My friend Becky, has a beach house on Lake Erie near a beach called Walnut Beach, in Ashtabula County, Ohio, which is considered one of the top ten beach or sea glass beaches by Martha Stewart Living.

To make these ornaments, use a minimal amount of sand in comparison to the amount of other embellishements you include in your ornament.

To make sea glass, it takes 10 years, but normally 50 years to create sea glass, also called beach glass. Sea glass is made from items being tossed off of ships into deep water, then the glass being beat around on the sandy bottom of the lake/ocean.
The different colors of sea glass come from different glass objects.
Brown glass comes from beer bottles.
Green glass comes from Rolling Rock Beer as well as old medicine bottles.
White comes from medicine bottles, glasses and china.
The most rare color is red, and that comes from the lens from the ship.
I’m not sure where the bluer colors that Becky gave me came from.

Sand is available from Walmart, and it’s white sand with glitter. You can also buy a variety of colors of sand in crafts stores and you won’t need a lot of sand for this project. I bought my small ornaments in garland and the bigger ornaments you can buy really inexpensively now.
In 1994, we were in Bermuda, and I wanted to see the pink sand beaches there. A taxi driver drove us to the beach, but told us I wouldn’t be able to navigate it. He took a baggie with him and brought back a small baggie with pink sand. I don’t recommend you bringing sand back, as it has a lot of live organisms in it and will start to smell. It’s much better to buy your sand as it’s already clean and doesn’t smell.
I added a lot of small beads in a variety of colors in my ornaments. This project is perfect for a vacation keepsake that you can make with the ornaments you buy after Christmas and fill with the sea shells and sea glass that you find on your vacation this upcoming year. I hope you give it a try, as it’s a terrific way to remember vacations.
To fill the ornaments, use a funnel and only fill your sand about 1/2″ from the bottom (at the most), and add a variety of colorful beads, sea shells and sea glass to the sand. Don’t shake the ornament as the sand will act as quicksand, and your items will sink to the bottom. If your items do sink, tilt it back and forth until you get your items back to the surface. Once you like the amount of color in your ornament, (with the large ornament) put some hot glue under the lid to keep it closed and so your sand doesn’t leak out. Put a dollop of glue in the opening at the top where your hanger is, to close the opening, again so the sand doesn’t leak out.
Chose a length of thinner ribbon that is about 6-8″ long and loop it through the circle and tie a knot at the top and your project is done.
I like showing this idea now, because it’s a great time to buy your ornaments, as they will never be cheaper than after Christmas, and then next Christmas you’ll have the reminders of your summer vacation to fill your ornament. It’s a great way to make a keepsake that your family can reminisce about in the years to come.

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