As a kid, I loved sea glass or beach glass. I still do! It seems harder to come by at the beach. Certainly you can buy it at the craft store, but I wanted to give making it a try. I was inspired by a video I saw on YouTube, where a guy tumbled an enormous amount of glass for his flower beds. It was beautiful! I wanted to give it a try on a much smaller scale. Also, I don’t have nearly enough glass or a cement mixer! I have that video linked at the bottom of the post.
Here is my sea glass:
You will need:
– Rock tumbler (www.orientaltrading.com)
– Broken glass
– Sand
Here is the video tutorial:
Directions:
1. Set up your rock tumbler.
2. If you glass is not broken, break it. In the video, you will see I had quite a time trying to break a wine bottle! Remember to do it safely. Wear eye protection and do it in a bag, so glass doesn’t get everywhere!
3. Put broken pieces of glass into the tumbler and add approximately four tablespoons of sand. Don’t put too much glass in, or too much sand. You need the pieces to actually be able to tumble.
4. Close up the tumbler and turn it on. You need to have some patience and you need to realize it’s not quiet. This could easily take a couple of days. I put mine out the garage. I checked on it a couple of times a day, until it was tumbled enough.
5. Once tumbled, wash it off and dry it.
Now go make something awesome! I didn’t put any clear glass in, but I should have. The clear glass, once tumbled, is the white sea glass.
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Crafting!
Mona
Here is the video I was referring to:
***Oriental Trading provided the rock tumbler for review. The ideas and opinions are all my own. Here is a direct link to the tumbler I used: https://www.orientaltrading.com/rock-tumbler-a2-13646175.fltr?Ntt=rock%20tumbler
I used to do this too. You didn't mention putting water in the tumbler–it does need water, and give it more than a week. The noise drove my husband crazy, even with the machine in the garage.