The Sand Dollar Project
I had been walking for hours up and down the shoreline in the cold and rain, knee deep in the ocean waves, with my sweatpants soaked on a gold Christmas day in Florida. I was grieving the loss of my beloved dog of nearly 17 years — it was my first Christmas without her. A friend had told me sand dollars could be found at this beach, so I went searching, maybe it would distract me a bit.
I stood looking out into the ocean and prayed, “Maybe if I just find one sand dollar, I’ll know she’s still with me.” And then... I found one. Then another. And another.
That moment was filled with peace. I'd been visiting beaches my whole life and had never found a single sand dollar — but that day, I found dozens. Then as we know it, in 2020 the world changed, and my business was put on hold and I went to check on my parents in Florida once again. That trip, I found hundreds more (already passed — never alive).
My mother and I cleaned them, and I shipped them to Ohio, and I learned how to preserve them with resin. I began turning them into art in the middle of grief and chaos. Friends asked, "What are you working on while the mandates are in place? Oh a sand dollar project. That is how The Sand Dollar Project shop was created.
What began as a distraction from grief and worry has grown into a full shop of beach-inspired products — from coloring pages and wall art to mugs, t-shirts, seashells, and swimsuits.
A portion of every sale is donated back to the beach, and I hope this shop one day helps me fill a dream of moving to Florida and being by the ocean and bring the love of the beach to homes all across the world.
