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Want to bring a bit of the beach home for the holidays? Decorate your coastal Christmas Tree with these easy to make Seashell Ornaments.
Make all of these DIY ornaments with seashells you’ve collected or easily found in craft stores or on Amazon. You’ll only need a few craft items for embellishment and to make a hanger.
I made these ornaments using traditional Christmas colors. You can easily swap out embellishments and ribbon colors to match your holiday decor style.
3 Coastal Christmas Ornaments to make in an hour
These beach themed holiday decorations are simple enough to make in batches in one day. Mix them in with other ornaments to fill your coastal Christmas Tree.
Gather up your beachcombing finds and dig through all those jars of shells (I see you!). No worries if you don’t have the sizes and shapes for these ornament suggestions. It’s perfectly okay to use what you have. Or they’re easy enough to find in shell shops, craft stores and online.
Be sure the shells are clean of debris and sand, and not too heavy.
You want to avoid shells that will bend your branches. We all have ornaments like that, no? Lightweight shells that are between 2 inches and 4 inches will work best.
SPARKLING SAND DOLLAR ORNAMENTS
Our local beach is the sand dollar source for making these ornaments. None nearby? No problem. You can find real ones on Amazon.
The glittery sparkle from this ornament is so pretty, especially at night.
MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONS TO MAKE SPARKLING SAND DOLLAR ORNAMENTS
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1: Lay Sand Dollars on a covered surface.
STEP 2: Spray Sand Dollars with glitter spray in a light coat. Let dry completely. Spray with a coast of adhesive. Let dry.
STEP 3: Cut a 4 inch to 6 inch of twine or ribbon.
STEP 4: Simply thread the twine or ribbon through one of the Sand Dollars holes. Tie the ends of the twine together.
STEP 5: Lastly, hot glue (or use craft glue) the sprig of holly.
Here’s a Great Idea!
Tie a Sparkling Sand Dollar Ornament to a pre-made purchased green wreath. Add a pre-made bow to the wreath and you’re ready to hang a coastal holiday wreath.
Here’s another Great Idea!
Loop a Sparkling Sand Dollar Ornament on a wine bottle neck. Makes a thoughtful gift extra special.
GLASS BALL ORNAMENT FILLED WITH SEASHELLS AND SAND
I like using clear glass ornaments instead of plastic ones. The white tree lights twinkle against the glass, not so much the plastic. It’s just a personal preference. Both make lovely decorations.
I bought this bag of tiny seashells on Amazon to use for this project. It’s hard to find small ones around here but if you have shells that will fit through the opening of the glass ball, use them.
Besides seashells you can add bits of driftwood, coral or dried seaweed to create a total beach experience. In hindsight I would have added more shells.
MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONS YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE GLASS BALL SEASHELL ORNAMENTS
MATERIAL LIST
- Embellishment, your choice. I used a small bit of faux red berries and greens clipped from a string of garland.
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1: Remove the ornament cap and set aside. At this point you can leave the cap as is or paint it. I nixed the gold cap and spray painted it white.
STEP 2: Using a funnel add a small amount of play or real sand into the clear ball ornament. Tip: Set the ornament on a coffee cup to hold it steady while filling.
STEP 3: Drop in some seashells, and optionally any other sea treasures you desire.
STEP 4: Glue the cap back on the ornament.
STEP 5: Cut a 4 inch to 6 inch piece of twine. To hang, loop through the cap top and tie ends together.
STEP 6: Tie a bow in the style or color of your choice, then glue it to outside of the cap. Optionally, glue greens, berries, mini acorns or a cluster of small shells in the center of the bow.
Here’s a Great Idea!
In addition to seashells you can add bits of driftwood, coral or dried seaweed to create a total beach experience. Create unique and memorable ornaments from your days by the sea.
SCALLOP AND MINI SEASHELL GARLAND ORNAMENTS
Collected shells get the festive treatment with a garland made from mini seashells.
I purposely planted holly bushes to use in decorations for the holidays. But every year it’s a race to clip a few sprigs WITH berries before the deer eat them. Sadly, I lose more often than I win 🙂
You’ll see a teeny sprig of real holly and berries, the total of my forage from four huge bushes!
Faux holly is best for making long lasting ornaments.
MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONS YOU’LL NEED TO MAKE HOLLY DECORATED SCALLOP SEASHELL ORNAMENTS
MATERIAL LIST
- Holly leaves with berries (Real or faux)
STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1: Cut six inch strips of ribbon
STEP 2: Twist ribbon in half and hot glue ends together. Once set, hot glue ribbon ends to the back of the seashell at the top of the shell.
STEP 3: Hot glue a sprig of holly and berries to the right side of the shell below the ribbon. Let dry.
Using seashells is a festive way to create holiday ornaments and add coastal Christmas touches to your home.
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Thank you for sharing the coastal love:
