Introduction: How to Make an Energy Efficient Versatile Light Made of Recycled Glass

If you are one of those weird people like me who have a bunch of scraps of glass about the house then this is a great project to make something beautiful and at least semi-useful.

(By the way this project is either an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light holder or a candle holder.)

The materials needed for this project are pretty vague-

*Small but not tiny pieces of scrap glass (don't hurt yourself- preferably use sea glass; it is attainable at many craft stores if you don't feel like spending hours at the beach looking for this pretty frosted glass.) (you can also use glass marbles, broken or unbroken, glass beads, ext. get creative with what you can find!

*A glue gun & glue sticks- (any color glue will work but the best for this project is clear)

*Something to start building up on (I used a piece of trashed stained glass I made some years ago, but I guess the bottom could be made of a piece or pieces of broken glass. I guess glued sea glass would work too- that would make an interesting touch.)

*An LED light and/or a tea light or some other kind of small candle

*Oh, and you really might want newspaper over your workspace- trust me glue will get everywhere!

Step 1: Create a Workspace & Sort Materials

After you have your supplies, you probably want to clear an area and set down some newspaper to make clean-up easier; this project is kind of addicting until you finish; I don't know why.

Sorting the colors is unnecessary, but if you group them in patterns it has more of an aesthetic appeal I guess.

By the way, if you have a lot of an extra color of sea glass, then I'd save using that until the end to cover the LED light- it looks way cooler.

Step 2: And Begin!

If you have an old china plate or something glass thats pretty but useless to you, you can use it as a stable, flat base to build up on.

How to make it so the pieces fit is to try to fit some around the bottom rim- it doesn't have to be perfect.

Then lay the pieces next to where they are supposed to be so they don't loose their place.

Then how to glue pieces to the base is hold the piece in its correct place & glue around the rim connecting the glass and base & hold it until it cools- this makes for a pretty secure fit.

To build on top of the bottom rim, (test that the pieces at least semi-fit) add a line of glue on the bottom edge of the unconnected piece & while the glue is still pretty hot, press it onto the supporting piece of glass & glue on the inside and the outside of the edge to make a sturdy fit and fill in gaps.

and just build up from there!

Also, if you are working with pieces of scrap blown glass or anything with chips or sharp edges, then go over those chips with glue- it doesn't affect the color, it's barely noticeable on colored glass, and it makes less sharp edges.

Oh- and if you think you really messed up, then you can always peel off the glue or melt it off if its connected. You can't really screw up with this project; its too pretty :]

Step 3: And Tada! More Ideas And/or Additions

Yay! :D you made something pretty!

Now that you've finished, here are a few things you can do with it:

*Put in a candle- but attend to it otherwise wax will spill out and that's not fun to clean up

*Put in an LED light & to soften the glare just put in some marbles or extra sea glass on top for a cool glowing effect- you can do this with more than just clear sea glass too!

*You can put in more than just an LED light- its just that those use up barely any batteries and they look so cool- experiment!

*Give it to yo mama (or spouse) so you can be nice by giving it and keeping it at the same time :]

*You can sell it too I guess. . .Or just be nice and give it as a gift. . . or just keep it. :P

*You can attempt to put a chain on it but make certain that it is secure if you do! You don't want a heavy glass candle holder or light filled with more glass falling and breaking on somebody or whatnot.

*Oh! Another important note- please keep away and/or out of reach of small or destructive children, just as a precaution.

But whatever you do with it, have fun and don't get frustrated because it looks cool even if you think you made a mistake- I thought I did but its pretty!



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