I had a couple of messages about the glass, so will explain here:
It's a simple process, but has the potential to be dangerous so the two most important things are safety glasses and gloves . . I usually use gardening gloves.
Collect some glass . . . green or amber wine bottles are great as are Skyy vodka bottles, because they are a beautiful cobalt blue. There are other kinds of glass you can use, but you have to look out for tempered glass because it doesn't break well, it just splinters. Most glass dishes turn out to be tempered glass, so I usually stick to wine bottles.
If you drink a lot of wine or vodka, you're all set. If not, you can ask your friends to save their empty bottles, I've run ads on craigslist asking for empty wine bottles and have done well that way. And I'm not above a little trash picking . . . there's a restaurant near me that puts all their empty wine bottles out for the trash twice a week, you might be able to find some that way too.
Soak the labels off, wash and dry the bottles, and you're ready to begin. You need some plastic bags, like grocery bags (or a pillow case, but keep in mind that you will destroy whatever you use, so don't use a pillow case that you intend to keep). This step is best done outside, or in a garage: put one bottle in a bag, and double the bag if it's thin. Put on your glasses and gloves, and smash the bottle with a hammer. This might take a few tries, it's amazing how things refuse to break when you want them to. Once you've broken the bottle into a few big pieces, break those pieces into smaller pieces with the hammer, this time it won't take much force.
When you've got all the pieces in the sizes you want, you're ready to tumble.
You need an empty glass jar with a tight fitting lid, and a few rocks. The jar doesn't have to be big, you want to make sure you can lift it comfortably.
Put a few rocks in the jar (any kind of rocks will do) and add the glass until the jar is about 3/4 full. Add a drop of dish soap, and enough water to cover the glass, but not enough to fill the jar. It should look like this:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47a2...D550/ry%3D400/
Then you shake the jar. Shake it up and down, side to side, whatever works for you . . just shake it for awhile. Shake it as often as you remember to, for about a week. I usually leave the jar in the kitchen by the sink, and shake it whenever I'm in there. In about a week, open the jar, take out a piece of glass, and see if it's ready. The edges should be dull enough that you couldn't possibly cut yourself with it. If it's not ready, just shake it for a few more days and it will be. When it's ready, drain it, (be careful because there will always be some little slivers just waiting to cut you), lay it out on a soft cloth until it's dry, and then it's ready to be used however you like.
