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 coloured 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 coloured marbles or aquarium glass to make many of these crafts.
Foraging for Sea Glass
If you live near the sea or a large in-land 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 a 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 grind it against sand and stones. It wears down the sharp edges and gives the glass a beautiful buffered look.
This and a couple other pieces below are from the Etsy artist the Rubbish Revival
DIY Sea Glass Candle
Painted birds – via Pinterest
Stepping stone
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
Driftwood & Sea Glass Wall Art
Sea Glass Resin Coasters
Finding Sea Glass and a diagram of Sea Glass Colours
Drilled Necklace
DIY Photo Transfer onto Glass – via Art in Red Wagons
Heart artwork on paper. Poster available from Amazon
Whale Tail Artwork
Water Terrarium
DIY Faux Sea Glass effect – via NZ Girl
Bathroom counter – via Everything Coastal
Organized into a Letterpress tray
Ring made with wire-wrapped glass – via Sea Candy Jewelry
Mermaid – via Completely Coastal
Modern
Sea Glass Wall art
Sea Glass Candle holder
DIY Sea Glass Bracelet – via the Sweetest Occasion
Driftwood & Sea Glass Christmas Tree – via Natural New Age Mum
Sea Glass Sailboat
Simple idea: Fill a vintage bottle – via Divas to Dandelions
Pretty Sea Glass Door knobs – via Beachy Rustica
Window filled with coloured Sea Glass – via Completely Coastal
Chunky rings – via Judith Altruda
Sea Glass Mason Jar Candle – via the Country Chic Cottage
Polymer Clay Fossil tutorial – via Etsy
Sea Glass effect resin rings
Visit Sea Glass Beach in Fort Bragg, California – via Matador Network
Sheila Webb says
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.
Katy Beacher says
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.
lovelygreens says
I’m quite a ways away from Fort Bragg — all the way on the other side of the ocean 🙂
Jamie Walker says
They don’t allow you to remove the sea glass in Fort Bragg anymore.
Carolyn Deane says
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.
Cindy Taylor says
I love the beach and the sea glass items are just wonderful!
John Appleby says
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
lovelygreens says
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 🙂
Beachy says
Hi, would you mind changing the link on the “Door Knob” to http://beachyrustica.mysupadupa.com/collections/beach-glass/products/cabinet-knob-sea-glass-stone-drawer-pull-made-in-america
Thanks to a change in etsy payment processors my shop there will be gone as of May 18th. Thank you! 🙂
lovelygreens says
Of course! 🙂
Caron says
Thanks so much for featuring my friend Karen’s bathroom countertop! It is stunning in person –
lovelygreens says
I’ll bet it is! Please pass her on this feature if you haven’t done so already 🙂