Vivid Rainbow Colored Sand Dollars

Ever since I was a small child, my great, great grandparents would bring me to a small seaside town in Northern California. I loved these trips and looked forward to them, often begging for them to take me to the ocean. We went often, at least once a month or every other month. Three hours is a long drive for a child, but I loved it. Passing through the redwoods, I could recognize how close we were by the smell in the air. There is a certain scent as you get closer to the sea, I cannot describe it, perhaps salty for lack of better wording. We would spend the weekend at what I called the sleepy bear motel (the only hotel chain I ever wanted to stay the night was due to the sleeping, pajama clad bear for an icon/mascot aka Travel Lodge). We would go to the different beaches, tidepools, fishing and more beaches! Lot's of memories as I write this first Instructable.

By the way, I now live in that small seaside town and go to the beach often. One of the beaches in particular, I always find sand dollars, many broken, and a few excellent specimens. There's a trick to finding the good ones! Maybe I will share that one day! LOL

Sooooo... bored of the typical white sand dollar, and not having the tools I needed for a project I was working on, I decided to try coloring the sand dollars.

Nope...never thought to google how to do that!

So after much trial and error... Here is the best way I have found to create vivid, strikingly colorful sand dollars that I typically sell for $3.00 - $5.00 each. Not bad for a beachcombing trip.

Sand Dollars!!! Pretty much any size will do. The ones I am using are from the pacific ocean on the northern end of California.

Markers: Regular markers, highlighters and fine point colored sharpies are my go to.

Rustoleum Clear Gloss spray paint

Spray bottle with water.

After choosing a sand dollar, take the fine point sharpie in whatever color you wish and highlight the detailed areas. The sharpie is permanent ink and will typically not run/smear/blend.

Now take any color of regular marker or highlighter and fill in the other areas.

Sometimes I stick with one color scheme and just small dashes all over. Make sure you press firmly, but not too hard. You want the color to soak into the pores.

You can also just color the whole thing.

Sometimes I also color the edges, pressing hard to make the color soak in deeper.

Most of the time I use different colors because I like the new colors that appear as they blend in another step.

Flip the sand dollar over and either color the whole area with one color, or press multiple "dots" in any color or a variety, or make a pattern of your choice.

Grab your spray bottle and adjust it to a light mist. Lay your sand dollars out with the top side up in the sunshine.

I used to use cardboard then a BBQ grill, until I found the nifty baby bottle drainer thingy in the picture.

Now get them wet! Not too much, just enough to get the whole top wet enough for the colors to begin shifting.

Walk away. Come back in 15 minutes and flip them over and repeat.

Walk away and come back in 15 minutes or so.

Flip them over and if you like the design, set it to the side and spray any that you want to have more color shift or patterning.

Repeat until you like what you see.

Grab your rattle can, double check that it's the clear gloss and soak that sand dollar.

The color will shift again.

Walk away... come back in awhile and spray them again. Do that until you are satisfied with the level of shine and thickness of the gloss layer.

Let dry overnight.

The next day, flip them over and seal the back side.

Through experimentation you can achieve many color schemes and patterns. No two ever turn out exactly the same.

Glue magnets on the back and give as gifts, or drill a tiny hole and hang as ornaments.

You can always add additional embellishments such as rub on word transfers. I do those during any step of the process.

My favorite thing to do with the sand dollars that are broken or have barnacles is to use gold leaf after they are sealed....but that's another Instructable!!

I hope you enjoyed this, and it was clear enough. I took a Instructable on writing instructables LOL so hopefully it wasn't too bad. I'm sure I will improve as I continue my attempts!!!