Beach Treasures and Treasure Beaches

Here’s a really quick, simple, inexpensive gift idea!  Best of all, these little presents are colorful and eye catching display pieces that can be enjoyed year round. These “Beach in a Bottle” collections are lots of fun to make and even more fun to give to any beach lover on your list. Of course, you’ll want to make a few of these for yourself, too.

From Left to Right: 1)Sanibel Island, Florida 2)Venice Beach, Florida 3)Avalon, Catalina Island, California (©Jody Diehl)

All you need are a few glass containers of various sizes.  The sizes and shapes of your chosen glassware may be dependent upon where you (or your giftee) will show off your seashell and beach treasure collections.  Will you place them on a shelf in your kitchen?  Then, go ahead and choose salt and pepper shakers, a Parmesan cheese shaker, or perhaps a restaurant style sugar dispenser. You get the idea. Just make sure that there aren’t too many angles in the glass-work because you don’t want the glass to be too distracting from the treasures inside! Be sure to pick the sizes that are right for the seashells you want to display.  Also keep in mind that those special seashells and beach treasures need to fit through the openings of the glass containers you choose.

Now, have fun picking out the very best of your beach treasures for each container.  (This could lead to some serious discussion if you decide to make it a group effort.)  Be sure to label the bottom of each showpiece with the beach name for each collection.  It’s easy to get the containers mixed up if the seashells inside are similar!

You might want to use a kitchen funnel to add a little clean, sifted sand from the same beach. Tie the bottle up with a ribbon and Voila, an easy breezy variation on the “beach in a bottle” seashell craft.  A gift from anyone to anyone. Children especially love to pick out each special seashell that will go into the little “beach in a bottle” gifts.  We picked up little plastic bottles with screw-on tops from the craft store for our little 4 year old designer. He was one proud little boy, handing his homemade gifts out on Christmas morning.

To Nana, From Liam - Christmas 2010 (©Jody Diehl)

You really can bottle that day at the beach feeling for year-round enjoyment!