After a wonderful trip to Captiva Island, we decided to make our own sand dollar souvenir after a cruise to Cayo Costa Island. For less than $25 in materials, it’s an affordable and unique way to showcase memories of our favorite Captiva Island excursion right in our home. We’ll show you how to showcase your own sand dollars too.
We love sand dollars. It’s our site logo after all.
Gathering Sand Dollars
Remember, live shelling is illegal. This means if the sand dollar is alive, you must leave it in the gulf. According to the Sanibel Sea School, a sand dollar is alive if it’s:
- Deep brown to reddish-purple in color;
- Dark in color with little pines that move;
- Leaving yellow color on your skin after being handled.
Sand dollars cannot survive out of the water for more than a few minutes. If it’s alive, immediately put it back in the water.
With that out of the way, let’s talk about where to find the most treasured of shells.
If you’re looking for sand dollars on Sanibel or Captiva Island, you can comb the beaches after high tide and find a few, if you’re lucky. But if you really want to find a lot of large, whole sand dollars – and we mean dozens of them – there’s an even better spot. You’ll need to hop on a boat and take the cruise to Cayo Costa island.
We chose the half-day excursion through Captiva Cruises. The cruise to Cayo Costa island and state park is one of our all-time favorite Captiva Island memories. When we went in 2020, we left with more than a dozen sand dollars, and that doesn’t include the ones we put back or gave to others.
Handling Sand Dollars
Sand dollars are extremely delicate. Handle them with care each step of the way, including when you make the display for your home.
Packing Sand Dollars
Sand dollars are very fragile. Getting your haul safely on the boat and flight home will be critical. We packed ours in an empty cracker box, wrapped in paper towels. Of the 15 we came home with, 10 survived the journey to the Twin Cities (mostly) intact.
Sun Bleach Your Sand Dollars
If you’re looking for a consistent color for your sand dollars, place them in the sun for a few days. This will give each sand dollar the same pure white color.
Notes On Other Supplies
Aside from sand dollars, you’ll need a shadow box frame, possibly a backdrop, and an adhesive. We had the best luck with super glue gel.
Frame Selection
For this project, we found a burlap-backed white shadow box at Home Goods for less than $10. We lucked out when we found this, as it was the only one in the store. And we didn’t need to hunt for the perfect backdrop.
Super Glue
After some trial and error, we settled on gel super glue for this project. Initially, we affixed the sand dollar to an old t-shirt using normal super glue, which is not as thick as the gel version. Regular glue didn’t affix the shell to fabrics, but the gel worked great.
If you’re using the 0.07 oz. version pictured above, you’ll need about one bottle for every two sand dollars.
Recommendation: Test a sand dollar fragment and glue on a similar fabric to what’s in your frame.
Sand Dollar Souvenir Instructions
Supplies
- Shadow Box Fame With Backdrop
- 0.07 Oz Super Glue Gel: 1 bottle for each 2 sand dollars.
Instructions
1. Carefully unpack your sand dollars and place them on a stable surface in your work area. These are extremely delicate and will break easily if not careful.
2. Gather other supplies.
3. Test your glue selection by affixing a sand dollar fragment on the backdrop or similar material. If it sticks, proceed.
4. Layout your sand dollars, looking for the best layout given your sand dollars and frame.
Adjusting the sand dollars. 
Finalized layout.
5. Once you’ve settled on your layout, take a picture. Carefully remove each sand dollar and place it on a flat surface next to the frame in the same layout.
6. Turn over the first sand dollar and affix a generous amount of super glue gel to the back of it. Gently place the sand dollar, glue-side down, on the backdrop.
Gel glue is the way to go. 
Be generous with the glue.
7. Repeat Step 6 until each sand dollar is placed in the frame.
8. After a few days, carefully pick up your frame and keep it flat. Gently move it back and forth to see if the sand dollars move. If they stay in place, slowly put the frame upright.
9 . Hang the frame on a wall, or place it on a shelf.
Now you can enjoy a little piece of the islands, in the comfort of your own home. It’s a great reminder of the memories you’ll cherish, long after your vacation ends.
