Crafters UNITE!

[Truly Scrumptious]

Originally Posted by Miss_Tia

I already asked Scrumptious to teach me how to make the glass!

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:



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.

[amiyesiam]

Originally Posted by Truly Scrumptious

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:



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.

We had a dark red wine bottle, it has officially been smashed and the process has begun. I am so excited about this!!!!!

[Truly Scrumptious]

Originally Posted by amiyesiam

We had a dark red wine bottle, it has officially been smashed and the process has begun. I am so excited about this!!!!!

Excellent! Let us know how it goes!

[cara]

Here's a really cool article on dying easter eggs naturally!

Eggyeggyeggs.



cara

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by amiyesiam

We had a dark red wine bottle, it has officially been smashed and the process has begun. I am so excited about this!!!!!

Well, how is it turning out?

[girl_dee]

Whipped this up over the weekend, another one for the Women's shelter here, i hope some baby likes it!

[amiyesiam]

Originally Posted by Cajun_dee

Whipped this up over the weekend, another one for the Women's shelter here, i hope some baby likes it!

Awesome!!!!!!

[amiyesiam]

Originally Posted by Gemme

Well, how is it turning out?

I keep shaking it up, there are tons of bits of broken tiny pieces of glass in there now with the big pieces. So it seems to be working.

[Truly Scrumptious]

Originally Posted by amiyesiam

I keep shaking it up, there are tons of bits of broken tiny pieces of glass in there now with the big pieces. So it seems to be working.

Open the jar and take out a couple of pieces . . see how they feel. If they are dull around the edges (so that you couldn't cut yourself) they are ready. Just be careful!

[Medusa]

I just did a Mona Lisa paint by numbers with weird neon colors.

Oh, the irony.

[justkim]

I found a really cool craft sight, can't remember if I have shared it yet... They have all kinds of free patterns and recipes. Have fun and explore this place it haves some really cool stuff.

favecrafts.com

[nycfem]

Anyone love to make jewelry or want to try their hand at it?

Here's a link to a project I'm wrangling on the PenPal thread:

http://www.butchfemmeplanet.com/foru...715#post625715

If interested, please sign up on the Penpal thread.

[cinnamongrrl]

Originally Posted by justkim

I found a really cool craft sight, can't remember if I have shared it yet... They have all kinds of free patterns and recipes. Have fun and explore this place it haves some really cool stuff.

favecrafts.com

Kim, I have to thank you for this website! I have perused it a bit and there's just SO much to see and do...I have sooo many ideas for upcoming season. Thanks again
Ang