How to Preserve Sand Dollars for your Craft Projects

Hubby and I love the beach and every time we go we like to collect sea shells when we find them. I always bring them home to clean them up, preserve them and then find a way to use them in my crafting projects since a lot of my home is decorated in coastal home decor.

Last week we vacationed down at the Jersey Shore and we found 3 beautiful little Sand Dollars washing up on the beach. Each one was about the size of a half dollar so we grabbed them. One of them got broken before we got home and one of them got chipped on the ride back. One of them survived in perfect condition.

When you find sand dollars on the beach you want to immediately rinse them under fresh running water. I do not submerge mine at all, but I do rinse it until all the sand is off and until my water is running clear. I then lay mine on a soft cotton towel and let them air dry. I didn't have any crafting supplies with me on vacation so once they were dry I wrapped them gently up with wash cloths and packed them into a plastic container.

When we were finally home I got them out and got busy preserving them. I mixed 2 tablespoons of white craft glue (Alene's Tacky Glue) with 1 tablespoon of water, until it was well combined. You don't want it too runny nor too thick. I then placed waxed paper down onto my countertop and used a foam sponge brush to apply the mixture to the back of each sand dollar. I left them air dry for 15 minutes under a ceiling fan to help them to dry quicker. I then gave them a second coat and left them dry again. Once dry, I repeated the process on the front sides, coating them twice.

They are now preserved and stronger! They can still break if you bump them around too much but this does help to protect them.