When I was in third grade, my best friend pitched a baseball that ended up being a home run hit for Dougie Roth. Unfortunately for Dougie, it hit Mr. Elliott's sliding glass door. Yikes. I remember all of us being called to task in the Elliott yard. Instead of listening to the lecture, I stared in amazement at the door. It was completely shattered, but still perfectly in place. It was a web of cracks and I couldn't take my eyes off it. That was the first time I had seen safety glass and its wonder.

It was many years later that I saw an art teacher do a mosaic using the cracked pieces of broken safety glass and I was hooked.

Step 1: WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

SUPPLIES:

Broken Safety glass
Clear silicone
Grout
Container to mix the grout in and something to mix the grout
Water
Sponge
Paint
Brushes
MDF board cut into a heart shape
SOS pad
Hook to hang Valentine

Step 2: PAINTING:

Paint any design you wish. I would just like to mention that the metalic gold and silver looked great coming through the glass and the glitter paint is amazing. Also, small designs tend to get lost with this project. Big shapes and bright colors work best.

I let my children come up with the art. They made five hearts on one side representing our family: My husband, me, and our three little girls.

When the paint is dry, twist the hook into the MDF board.

Step 3: SAFETY GLASS:

Safety glass is not sharp. I have never cut myself on it, even digging through the bag to get the right piece. Still, I would suggest using caution. Better safe than sorry =)

Now it's time to glue the safety glass to your heart. You will need enough silicone to get the glass to adhere nicely, but not too much that it squeezes through the cracks. Also, keep your hands as clean as possible. You want to try to avoid having silicone get on the top of the glass as this will make cleanup more difficult in the end.

You will find that the glass will slip and slide around until the silicone is dry. I like to make an X or cross pattern to begin with. Let it dry. Then you can use that row of glass to push more glass up snug.

WHERE TO GET SAFETY GLASS: I will confess that for this batch I purchased it off EBAY. Very inexpensive to buy. I once got a bucket from Freecycle and I have also been given some by a local glass repair shop.

Step 4: GROUT:

Once the entire heart is covered with safety glass and the silicone has completely dried, apply the grout. I have always been really informal about grout and have never followed the directions. I like the sanded kind and just dump some in a cup, add a little water. If it's too wet and runny, I add more grout. If it's too thick, I add more water.

It is what it is =)

Spread it around and get it in all the cracks. Give it about five minutes to set a bit and then start to slowly sponge off the excess.

After it dries overnight, I cleaned the heart with the SOS pad to get off any film or silicone that was stuck to the glass.

Step 5: THE END:

Polish up the glass to get rid of the fingerprints and you're done. I hope you enjoyed this Instructable.

And to Dougie Roth and the rest of the Georgetown Square baseball kids, it's just too bad that Mr. Elliott wasn't creative.