Rather than scrapping a beautiful glass, bottle or antique mirror when it acquires a chip, repurpose it into something entirely new. From colorful table tops to unique art installations, creating your own custom pieces from damaged or broken glass is not nearly as complicated as you may think.
Follow these tips for breathing new life into your previously loved glass pieces and safely handling your sparkling new medium.
DIY Shimmering Shadowboxes
You’ll need:
- A shadowbox
- Glue Adhesive (like E600)
- Unsanded grout (gray is great for making colors pop)
- Broken glass
For the glass component, try a semi-complete set of different colored wine glasses from your local Goodwill store.
Or perhaps you’d prefer a mosaic from a single color family, similar to one made out of a luminous and vibrant jar like this:
To safely create glass shards from whole or broken glasses, vases or bottles, simply wrap them entirely in an old towel and place them in an open space (no kids or pets nearby). While wearing protective gloves and safety glasses, tap the towel with a hammer until you have a sufficient amount of appropriately-sized pieces of glass.
From here, spread your glass pieces in a random pattern and apply adhesive to the back of each piece and place it on the base of your shadowbox. Once each piece is set and the adhesive dries, fill in the spaces with the unsanded grout.
Once the grout dries, replace the glass cover on your shadowbox and display it on a table or countertop or hang it from a focal wall.
Here’s an example of what you can do with a pair of beautiful red glass perfume bottles when they’re empty:
Or maybe a fun design with a mirror is more your speed?
When creating shapes with your shards, before setting your pieces of glass with the adhesive, lay them out first to ensure the individual pieces will fit together correctly.
What are some of the cool transformations you’ve seen using glass and mirrors?
Shahab Shokouhi is a glass design expert at Dulles Glass and Mirror, an innovative manufacturer of glass table tops, glass shelves, and all other glass and mirror products. Follow Dulles Glass and Mirror on Pinterest or on YouTube to see how they’re changing the way glass products are manufactured, customized and delivered.
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