Brilliant Idea!

Dianna Wood
by Dianna Wood
$80
40 Hours
Advanced

So, I had a huge jar of left over glass pebbles--you know the kind that you get at the craft store in those little net bags. I use the flawless ones to make my custom art pendants and rather than throw away the flawed ones, I kept collecting them in a large glass jar hoping someday I would come up with a brilliant idea. Well, here it is! It's a work in progress...

I first cut out pages from an old pocket Bible that was falling apart and missing pages.


More Glass Gem Ideas

Check out our guide on glass gem crafts for more information on how to use glass gems to make home decor, what type of glue to use for different projects, as well as other helpful crafting tips.

I them spent a good part of a day, decoupaging them to a long section of the hallway wall.

Once the decoupage had dried; I began at the bottom of the wall, gluing one glass bead at a time, using (you guessed it) E6000. This process took at least 10 separate, 1 hour sessions. Once I glued about 5 or 6 rows, I used lengths of scotch tape to secure them to the wall and allowed the glue to dry over night before starting another section.

This took a really, really, long time. I got to a point that I was a bit sorry that I started it. Of course that is simply because I am 54 years old and lazy.

Love the way the light reflects off the glass and magnifies the words. You could use any background you like. I'm thinking colorful tissue paper, crinkled up, would look really lovely on a larger wall that gets a lot of light.

Once I had covered the entire section of the wall with the glass pebbles, I got the crazy idea to grout them in. So, I mixed some black acrylic paint into the dry white grout that I had left over from the bathroom project and after masking everything off, I started at the bottom and worked my way up.

I ran out of grout three quarters of the way up and have decided that I like the look and I am going to leave the rest un-grouted. The next step is going to be a surprise. I hope to have it completed in a couple months.


Hint: The next step includes a little girl blowing soap bubbles.....


I doubt many people have a large jar of left over glass beads; and I doubt most people would want to stick them on a wall; but, just in case you do...

I will create a separate post once the project is complete. That post will provide a step-by-step on how I paint the wall mural.

Dianna Wood
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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3 of 4 questions
  • Suzanne Coia Suzanne Coia on Mar 11, 2017
    What type of glue did you use to adhere the pebbles to the wall?
  • Scimal Scimal on Sep 09, 2019

    Well I really love your this news paper idea but really I don’t understand how u make this circles with glue .

  • Patti P Patti P on Sep 18, 2019

    It looks great. However, should you change your mind, won’t the E6000 tear up your dry wall if you remove the pebbles?

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2 of 298 comments
  • Jeanne Jeanne on Aug 04, 2023

    Love this idea! I may try this on a smaller scale 😊

  • Becky Lewellen Coulter Becky Lewellen Coulter on Feb 17, 2024

    Oh wow this is just breathtaking. Very very talented that’s me 54 for Lazy lol Of course I have a Lotta health issues.as well this is just beautiful just breathtaking. Great job .

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