Looking for beach glass? Tumble yourself some faux.

Walking along the beaches while on holiday in Pulau Redang, I was very attracted to the sea shells and dead corals that have been washed ashore. I also discovered many colourful pieces of broken glasses.

They have been washed and tumbled by the ocean and sand for so long that they are frosted and smooth on the edges. They are so beautiful that it is no wonder some crafters, like Cindy Kuhn, have collected to use them to create jewellery. Cindy said that the chance finding of a beautiful piece of sea glass in one of the rare colors can be as rare as 1 in 10,000 pieces found. And that is why it makes the finding such a treasure and so valuable.

Don't be disheartened, especially if on top of that, you live miles away from the beach and do not see yourself going to one soon enough to collect beach glass to work out your inspiration. You can try making artificial or faux sea glass with a rock tumbler.

All you need to do is to follow the instructions for polishing rocks that is supplied with your rock tumbler. But instead of rocks, placed small pieces of colored or clear glass in any thickness into the barrel and fill it up with water. Add some grit which can be three to four spoonfuls of common sand. After tumbling for a few hours, turn it off to check if all the sharp edges on the glass are smoothen. Continue to tumble still you are happy with the smoothness and roundness of the edges.

If you prefer neat clean cut or symmetrical shapes, you can learn from WikiHow, "How to Cut a Glass Bottle". Try cutting thick glasses into evenly sized squares, then tumble them till you get cubes with smooth edges. A perfect material for mosaic art work, don't you think so? And remember to follow the code of ethics and never pass your tumbled glass off as natural sea glass.

Now that I have you interested in investing in a rock tumbler, you may as well learn Rock Tumbling Basics, to fully utilize it.