Sand Art

EDIT: This piece of art doesn't exist anymore :( Learn about it's fate here. 

I love the beach. There is just something about the waves, water, and sand that relax me like nothing else... and that says alot since I have a toddler in tow! 

As much as I love the beach, I love our memories from the beach even more. Photos speak louder than words ever could, but sometimes there just isn't the wall/album space to display photos from different trips. We always collect seashells, but never really do anything with them. As soon as I saw this inspiration on pinterest (because I can't come up with any idea on my own) I knew what I needed to do! Sand art! 

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It never occurred to me just how different sand is at different beaches. I assumed that all Atlantic Ocean sand looked the same. And I assumed all the Gulf of Mexico sand is the sugary white goodness (boy was I wrong!!). So since we took 3 beach trips to 3 states in 3 weeks (Gulfport, Myrtle Beach, Destin) I thought it would be a perfect way to start a family tradition- oh how I regret not having sand from ALL the beaches I've been to! (Hawaii, California, Clearwater, Ft Lauderdale, Rhode Island, Bahamas, etc)... but you gotta start somewhere right??

So I made it a point to collect sand from the 3 beaches we visited this year. At some point during our days on the beach I brought a water bottle full of water that I forced myself to drink while out in the sun. Once the bottle was empty I filled her up with sand, capped it, and threw it in my beach bag. Many times I forgot about it until we got home. Once home I poured it out and set it in the sun to dry. I used a funnel to get it in the vase with some swirly lines. 

I absolutely LOVE the differences in color from each of these places! On the back of the display I used a label maker to mark where each sand layer is from along with the date that we visited! Once this vase is full I plan to seal the sand so it'll forever be preserved! It's unreal to think how relatively close Gulfport and Destin are and how vastly different the sand is! I would love to compare the Atlantic Ocean sand to the Atlantic Ocean sand from somewhere else too! I'm pretty sure Cocoa Beach is on the agenda for next year so I'll have to compare that to the Myrtle Beach sand!