Beach Ornament

Every year I give the kids an ornament that is related to something special about the year.  Like maybe a football player for the year they started playing football, or their favorite character from that year.  This year I was having a hard time finding ornaments that were meaningful for each of them until I saw these clear ornaments at Michaels.  These are a bit bigger than the regular round, clear ones.  They are also more flat with a wider opening.  Once I saw these I knew I had found my idea.

When we traveled to Pensacola Beach in March, we brought back sand and sea shells.  I haven’t come up with uses for all of it, so I still had plenty left.  I poured sand into each ornament and then found shells that would fit into the opening of the ornament.  Then I just wrote at the bottom Pensacola Beach 2012.  The kids got their ornaments this morning as part of their Advent Calendar and just loved them.  They are a bit heavy, so you need to have them on a strong branch.  I think they turned out great!  What a perfect way to always remember a highlight from 2012!