one sand dollar piece

Uber Cuteness! If “they” named SAND DOLLARS because of the similar size of a one dollar coin piece, then I found me some SAND DIMES this morning! LOL

sand dollar dime quarter

But then, they are even smaller than a dime.

itty bitty sand dollar

I know some of them are still a little dark in color but don’t worry, they weren’t still alive. They were all in different stages of losing their “fur” (that’s what I call it but they actually have fine hair or cilia that cover their bodies) so that’s why they are all different colors as well. In probably one more day they will all turn white… if they don’t break apart first.

two miniature sand dollars

 Tara (St Louis) was showing her daughter Vivian something she just found and I got very curious because they looked so excited…seashell family tradition

So I had to ask what they found. She had a few mini shells and lots of these mini SAND DOLLARS!

tara juvenile sand dollars

tara vivian collcting sand dollars

Tara introduced me to the gal who found this little treasure trove of gems first this morning, Kay from Iowa. Kay’s daughter was cleaning some shells she brought back to their place yesterday and one of these little SAND DOLLARS dropped out of another shell. Wow! So Kay went back this morning about half a mile east of Gulfside City Park (Sanibel) to see if she could find a few more. Yes! She found the spot and shared this little seashell honey hole with all of us that walked by. So sweet! Kay was a little shy of the camera but she showed me the little darlings that she had in her hand…

tiny sand dollars

Kate and Ken from Michigan were finding the bigger shells on the same beach.

kate ken sanibel shelling

Ken was especially happy he found that awesome baby LIGHTNING WHELK and the rich colored LETTERED OLIVE (grrrr… I wish you could see that one better because it is gorgeous). I know, that’s a gorgeous PAPER FIG too, right? It’s a keeper even though it has a tiny hole on the other side of the shell. It’s always a good day to find a PAPER FIG!

ken seashells sanibel

I met them just before we found the SAND “DIMES” (heehee) so they joined in on the fun too.

juvenile sand dollar

It was like we were finding real money out there! I actually think is was better than finding money (hmmmm, well, better than finding pocket change … let’s be honest! ;)) I got so excited to see this adorable BLING, I figured you would too. So I took a video for a CYBERSHELLING hunt for a few minutes so you could go with me. Enjoy!

 

small sand dollar colors