Make-Something-Monday: DIY "Sea glass" bottles

Update/Disclaimer: I have been getting a lot of views of this post, probably since folks think they might actually get instructions on how to make the very bright and pretty mason jars seen in the image going around the 'net. I never could get the original link to work, and I'm fairly certain that those jars were manufactured, not a D.I.Y. project. Correct me if I'm wrong, and enjoy our project!

A friend had pinned an image with a caption that claimed a how-to for making jars look like "sea glass" using Elmer's Glue and food coloring. As luck would have it, the link didn't work - the server (or whatever fancy website-blocking software) here at school blocked it. I should probably be thankful, since it very well could be a bogus, porn/virus-filled link, despite the really pretty jars. But if you've seen this pin, and the link works, let me know. Maybe it's legit (or possibly even too legit to quit).

 LEFT: the alleged "sea glass" jars        RIGHT: the "sea glass" jars we made

      circulating the world of Pinterest             after reading several how-to's



So I went to the Google and did a little search, and of course came up with a ton of hits. There are a lot of crafty blogs linking this idea. Most of the pics look less like "sea glass" - which I picture as being somewhat frosted in appearance - and more like colored/tinted glass. Creative nonetheless.

As for the actual project, the how-to varied greatly. Some blogs suggested modge podge as the base, others glue; some recommended adding a little water, some a little dish soap; some were particular to food coloring in gel form, others weren't specific - another suggested using acrylic paint to add color. Some said to bake the jars at low heat, others said to let the jars air dry for a day or so. About half suggested coloring the jars from the inside, the other half suggested paining the outside using a foam brush. And of course, there were a mass of mixed results. So goes the world of DIY!

The other evening (Friday, not Monday - but we're still going to call this a make-something-monday) I hung out with my sister and we decided to try this out on some empty jars and bottles. She went with the interior coating, I went with exterior. Excuse the lack of progression pictures, we were too busy crafting! For now, just use your imagination.

Nearly all of the how-to's called for pretty much the same materials, so here are our ingredients:

• Modge Podge, matte finish (it's all I had, but it may be the key to the frosted finish)
• Food coloring, regular old liquid drops
• A bit of water
• Empty containers/food trays for mixing and draining
• Paint brushes (regular and foamy)

We weren't really concerned with exact proportions, because that would eliminate the element of fun, but we probably used about 2-3 tablespoons of modge podge and a few drops of whatever colors we wanted. And by 2-3 tablespoons I mean that we poured the modge podge in a container until it seemed like enough. Because enough is often just the right amount.


Interior coating

G's trio, looking sea-glassy

G mixed the modge podge, her chosen colors, and a little water in a container, then poured the mixture in her jar. She then swirled the jar around to completely coat the inside. The jars were set upside down on trays to drain the excess. After a majority of the excess mixture had drained, I rigged the jars up in a deconstructed milk jug to allow the air to circulate and dry the jars faster. And to keep the jars from drying onto the newspaper covering our work space (aka, her kitchen table). Another blog showed the jars being balanced on top of those plastic baskets that strawberries come in so but that seemed as though it would be a bit wobbly, and we didn't have any. Customized milk-jug racks are so much better, trust me. You can see that the rims of her jars are a bit darker - probably from the excess mixture building up as it drains.

Exterior coating

my trio, looking streaky and sea-glassy
(and slightly out of focus. we won't complain)

I mixed the modge podge and my chosen colors, then used a foam paint brush to paint the mixture on the outside of my jars & bottles. I went over each jar/bottle a couple of times, mostly so I wouldn't waste the mixture, and it definitely ended up a little thicker in some areas, but not drippy. As it dried, it was definitely revealing a bit of the frosted sea-glass effect, although streaky. One issue, as you can see, is that I neglected to paint the rims of mine. Oops. And for no other reason than I was holding on to the bottles from the tops whilst painting. Next time I'd touch them up after finishing the bottle part. (We'll ignore the other issue - that I hadn't gotten all the label stickum off before I brought them to G's and the bag I had them in had Zoe-hair in it. . . which stuck to the bottle. . . and subsequently got painted on to it, too. Dang dog hair gets everywhere).

All-in-all I'd call this a success. I think the trick here was the matte-finish modge podge, "matte" being a fancy term for "not-shiny" - which we all know good sea glass is. As I mentioned earlier, a lot of the blogs we looked at had jars that ended up with more of a tinted-glass appearance that wasn't so frosted. If you're going for that tinted glass look (like the antique ball jars, etc.) then I would recommend using regular modge podge, or trying the Elmer's glue route. But if you're going for a frosted sea-glass look, I'd go with the matte-finish modge podge. And from the picture, you can't even tell which method we each used.

Keep in mind, though, if your intention is to fill the jar with a liquid you might want to apply the coloring to the outside, since modge podge and Elmer's glue are water-based. If you just want a cool-looking jar for non-liquid storing purposes, you could go with either method. Or, heck, use both methods on one jar! In different colors! Go crazy!


nothing like the alleged "sea glass" jars,
but pretty darn cool looking

As for the image on the pin? My hunch is that the jars have some sort of paint finish that's more than just glue and food coloring. They're definitely cool looking, but a lot more opaque than one could probably manage regardless of the layering of modge podge or glue attempted. Unless somehow you could manage to get the entire jar or bottle to have the dark build-up of color like you can see on G's openings.

As lovely as these are, and as easy as this was to do (definitely on the to-do-again list), nothing beats true sea glass, lovingly prepared by mother nature: the sea, the rocks, and a little bit of time.

sea glass beach, fort bragg, CA