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Thirty sea glass ideas and DIY projects including jewelry, stepping stones, & artwork. Use pretty glass from the beach to make crafts for the home & garden
I can tell you personally that finding Sea Glass can be an addictive hobby. Before you know it you could have jars filled to the top with beautiful pieces of colored glass. Instead of leaving them there, use sea glass to make beautiful crafts! From jewelry to wall artwork, this list of thirty ideas and projects should get your creative juices flowing.
If you’re interested in making sea glass art but aren’t sure where to find it, you can buy it. Amazon, Etsy, and eBay are good places to look but there will be direct sellers as well. You can also fake sea glass as illustrated by some of the ideas below. Lastly, you can use colored marbles or aquarium glass to make many of these crafts.
Foraging for Sea Glass
If you live near the sea or a large inland lake, you may be able to find your own sea glass. I tend it spot it easier on rocky beaches, opposed to sandy ones, and some colors of glass are rarer than others. Above you’ll find a video of one of my sea glass foraging expeditions so you can understand the landscape better.
Sea glass comes from ordinary glass that’s somehow ended up in the water. It could be glass bottles and jars that were tossed into the waves — true trash to treasure. Some of the most beautiful pieces come from places that had glassworks nearby. If you know of an old glass factory that was situated by the water make a bee-line for it first thing.
Once glass makes its way into the water, the action of waves grinds it against sand and stones. It wears down the sharp edges and gives the glass a beautiful buffered look.
This and a couple of other pieces below are from the Etsy artist the Rubbish Revival
This is one of my projects and my tip with making sure the glass looks colorful against the concrete is to spray paint the back side white. This will make sure the glass reflects its own color and not grey. How to make a Sea Glass Stepping Stone
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13 Comments
Thank you for this lovely newsletter. These are such beautiful projects. A couple of them I’ve tried before, & some are new to me. I look forward to trying them & greatly appreciate your instructions & tips! I used to gather sea glass a lot when i was younger & lived by the beach.
I just discovered your site and am so impressed by your sea glass art. Do you collect the sea glass yourself? Do you get it at Fort Bragg? I did’t know there was any left there.
Thank you for showing me what can be made with sea glass. I recently received about 2 cups of sea glass from my brother. I would like to make jewelry out of some of it. I will need to find someone who can drill the glass pieces for me.
Hi Tanya, My name is John Appleby, and I live in South Wales. My wife and I have been collecting sea glass now for a few years. I have a lot of partially buffered sea glass, all genuinely sea buffered. Would you be interested in purchasing them, or could you put me in the right direction to finding some one. I have photos of the sea glass if you are interested.
Thank you, John
Hi John — I understand that there are people who sell sea glass on Ebay and Etsy so I’d recommend looking into it. Happy sea glass hunting and selling :)
Finding Sea Glass and a diagram of Sea Glass Colours
Thank you for this lovely newsletter. These are such beautiful projects. A couple of them I’ve tried before, & some are new to me. I look forward to trying them & greatly appreciate your instructions & tips! I used to gather sea glass a lot when i was younger & lived by the beach.
I just discovered your site and am so impressed by your sea glass art. Do you collect the sea glass yourself? Do you get it at Fort Bragg? I did’t know there was any left there.
I’m quite a ways away from Fort Bragg — all the way on the other side of the ocean :)
They don’t allow you to remove the sea glass in Fort Bragg anymore.
Thank you for showing me what can be made with sea glass. I recently received about 2 cups of sea glass from my brother. I would like to make jewelry out of some of it. I will need to find someone who can drill the glass pieces for me.
I love the beach and the sea glass items are just wonderful!
Hi Tanya, My name is John Appleby, and I live in South Wales. My wife and I have been collecting sea glass now for a few years. I have a lot of partially buffered sea glass, all genuinely sea buffered. Would you be interested in purchasing them, or could you put me in the right direction to finding some one. I have photos of the sea glass if you are interested.
Thank you, John
Hi John — I understand that there are people who sell sea glass on Ebay and Etsy so I’d recommend looking into it. Happy sea glass hunting and selling :)
Hi John, I would love to purchase some of your sea glass if you still have it :) liz
Of course! :)
Thanks so much for featuring my friend Karen’s bathroom countertop! It is stunning in person –
I’ll bet it is! Please pass her on this feature if you haven’t done so already :)
I love sea glass and sandcastles but not at the same time