How Do You Make Recycled Glass Into Beads?
Designing and making your own jewelry is a great way to save money on store-bought pieces while harnessing your creativity. Using recycled materials in your creations will save you even more while helping the environment. Save your recycled glass, especially colored glass, to create a batch of recycled beads for your jewelry designs. Clean your recycled glass bottles thoroughly with soap and water and place them inside a thick trash bag. Wrap the bag into a bundle and place it on a hard surface. Wear safety glasses and use your hammer to shatter the bottles, starting gently and applying more force as necessary. You want glass shards 30 to 50 percent larger than the finished beads. Add glass pieces to your rock tumbler until the chamber is about two-thirds full. Add 3 tsp. of sand or grit and pour in enough water to just cover the glass. Plug in the rock tumbler on a flat surface and allow the glass to tumble. Longer tumbling times will yield smoother glass pieces. Allow the tumbler to
