When we visited Panama City Beach, my aunt shared with me how she wanted to get sand to go in a bottle. I didn’t even realize that was a “thing” until we went to a store that sold bottles specifically for this purpose. Naturally, I had to have one, too, so I bought myself a bottle and commenced to filling a Ziploc bag with sand. I brought it all home with me and used a funnel to fill my bottle. That’s when I realized that Ziploc bag had way too much sand in it. Not wanting to just throw it out, here is what we did with the rest of the sand.
I had this beautiful canister set {I guess that is what you call it} that I bought at a yard sale years ago. I have used this set for everything from sweetener and creamer holders on my coffee bar to cotton ball holders in my bathroom. But it never seemed to be exactly where I wanted them. I think I have finally found their permanent home now.
I filled each canister {or jar?} with varying amounts of sand. Then I made a little hole in the sand and put a tea light candle in each. I tried to set the candle on top of the sand at first and then shake the candle down into the sand. That just made a huge hole in the sand and a mess along the sides. Don’t do that, lol.
Also, be very careful not to get sand on your furniture, floor or other hard surfaces as you can scratch them. You may want to put something down on the area in which you are putting this all together to protect it.
The canisters came with a sleigh looking holder thing. I didn’t care for that so I have it in my craft closet trying to figure out what to do with it. They also came with metal lids, which are great for covering the candles when not in use to keep everything from getting dusty. I rarely use candles since I have asthma, but I do like to have just a few around just in case the power goes out.
There are a lot of blue accents in my living room, so I stuck the candles on the bottom shelf of my coffee table to add some color. They are also really conveniently placed in case of power outage. The matches are in the drawer. Easy, peasy.
What Do You Think Of Our Leftover Sand Idea
What do you do with leftover sand? Do you throw it out or do you use it for another purpose? I would love to hear your ideas in the comment thread below.
I have lots of leftover sand…in my trunk LOL 🙂 Seriously though, I l.ove these and since we are at the beach all summer long, they are easy for me to make!
Haha! Yeah, I get a lot of leftover sand that I don’t want at the beach, too. 😀
I think that is a wonderful idea. I love the beach and to be able to bring a little bit home with you is a lovely idea.
Love this idea.I am doing a beach themed living room.These would look so good in it.Plus I got lots of sand!!!
These look so cool! What a great way to make candles.
haha – so funny because I do the SAME thing! And then have bags of sand…for what? This is a great idea. I have also used them in containers for candles or flowers or something of that sort. Pinterest is on my list to help me generate even more ideas!
Karen | GlamKaren.com
Okay I am in awe of this. I will take a set to go please.
We live 3 minutes from the closest beach so we always have sand. Everytime we go the kids bring home sand, shells, and usually a creature. I have a huge apothecary jar with some but I also have some in the bathrooms, in mason jars with essential oils or wax melts. I put the ones with melts on or near the window and when it is crazy hot out they melt on their own. I have holes poked in the top.
I love your idea of setting the ones you made in the windows. I bet that smells lovely!
Fun idea that is easy to make. The simple design makes it very versatile for decorating.
What a simple idea that has a big impact! Totally doing this the next time we go to the beach!
Great idea for all the sand you had. I have brought sand home before from the carribean. Now I need to go find it. 🙂
These look so easy but elegant and a great souvenir from the beach! You could even put small shells around it.
Definitely. And the bigger containers you get, the more shells. 🙂
What a wonderful DIY! I’m going to start doing this when I travel to beach destinations!
You could label them, too, to remind you which beach they came from.
What a great souvenir when you got a beautiful beach!
Love this idea. Easy to do and it decoretes so much…perfect for lighting up the livingroom
What a lovely DIY this is. It’s perfect for display around the house especially in the living room or you can choose to give it as a gift as well. I love the creativity!
Thanks! I recommend if you give it as a gift, you keep the candles out until you present it to keep them from “shaking down” under the sand in transit. 🙂
Never thought of this and what a fantastic DIY idea! I will try this out next week. So lovely.
I’ve never bring home sand only the shells, but share a fabolous idea here. Simple yet beautiful DIY, and think it will goes perfecly to the ocean theme of a party.
I always just brought shells home before, too. I had no idea that you could really do anything cool with sand.
This really is the best DIY / souvenir project ever! I love that you keep those memories fresh with such a simple and perfect DIY for the summer
I love the beach and the leftover sand diy candle would be a great way of reminding me. Love your savvy skills.
Awww thanks! I love having stuff around that reminds me of my vacations. 🙂
Ooh, I love this idea. I’ve heard such great things about Panama City and this is a great way to keep the sand close after a vacation.
I live at the beach so this would be a quick and fun weekend project! And they would look great in my guest bathroom!
This is such a great idea! Perfect timing too! I have a beach trip coming up!
These are very cute! I love candles and have them all over my house. These would be perfect for my bathroom!
What an awesome idea! I’m certainly addicted to candles. And the beach!
Me too! I would never pass up a beach trip if I didn’t have to.
That truly is a great idea to use left over sand. I’ve never used sand for anything though but now if I ever do, I’ll know what to do with the leftover.
Love this idea!! I had seashells we collected at a beach sitting in a ziploc for over a year before I found a beautiful jar to put them in. These homemade souvenirs are so unique! No one else has one!
I love to display my seashells in jars, too. I also have some in lamps {filled the bottom} that are really pretty to look at.
I love this idea! Such a sweet way to bring back a usable souvenir!
This is a great idea! We always collect sand when we go to San Diego, and I never know what to do with it once we get home. This is easy and cute! Thanks for the idea!!!
Fun diy! Would be perfect for around a nice hot bubble bath!
You are so right. Now if I just had a nice big tub to put them around. 😀
I can’t believe that I can do that! I tried it and I feel much safer with candles now.
You are so clever. I have some sand here and I am about to throw them. Thanks for the nice idea!
Thank you so much. I hope that you are able to do something cute with the sand instead of throwing it out.
I remember my mom used to lit candles but there was a time, the candle was neglected. I will share this idea with her, she surely loves to light some candles again.
Neglected? Oh no. I hope that doesn’t mean that something caught on fire. You definitely have to be careful with fire.
I love your idea, where did you get it?! Seriously, you are so creative.
Thank you. I just happened to have the stuff laying around and it seemed like a cute spin off on the sand in a bottle idea. 🙂
Omg…the last time we went to the beach I brought back a lot of sand with the intent of doing something creative. This is quick and easy and perfect for the momentos from our next trip.
Well, if you have any left, you could always do this. I would love to see how it turns out.
i simply love this idea. i live really close to the beach and never thought about bring a little home with me for a project. very nice.
pretty cool idea! I think I saw somewhere a lot like this idea (with sand)
Yeah, apparently tons of people save sand from the beach. I had no idea it was a thing until that trip. 🙂
Ahhh! These are so pretty! They are so simple and pretty! I can’t believe I haven’t thought of this yet! do you have pinterest?
Thank you! I do have Pinterest. You can find me here: http://www.pinterest.com/thenewclassy
Interesting! Im going to try this next time
I’ve never considered taking sand from the beach. I like what you did with it and those jars are cute.
Such a wonderful souvenir idea! I’d love to see the sand in the bottle project as well 🙂 They both sound great!
I will try to post a picture of that posted as soon as possible. 🙂
I’m just picturing what size Zip-loc bag you used to carry that much sand lol. I used to own a bottle of sand from New Mexico.
It was a gallon size that I filled about halfway. 🙂
Great DIY candle idea, very inventive and using left over materials. Brilliant
What a great souvenir idea! We live so far away from a beach that normally the only time we get to go to one is if we are travelling somewhere fun. I have seen people collect sand in plastic bottles and label them but I like the look of this much more.