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Beach Glass Adventure
Recently we did a girls trip to a not so secret location to hunt for beach glass. This required a short plane ride and an overnight stay. Finding the exact location was not hard with the help of a google map. We knew we were in the right place when other people also pulled up to the dirt road in an industrial area expectantly looking for something spectacular. Upon first walking out to the beach you don’t even notice any beach glass, then when you sit in the sand to sift through it, it is amazing! All glass, small sparkling little pieces of worn glass, so small that you wouldn’t even want to pick thought it. If you walk further down the road you can see why this beach is covered in beach glass it is an old dump site. There are old rusted car parts mixed with glass. Someone must have burned some of the material because glass and car parts are melted right into the lava rock. There are bigger pieces of glass down here, some wonderful pieces are forever wedged in between the rocks and car parts, perfect pebble shapes and bonfire glass roll in and out of a small cove. This trip was so intriguing, I’ve always been attracted to the colorful pieces of beach glass but never put much thought into the source. It made me realize that coastal dumping grounds are beach glass bounties. Now I want to explore other coastal dumping sites. This is seriously adventurous trash to treasure hunting.
What to do? Holes, Wrap, Bezel or Glue?
What’s the best way to set your Sunrise shell, or any special shell? It’s a personal preference combined with the existing condition of your shell of choice. When I find a shell that is perfect for a particular project you have to decide if you want to leave it perfectly untouched or drill a hole in it. The only way to leave a shell in its pristine condition is to bezel it or wrap it. This is what I would do for a perfect collectors item. However if you’ve ever hunted for shells you might notice that a lot of shells wash up on the beach already having a perfect little hole drilled in them. This is because out there in the sea world of beautiful shells there is also the aggressive shell eating shell. Some of the ocean shells actively hunt other shells, when they catch their prey they drill a hole in the shell and suck the meat out. Sounds pretty gruesome for these innocent little shells but that is the reality of the wild kingdom of the sea. Some shells have been on the ocean floor for a while and are broken or are starting get pits in them from waves rolling them back and forth. These shells often are the best for creative projects, they inspire new and different ideas. The beloved Puka shell is from this natural process since it starts out as a cone shell. What about glue on shells? Yes I use glue on shells but that is reserved for crafty projects, and permanent jewelry as once you put glue on your shell it will stick to the shell and forever you have glue stuck to it. The best way to set your shell jewelry or shell projects are many. It depends on the look you want and what you are working with, I am always looking for new ways and ideas. what are yours?
Beach Glass, I like to guess what it came from
I think the brown colored glass is for sure Bud and Bud light, the green glass is probably Heineken, The light blue green is not as easy to find so I think that may be the old Coke bottles, the white glass must be Corona, there is a green almost neon colored glass Maybe that is Mountain Dew, I don’t know if Mountain Dew comes in a bottle. I am going to have to go to the grocery store and pay more attention to the bottle colors. I’m guessing the fishermen and boaters are throwing their bottles in the ocean which is not too cool but we are cleaning it up on the beaches.