As an inveterate picker upper, my first contact with sea glass came on the rocky beaches on the western side of Newfoundland. There the beaches are covered with round rocks from quarter to fist size, and obviously an bottle coming to rest there was going to be busted up and ground smooth by the wave action and the rocks. I picked the pieces up because of the colors and the smooth finish, although occasionally I would find a piece that had not been on the beach long enough to be completed smooth or frosted. (I also picked up quite a few rocks. So many rocks, so much weight.) At that time, the glass was limited to the colors of bottles and jars: clear, green, blue, brown, Coke’s pale green, even though more products were packaged in glass. (It was a while ago.)
Look for sea glass on rocky beaches.
Since those days, glass has become valuable as a recyclable, and fewer bottles are making into the waterways of the earth to come to crunch on beaches everywhere, which is a good thing. Sea glass has also become a major craft material, and people make their own sea glass by tumbling glass bits from various sources. As a way to use glass that would otherwise probably be thrown out, sea glass makers are improving their karmic balance as well as conserving the component materials in glass. And now sea glass is available in a multitude of colors, as sea glass makers have access to the leftovers from the stained glass studios as well as the usual bottles, jars and broken glass anything. So, now, when you see sea glass for sale, it may never have been anywhere near the ocean, but, other than the slight confusion created by the name, I do not think this matters.
Regular glass pebbles.
FYI: Sea glass is also known as beach glass, mermaid’s tears, sea gems and lucky tears. “Beach glass” obviously comes from places where the beaches are sand instead of rock. The other names are slight flights of fancy to make what used to be a nuisance more desirable.
Mosaic table top made with regular glass, although sea glass would work as well.
What to do with sea glass, besides putting it in a bowl or jar to contemplate or finger? Well, sea glass is used in jewelry, or can be embedded in resin projects like trivets or paperweights. If drilled or with suitable shapes, wind chimes of sea glass are possible, and beautiful. Sea glass can be used like glass pebbles in vases to hold the flower stems, or just to fill the vase with color and interest. Mosaics and stepping stones can incorporate sea glass. Any place glass pebbles are used, sea glass can be used.
The images on this post are from Stock Xchnge.
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