Playing With Glass

Kelly Condie Thompson
by Kelly Condie Thompson
6 Materials
$15
4 Hours
Medium
THIS was the post I was waiting for! I'm so excited to share these pieces with you. First we must learn how to cut glass in an easy way. Protective safety gear is always important when working with glass. Safety glasses and gloves.
Next take the glass that you are going to cut and fill it full of water to the the line where you would like to make your cut.
Either draw a line around the water line on the glass OR put a line of masking tape all the way around the glass where the line of the water is.
The top of this line will be your cutting line. Dump out the water. Using a glass cutter that can be purchased at a hardware store begin cutting the glass on the top of the line. Make a smooth, singular line. Press hard. You should hear the glass being etched as you make the cut. Try not to go over and over the line.
Remove the tape. Do you see the line that has been cut into the glass?
Now we are going to break the glass. Using the tool in the wood burning set shown here, push gently with the line of the blade of the knife against the cutting line that you have just made, all the way around the cutting line. You will move after you see that the glass has cracked about 1/2 inch to 1 inch. Then move to the end of the crack and push again. Be careful with the wood burner. It is VERY HOT! After this has cracked all the way around you should be able to just lift the top of the glass right off.
If the glass is too thick, there is a diamond edge hand saw that could be found that can saw through the glass also.
If the edges do not break off smoothly, you can take a tile nipper and break off the pieces of glass that do not line up with your cutting line.
The glass can then be sanded and made smooth with the process that is on a previous post with a connected link.
Then I glued tulle and a string of pearls to the glass. I covered the foam circle with some gold tulle and put it down in the bottom of the glass as a cushion.
I then dunked silk flowers in a juicy mix of plaster of paris that has dried and settled. I have glued it to the lid of a candle jar that fits in this bottle that has been cut and dressed up. It makes a pretty little jewelry box or keeper of precious things.
This was a piece of a bottle that was cut off and painted with enamel silver paint on the inside with a brush. It was painted haphazardly to leave blank spaces for the turquoise paint to fill in after the silver was dry. The turquoise is also painted on the inside. The enamel paint should be cured after 10 days. It is not safe for food or water but it should be able to hold certain items and look cool.
These are two bottles that have been cut off as in the previous process. The green bottle is from the example of the green bottle that is in the back. The clear bottle is just an interesting shape for olive oil that has been cut off and made smooth around the tops for vases.
These are plain bottles that I have painted with lids that almost match the color of plaster of paris. These flowers have been dunked in the plaster of paris and dried and placed together in an arrangement on top of the lids.
These are jars with painted lids and cabinet knobs attached to the lids. Because the lids are so thin, you need to get extra short screws to go through the lids and still go into the knobs. You will also need to get some washers to help hold on the knobs, because even with the shorter screws, there still may be some room that the knobs will be wobbly. You can then cover the lids with contacts paper or paint. It is fun to put different things in them to put on display up on top of the cupboards.
These bottles are water bottles from Chile. They already had the raised textures of the leaves on them. They were so pretty, that I decided to paint them with alcohol inks after I cut and sanded smooth the tops of them.
Suggested materials:
  • Various glass bottles   (on hand)
  • Tulle, pearls, foam, glue, paint   (craft store)
  • Wood burner, diamond tooth saw   (hardware, or craft store)
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Leslie Leslie on Aug 20, 2018

    Hi Kelly, thank you for your tutorial, it was very helpful and I learned about a new tool. I never heard of a saw that can saw through glass. I like that idea. Could you please give the name of it and where you purchased it? I researched "diamond edge hand saw" and found nothing like yours. Thank you for taking the time to answer.:)

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