Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

I don’t care what you call it.  Faux. Fake. Imitation. Counterfeit.  Mock.  It’s not real sea glass, but it comes very close to looking like the real thing.  One clue that a piece of “sea glass” is manmade not nature made is the color.  Most sea glass is dark brown, dark green, or frosty white.  These are the colors of the bottles of soda, beer, and wine that find a way into our oceans.  So if you are seeing light blues, light yellows, frosty pink or neon orange, most likely your sea glass was made by a person, not Mother Nature.

I made more than enough pieces just in case! You can see my glass cutter to the top right. The pliers in my hands are designed for safely breaking glass along cut lines.

 I must admit, I liked those unnatural colors of sea glass.  So I searched my junk glass drawers for light blues, soft yellows, delicate pinks, and yes, bright oranges!  My junk glass is made up of leftovers from other glass projects (fusing, slumping, and torch bead making).  I also get glass from friends who do stain glass.  Most stain glass shops sell what I call junk glass by the pound at inexpensive prices.  For stain glass shops this is glass leftover after classes and too small to save for the next project.

Once I had my glass picked out I did have to cut it into smaller pieces with a glass cutter.  I read on a website that you can also wrap the glass in newspaper and tap on the wrapped package with a hammer to get smaller sizes of glass.  If you do this, just be very careful, the glass can be very jagged and sharp.  Using newspaper and a hammer will get you more random shapes.  I sort of had an idea in mind of what I wanted to make so I wanted the control of a glass cutter to give me squares and rectangles of the same shape and size.  Always wear safety goggles when working with glass!

I placed my drill in a drill press for my first attempt at drilling a hole in the glass. I striped the bit! Total waste. It's best to hold the drill in your hand for better control.

The next step for me would be to drill holes in the glass shapes for earrings and pendants.  You can use bails instead of drilling holes, but most of the time you will see the bail even though the glass isn’t clear.  I work with glass so I did have a good idea of what was involved in drilling glass.  First of all, you MUST use a diamond tip bit. This is a specialty bit that is on the expensive side.  But only diamond tip bits will cut glass. You also need a drill.  I have my handy Dremel, a tool that has a million and one uses with all sorts of bits and tips available.

To drill glass you need to place the glass in water.  This keeps the glass and the drill bit from overheating.  I use a sturdy shallow plastic tray filled 1/2 with water.  I do have a drill press for my Dremel tool, but for drilling glass I recommend holding the drill.  You place the glass to drill into the water, come in at an angle for your first touch down onto the glass, and drill slow and steady.  It takes some patience, but you’ll damage the bit and the drill if you try to power push the bit through the glass.  It takes a little practice too.  If you aren’t steady, the bit will bounce around on top of the glass! You drill the hole in the glass before starting the aging or etching process so that the hole will also get that sea glass look to it!  Again, don’t forget to wear your safety goggles.  Your eyes must always be protected.

I’ve already invested dozens of hours into my sea glass.  I researched several resources for instructions, gathered up the supplies (glass, glass cutter, etching solution/creme or tumbler, drill, diamond drill bit, bails, brush, containers, and file), and started the process.  I’m less than half way there!  What have I gotten myself into?  For a recycling (green) craft this one was starting to add up to some major money and time investment.

At this point, however, I am obsessed as only a creative person can be obsessed.  I will make faux sea glass if it kills me!

Come back in a couple of weeks to see if I make it out alive!

The earrings that started it all!

It started very innocently.  On a trip to the Bahamas I found a pair of earrings that were made with faux or fake sea glass.  I knew it wasn’t real sea glass because the real stuff is rarely this perfect! If you don’t know what sea glass is, I’ve found some wonderful sites with interesting facts about sea glass.

Wikipedia: Sea Glass

North American Sea Glass Association

Pure Sea Glass

True or “natural” sea glass is glass from bottles and such that have broken up, and over time the water and sand of the sea has turned the glass into gems.  I’ve found real sea glass in my shelling adventures and also on a trip to Hawaii’s famous sea glass beach.  I prefer to place my true sea glass in bowls rather than turn the tiny treasures into jewelry. 

Some beautiful sea glass found on PureSeaGlass.com

My interest was peaked so I bought the earrings.  I knew the sea glass was manmade, but I just loved the aged, soft look.  Then when traveling to Grand Cayman I spotted some jewelry that wasn’t shaped like the usual sea glass. Instead the glass was shaped.  Shaped like a fish, one of my favorite motifs.  Again, I loved the effect so much I purchased a bracelet and matching earrings.

I was hooked with my second purchase of faux sea glass jewelry!

With this purchase, I decided it was time for me to make some of this fun stuff called faux sea glass.  I was determined.  I had glass I could use.  I just had to find out how to make the faux sea glass.  I had an idea of what would be involved.  I was sure the glass was etched (chemically or mechanically).  I knew I wasn’t going to invest in a sandblaster, a tool used to create beautifully etched glass for windows, doors, screens, and wall art.  I did have a tumbler that I used to polish and smooth some of my lampwork beads.  Thus the investigation began…

Come back soon and have a laugh on me because I really had no idea what I was in for when I decided I wanted to create some jewelry with faux sea glass!

I am just back from the Craft And Hobby Association’s Winter Trade Show 2009.  I have many things I want to report and dozens of photos I’m excited to show you, but I’m going to start with someone who caused quite a stir at the show.  I’m not sure there is anyone on the planet that doesn’t know her name and the fact that she’s usually late for her appearances, but Paris Hilton unveiled her bead kits at the industry event while causing a major traffic jam in the aisles around her.  It seemed everyone wanted a photo of Paris.  I got lucky when my friend Bill Gardner told me we might have a better chance of getting her photo outside when she arrived.

I knew Paris was close because of all the security and bodyguards!

It took me well over 3 hours, but I did get a few nice photos for the blog!

The girls waiting with me were right, Paris Hilton is very pretty and friendly.

I did have some fun while waiting for Miss Hilton to arrive.  Three of her fans were sitting right beside me patiently waiting.  One of the girls leaned over to me and said that the group had read that Paris was coming to the show on Paris’ fan site, but when they arrived they found out that it was a trade show and they wouldn’t be allowed in to see her.  They were disappointed, but hoping to catch her outside.

Paris brought along her scrapbook album.

I’m not sure what I was expecting Paris Hilton fans to look like, but it wasn’t in the form of the three nicely dressed, polite, almost shy teenagers sitting beside me.  The girls liked crafts.  They liked to add some bling to their clothes and accessories.  And they like the idea that Paris was introducing jewelry kits.  I asked them why they liked Paris so much and they told me that Paris was pretty and could do anything.  I told them they too were beautiful young women and given a little time they could do even more than Paris, they had the possibilities available to change the world. In the meantime, I got them onto the show floor and pointed them to Paris’ booth.

Paris unveiled a jewelry kit line similar to the ones you see here (that's her bodyguard to the left).