Make your own sea glass - NO BEACH NEEDED!
Strolling down the beach is one of my favorite activities. I love collecting sea glass and using it around my home to add to the decor.
I am fortunate to collect sea glass because I live close to the beach, however, not everyone else does.

Step 1:

After much trial and error, I figure out a way to create your own DIY sea glass so everyone can have that laid-back beachy vibe as well!
Materials:
- Broken colored glass (I used green and brown wine and beer bottles)
- Cement mixer
- Sand
- Tap water and salt
- Filter (You can use anything from a sand sifter to a colander)

Step 2:

I wanted to make large volumes, so I used a cement mixer to mimic the waves of the ocean. The steel fins inside the mixer act as the large rocks of the ocean sea bed. I started breaking wine bottles into small pieces and stole some sand from the beach, and added it all to the mixer (you can use sand from a playground sandbox if you don't have beach access). I used tap water and added salt to it before I added it to the mixer and then turned it on. After an hour, I checked and all the sharp edges had broken off.

Step 3:

Run for four hours. After running, drain the excess the sand-water slurry through a coarse screen.
Below are some pictures of glass allowed to run for different lengths of time.
The third picture is of pieces that were pulled out after one hour in the mixer. Their sharp edges are broken, and there’s light etching of the surfaces.
The fourth picture is of pieces that were pulled out after two hours in the mixer. The shapes are slightly more rounded, and the surfaces are beginning to frost heavily.
And (finally!) after four hours, the pieces begin to look a lot like what you might find washed up on a sandy beach (see last photo).