Do you find yourself collecting shells at the beach? We still have a pink sand bucket in the garage holding shells from our family beach vacation this past summer. I am afraid a clam died in that bucket. Literally. Now that all of the living things have, ahem, moved on, they need a craft or project.

Now, if you’d rather not deal with the potential sea creatures you may be carting home, another fun and less alive thing to collect on beach trips are all those pretty shells and starfish for sale in the gift shop. It’s been a while since July 3, but that was me and Matt’s 10 year anniversary. Crazy how long it has taken to do this post, but that’s life.

We had so much fun. We relaxed, ate, and chilled out for four days. We missed our kiddos, but these windows of time to focus and be together are so important. Gifts can be expensive. We have never been a big expensive gift couple. I would much rather spend the money (if there’s money to spend) on a trip, and that is exactly what we did.

Although while we were on our trip, we wanted a little keepsake to take home to remind us of our 10 year anniversary and how we celebrated it at the beach. We found this cute little starfish in a gift shop. I loved how it was a bit thicker, wider and different from the normal star fish you might see.

It has been sitting in a gift bag in our laundry room since our trip. No joke. But last week, I was cleaning and prepping for a house showing and went ahead and created this little sign that I had been imagining. It took two minutes, so I really shouldn’t have waited so long.

I found an old board that I liked in my collection. I cut it a bit smaller with my miter saw and sanded the edges. I then simply used some super glue on the back of my starfish, stuck it in place, and it was done!

It was simple, but that’s us too. It’s the perfect souvenir and it was so cheap and quick.

Do you try to find ways to use all those beach keepsakes too? I’ve seen shells in bowls, lamps, glued around picture frames, strung up in garlands, used in wind chimes and even glued to burlap wreaths. There are lots of possibilities if you use your imagination.

I hope you have a good week! Thanks so much for stopping by!