Jar of Beach Treasures: Family-Friendly DIY Keepsake

If your family is like mine, you usually come home from the beach with more than a few sea shells and other treasures. Since we’ve visited the beach almost every year since moving to the East Coast, our collection is growing rapidly!

Here’s an easy project parents and children can do together that will turn those shells, sea glass, and other finds into a lasting memento of your beach vacation.

You’ll need:

• A small glass jar including the lid (remove the label) We used an olive jar.
• Whatever you’ve collected from the beach that will fit into the jar--for example: small or broken sea shells sea glass small or broken starfish or sand dollars sea weed small pebbles
• Hot glue gun

1. Begin by filling your jar with your beach treasures, paying attention to keep the most interesting and colorful items facing the outside. If you need to adjust something as you go, use a large “un-bent” paperclip to reach the items inside the jar.

2. When you’ve filled the jar to the top, put on the lid, adding a few dabs of hot glue from your glue gun if you’d like.

3. To finish off your creation, depending on the size of the jar, you can glue a shell, a piece of sea glass, or a stone to the top of the lid--or several as you see in one of our photos.

4. You can also paint the lid of your jar if you’re feeling extra crafty!

Teresa Britton is the mom behind MomsWhoSave.com, a  deal and frugal living site for everyone who loves to save  money. Whether you're looking for an online deal, a thrifty  gift, or tips on how to live better for less, MomsWhoSave   has what you're looking for. Visit Teresa on Facebook,  Twitter, or Pinterest, where she's always sharing ideas  with her readers.