Searching for Sea Glass

While walking the beaches in British Columbia my eyes were always on the lookout for sea glass.  My quest on this trip was to find sea glass in various colours and sizes.

Sea glass can be found on just about any beach but there seemed to be two in particular that yielded the most. It makes you wonder why?  The photo above shows the beach areas at Clover Point in Victoria (top image) and the Glass Beach in Sidney (bottom image). These were two of the best places to search and find and of course the best time was when the tide was out.  The photo below shows the Glass Beach in Sidney, BC

Sea glass starts out as jars, bottles and anything made of glass that has been discarded or thrown to the landfill and even from ship wrecks.  It makes it way to the ocean where the waves tumble it and smooth it out.

Mainly bigger pieces of white and brown/amber were found at the Glass Beach in Sidney.

Sea glass is only found on salt water beaches while it is called beach glass if it is found on a fresh water beach.  But basically it is the same thing.  You can even make your own sea glass with broken bits of glass and a tumbler.  But of course it isn’t the same as actually finding it yourself.

Some days you found more than other days.  Many pieces are frosted and that is the result of the salt water reacting with the glass and chemically changing it.

Sea glass started forming many, many years ago when everything went to the landfill.  Some of it can be hundreds of years old.  It is always fascinating to find a piece and wonder where did it come from, what was it originally and how did it end up on a particular beach.  The above photo shows some of the small pieces of sea glass found at Clover Point in Victoria, BC.  I’ve started to separate the shades of greens and blues out. These are the cutest little jars I found in a dollar store out west.  The smallest jar is about 4 cm or 1 3/4 inches tall and just perfect for displaying the little pieces of sea glass.

Certain colours are more prevalent than others.  We found lots of white, frosted white and amber/brown.  At first each colour will all look the same but once you sorted all the blues out (for example) you notice there are many different shades.

Some of my favourite pieces of sea glass are pale green, light blue, pink/mauve.  Red is a rare colour and I wasn’t fortunate to find any that colour.  Along with some shells and small rocks I’m displaying some in a glass dish that has been in the cupboard for years and doesn’t get much use any more.  It is a fun reminder of collecting these items.

One piece of lake glass we found in Cobourg, Ontario was marked Heinz Co with the number 255 on it. Some research on the internet found a list of glass codes by the Heinz company. This one was from a 14 ounce ketchup bottle made between 1918 and 1943. Wow, it is an old piece!

So now I’m getting crafty with the sea glass. With a lot of the brown/amber and white pieces I made a sea glass candle.

With some shells and other bits I made some soap for friends and family.  I purchased a big bar of soap from Michaels using a 50% off coupon. It is a glycerine, unscented soap but you can get it scented or add your own scent if you wish.  You cut the bar into small pieces, melt a few at a time in the microwave in a glass measuring jug, pour into the mold so it is half full and let it almost set.  Then place a shell with a piece of sea glass inside it and fill the mold with more of the melted soap.  Let the whole thing set before trying to remove from the mold.  Sometimes you need to run it under hot water to release it from the mold.  If any soap bubbles appear at the top or the soap or the edges aren’t as smooth as you would like, I take a sharp knife and gently scrap away the bubbles and smooth the edges.

I’m piecing together some critters made with sea glass and shells.

This is a sea glass lighthouse that I made using sea glass mostly collected from the Sidney beach and a cutting board.

Other soap projects:

• a soapy incentive with hidden money
• a soapy incentive with hidden sea glass
• felted soap
• liquid soap
• soap holder

Do you collect sea glass or beach glass?  Where is your favourite beach to find it?  What do you do with it?

Sea glass projects:

• candle
• critters turtle, dragonfly, fish,
• lighthouse
• shadow box sea glass tree
• sea glass flowers
• sea glass tree ornaments
• sea glass soap

With everything in the world coming in plastic containers now, I wonder if sea glass/beach glass will eventually disappear.

The Crafty Side dabbles in: knit & crochet, sewing & plastic canvas, Crafty’s projects, craf-tea ideas, kids crafts, rock crafts, Christmas Ideas