous idea. I love looking in my email and seeing a post from Okie, always makes my day to read your posts and see what you are up to

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  7. WOW ... these ornaments really turned out fabulous! I love how the different colored sands look in day light, but I love the reflective effect of each ornament with the lights at night even more. What great souvenirs these are from your cruise, no wonder Karen loved them so much.

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