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Nov 29, 2011

Vacation Ornaments

I've been on an ornament kick lately. 

First there was the pinecone map ornament
Then I did three more on the weekend.
I bet I could do 30 different posts on ornament ideas I have. 
Maybe next year I'll do a "30 days of" series.

Today I'm going to show you the clear glass vacation ornaments I made.

Backstory:
I collect sand from every beach vacation we take. 
I know people who collect sand from anywhere,
but I only collect it from places I've been to myself
and that have special meaning to me.
I have a window sill full of labelled jars from each vacation. 
I'm going to have to find a better place to display them
though as I've run out of space.

I bought some clear glass ornaments (with a 50% off
coupon of course) when I was at Hobby Lobby this summer.
 Going to Hobby Lobby was a huge deal for me as we don't have any in Canada.
Between that and The Christmas Tree Shoppe I felt like I was at Disneyland. 


I didn't notice that the balls were iridescent when I bought them. 
It makes it hard to show the different colours of sand.

Since Hawaii is our #1 favourite vacation spot, I started with that one.
I used sand from Lanikai Beach on Oahu. I carefully poured 
sand into the ornament and then added in some very small shells. 

I'm going to be honest here - the shells are from Prince Edward Island
I don't think I've ever seen shells in Hawaii. 
But I couldn't have an ornament with just sand in it. 

Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog

 I did print out a label with the place and date to put inside,
but I couldn't get it to lay properly without covering up the shells. 
Something I'll have to work on. 

Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog

I tried different ribbon combinations
but settled on using hemp twine to make a bow.

Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog


Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog

I also made one with sand from our trip to Cuba for my cousin's wedding. 
The sand was so soft and powdery. 
That trip was a lot of fun as there was a huge group of us
and it was Tom's & my first time in Cuba. 
Hopefully not our last.

Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog

The fourth one is from the sands at Basin Head
(Singing Sands Beach) in Prince Edward Island. 
The squeaking noise the sand makes when you walk on it is hilarious. 
You can even do it just by running your hand across it. 
We had so much fun watching the dogs try to figure out
where the sounds were coming from.

Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog

After finishing them I realized there wasn't enough variation
in the sand colours, so I emptied out the one from Hawaii
and used two other Hawaiian sands - from Black Sand beach (Punaluu) 
and Green Sand beach (Papakolea) - both on the Big Island.

Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog


Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog


Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog


Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog


Vacation Ornaments - Turtles and Tails blog

Ahhh, that iridescence!  You can see me in every shot.

~~~~~~~

I'm linking up to these great parties this week!

17 comments:

  1. This is such a great idea! I'm so glad I found it before heading to the beach this summer.


     


    I would love it if you would share this at my new 12 Days of
    Christmas in July linky party. You can link up here:


     


    http://theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-july-linky.html


     


    I can’t wait to get organized for a peaceful and frugal
    holiday season!

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  2. Such a cute Christmas craft! Thanks for linking up last week for Fun Stuff Fridays. I'd love you to link up with us again.
    http://www.toysinthedryer.com/2011/12/fun-stuff-fridays-2.html

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  3. Love, love, love this idea!  And you've been BUSY decorating for Christmas with so many great ideas, Barb. Thanks SO much for sharing it at the Winter Wonderland Party over at I Gotta Create!!

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  4. Let me know how yours turn out.

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  5. What a fun way to remember a family vacation! Love this!

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  6. What a great idea! And I always love meeting fellow Ontario bloggers! :)

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  7. Let me know what you come up with.

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  8. Great idea for displaying your sand and shells from vacationing. We took a four month trip this summer and collected LOTS! Might have to make one of these. Thanks for sharing. Visiting from Toys in the dryer

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  9. I'd love to see them.

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  10. These are so popular..., easy to see why. I love the idea of capturing vacation memories. I just filled mine with tiny shells and sea glass pieces. Happy Holidays!!

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  11. Love this idea of making a vacation ornament. I'm bummed I never picked up a baggie of sand when we were in Barbados earlier this year! 

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  12. Your ornaments are beautiful!  I love this idea!

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  13. These are absolutely beautiful and such a wonderful way to relive favorite moments. Thank you for sharing! 
    Blessings, Becky

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  14. What a great idea!  I love this.  Only wish I had been collecting sand!

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