Easy Christmas Tree Ornament: Two Dollar Sand Dollar

In keeping with my October No-Spend Challenge, up today is a quick and easy and cheap project (ok ok, not totally no-spend, but I did buy this back in August and had the remaining supplies on hand).

I have had a tradition for as long as I can remember that every vacation I go on, I buy a Christmas tree ornament for our tree.  We go to the Jersey shore a lot (not the one from TV ... the southern Jersey shore), so when I buy my ornament there, I like to have it say the shore town (usually Stone Harbor) and the year.  I love putting up the tree and picking out the ornaments and remembering all the good times.  

This year was no exception.  I looked at the Christmas shop on the main drag at the shore and there were some cute ornaments but nothing that was grabbing me.  I had a few I liked but thought I'd look around and come back.  We ventured into another store that had all sorts of seashells, sand dollars and starfish and it occurred to me: why not make an ornament out of a sand dollar? It was the right size, had a little hole in the top for a ribbon and had enough flat space for me to write the year on.  Oh, and the price? $2.  Sold. 

It couldn't be simpler.  All I needed was a green Sharpie and a scrap of pretty red ribbon.

I wrote "Stone Harbor" and "2011" on the sand dollar, then threaded the ribbon through the hole in the top, knotted it and made a bow.  Done!  Isn't it cute?

And there you have it.  The only way I'd like this more is if I happened to find this pristine sand dollar on the beach myself.   What about you? Do you have any similar vacation behavior? Ever turn a regular item into a Christmas tree ornament? Do tell!

See you swoon,