• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

A Wonderful Thought

Inspiration to let your creative side fly!

  • Home
    • Decor
    • Home Tours
    • Home Improvements
    • Organization
  • Create
    • Crafts
    • DIY Tutorials
    • Wreaths
    • Chalkboard Art
    • Sewing
    • Downloads & Printables
  • Seasonal & Holidays
    • Spring
      • St. Patrick’s Day
      • Easter
    • Summer
      • 4th of July
    • Fall
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
    • Winter
      • Christmas
      • Valentine’s Day
  • Recipes
  • Disney
    • Walt Disney World
    • Disney Cruise Line
    • Stateroom Mickey Ears and Then Some…
  • About Me
    • Contact Me
    • Privacy Policy

Coastal Garland with Sand Dollars

by Kimberly 2 Comments

Bring the beach home with you! Add to your coastal decor with this adorable coastal garland with sand dollars.

If you are looking for a super easy beachy craft, this coastal garland with sand dollars will be right up your alley! You may have seen it last week on my coastal mantel decor. This garland was so easy to make, it literally took me 5 minutes to throw together. However I still felt like it deserved a post all of it’s own! πŸ™‚

Wreath and coastal decor on mantel above sand dollar garland

 

Coastal garland with sand dollars

What is a sand dollar?

Unlike what you see here hanging on my mantel, sand dollars are actually live creatures. They are flat burrowing marine invertebrates that are related to sea urchins and sea stars in a class called echinoderms, or spiny-skinned creatures. When they are living, they range in color from purple to brown. After a sand dollar dies, the sun bleaches the color to the white you see here and you are left with essentially the skeleton of the creature.

Vertical close up image of sand dollar

Sand dollars typically live for six to ten years. They have rings similar to the way trees do, as they age they get more rings and grow bigger. Sand dollars get their name from their appearance resembling silver dollars when they were washed ashore. Although they are also referred to as “sand cakes” and “cake urchins”.

Where to find sand dollars

Sand dollars can be found along beaches in the northern hemisphere of temperate and tropical waters. You are most apt to find sand dollars in the morning at low tide, especially after a storm. It is illegal in most states to take live sand dollars so make sure they are not alive when you take them. If they are brown in color and are covered in furry spines, they are still alive. 

Horizontal close up image of sand dollar

If you do not have access to a beach, you can also buy sand dollars from Esty or Amazon. I will link to some below. 

Supplies needed for a coastal garland

Supplies for sand dollar coastal garland

*There are links to products in this post that I use or are similar to products I use. If you buy something from one of these links, I may make a small commission (with no additional cost to you) from the purchase. I will not recommend anything that I would not buy myself.

  • Sand dollars
  • Hemp twine
  • 3 ply jute rope
  • Assorted sizes wood beads
  • Scissors
  • Command hooks (optional)

How to make a sand dollar garland

The first step is actually to make a wood bead garland. I made this wood bead garland a long time ago and do not have pictures of the process but I will explain it. πŸ™‚ The nice thing about wood bead garlands is that they are so versatile. I have used mine on lots of mantels in several different ways. Like in this flip banner or just as decoration sitting on the mantel like on my spring farmhouse mantel.

Horizontal image of coastal garland

First you will need to cut a long string of jute rope. I cut mine the length to drape along the front of my mantel with some leftover on each end. Next string on some wood beads in different sizes. You can do this in a pattern or randomly. I did mine randomly as I thought it looked better that way, although I never put two of the biggest beads next to each other. Lastly tie the ends into a knot with loops so you can hang it from the ends. I hang mine using command hooks on the end of the mantel.

Add the sand dollars

To add the sand dollars, I cut some hemp twine into about 4-5 inch strips. 

Cutting hemp twine pieces to tie on the sand dollars

Insert the string through one of the holes on the sand dollar and make sure it is even on both ends. Using an overhand knot, tie the string onto the wood bead garland in between two beads. You can see this in action in this Instagram reel. I started right in the center of the wood bead garland with the first sand dollar and worked my way out from there spacing them out every five beads.

Sand dollars hanging from wood bead garland

Since I had a variety of sizes of sand dollars to work with, I tried to make sure that two of the same sized sand dollars were not next to each other. Also I used the smallest sizes on the very edges of the garland.

Profile view of mantel with coastal garland with sand dollars

I really love the vibe of this coastal garland! It has such a natural and organic feel to it and fits in so well with my summer nautical theme. What do you think?

White pitcher with teal beads above wood bead coastal garland

Signature Love, Kimberly

Pin It Graphic

Pinterest image for coastal garland with sand dollars

 

Filed Under: Crafts, Decor, Seasonal & Holidays, Summer Tagged With: coastal, garland, nautical

Previous Post: « Coastal Mantel Decor Ideas
Next Post: Decorating a Mantel: A How To Guide »

Reader Interactions

Get More Updates!

Sign up to get updates & tips!

Comments

  1. Shirley Soto says

    at

    Hello
    This is such a nice thing you have done in teaching how to make such great home decor! I love all of it and am so inpired to try it myself. I love your ideas and decorating style, it is what I imaging my house looking like in every wayl
    Great job!

    Sincerely,
    Shirley S.

    Reply
    • Kimberly says

      at

      Awww! Thank you so much for your kind words Shirley! You made me tear up, my heart is so full right now. It is so nice to hear that you are inspired by my projects. Have a wonderful day! πŸ™‚

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hello! I’m Kimberly!

DSC_1768-1-w300.jpg Welcome to A Wonderful Thought! I am so glad you came to visit today. I love creating things to make our home more beautiful and doing fun crafting projects. I love farmhouse style and good food. I love to travel, and around our house we are just a little...ok, a lot obsessed with Disney! I hope you can take something from here to inspire you, or just make you smile. :)
  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Never miss a post!

Sign up to receive all the latest posts in your email as soon as they happen.

Popular posts

Fun Easter mantel

Colorful Spring Mantel

How to make floral Easter eggs

Floral Easter Eggs

Green shamrocks

St. Patrick’s Day Decor

DIY gold and silver shamrock

Gold Shamrock DIY

Categories

Archives

Footer

Hello! I am so glad you came to visit my site today. I hope you can take something from here to inspire you or just make you smile.

  • Bloglovin
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
Fun Easter mantel
How to make floral Easter eggs
Green shamrocks
DIY gold and silver shamrock
Gold four leaf clover
Christmas to Valentines Day Decor transition

Copyright Policy

All material and images on this site are copyright of A Wonderful Thought, unless otherwise noted. If you would like to feature a project shown on this blog, you may use a maximum of ONE image provided credit is given to A Wonderful Thought and you include a visible link back to the the original post. See my whole copyright policy here.

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress