Recycling Project. Candle Holder with Small Seaglass Pieces

Small pieces of colourful Irish seaglass

 What do you do with those little tiny pieces of frosted seaglass that wash up on the shore? I have a bunch of them that are way too small for wire-wrapped jewellery and ornaments. The colours are beautiful and it's a shame to waste them. Most of them are fully frosted so they have probably been tumbling in the sea for decades and it's lovely to be able to recycle them. Here's one very simple idea as to how to display them by making an eye catching candle holder.

(To learn how to clean seaglass  firstclick HERE)

As this is a recycling project, I decided to re-use this small, glass, ramekin dish that came with lemon souffle in it. (Yummy!) At just over an inch high (c28mm) and slightly more than 3 inches in diameter (c78mm), it is the perfect size for displaying a tea light candle.

First I put the small tea light in the centre of the ramakin. After placing the small seaglass around the candle, I carefully filled the dish with water, falling short of the top of the candle by about half a centimetre.

The colourful pieces of sea glass remind me a bit of those sugary, jelly sweets small kids love.

The fluted design of the dish throws gorgeous patterns of light. The candlelight picks up some soft colour from the seaglass in the water. Three of them would make great centre pieces along a table. Only two lemon souffles in a pack...I'd best go and get some more so.

To learn how to clean seaglass click HERE

To learn how to clean seaglass jewellery click HERE

Beautiful Things from Recycled, Found or Upcycled Objects

Much as I adore working with natural gemstones and in particular, Irish stones,  turning outdated, old or found objects into a thing of beauty can be really satisfying. Not only is it a very green and economically sound thing to do but it is also creatively fulfilling. You can do some very simple things with buttons, beach treasure, old broken jewelry etc.

From time to time I recycle old broken jewelry to make handbag charms, key chains etc. Most of the components of this brown mother of pearl and bead purse charm (sold) came from an old broken necklace.

Next time I'm making something like this I will post instructions.

butterfly button pendant

Stray buttons have lots of uses in jewellery and of course, for updating old outfits, handbags etc. I love to wire wrap them into pretty and affordable, button pendants.

plain black umbrella, personalised with a bright button

But one of the traditional and easiest ways to cheer up a tired-looking outfit is of course, to either embellish with colourful buttons or simply change the existing buttons to something more interesting

Last winter several of my work mates had similar black umbrellas and I kept picking up the wrong one. So I personalised mine by adding a pinky-purple button to the wrap-around tie.

While I was at it, I decided to drag out a simple black, zip up, wool coat that had seen better days and make it match my brolly.

As the original black buttons on the cuffs and neck were just a tad bigger, I decided to keep them and just stitch the purple ones on top. This 'frame' effect looks more finished and suits the heavy material better.  After a spot of dry-cleaning, this old coat has gleaned a whole new lease of life. 

Irish seaglass bookmark

 One of my favourite materials is seaglass, naturally tumbled and frosted by the sea and found on local beaches.

It's not always easy to wire wrap it so that it stays secure but remains beautiful, but getting it right can be so rewarding.

vintage seaglass keychain

Seaglass makes beautiful jewelry but I also use it for bookmarks and other gifts

And this week I listed an ornament or sun catcher that I made by upcycling a cool piece of beach-worn glass I found on a Dublin strand.  The sea and silt have softened up the edges of the glass, but I don't feel it is frosted heavily enough to truly classify as 'seaglass.' Hence the term 'beach-worn.' However, it is an aesthetically appealing find. The bubble-effect glass almost looks liquid when hung on a lit up Christmas tree. So-called trash can really turn into treasure

Candle holder made by recycling packaging and found seaglass

 You don't have to be very artistic to make beautiful things from found or upcycled objects. To see how to make the easy peasy candle holder above, click HERE.

Not My Granny's Teapot

Just listed this brown sea pottery pendant in my Etsy store. This is another one of the pieces that I plucked from a shore near Dublin recently. The changeable weather has washed up lots and lots of beach treasure along the coastline. Yesterday was so wet I didn't feel like going out so I stayed in and wire wrapped several pendants, including this one:

brown sea pottery pendant

It does look awfully like a dinner service set my Granny had. I assure you it's not. My Mum is the custodian of said china and I doubt very much that she hauled it to the coast and chucked it in the sea!  I'm sure the pattern will be familiar to a lot of Irish and English people. The piece has no sharp edges and I'd say it's been tumbling in the Irish Sea for a few decades. I can't help but wonder whose kitchen it might have come from.

sea pottery from Ireland

 This is another piece of brown pottery with what may have been a floral pattern. The swirly design I made fills in a blank spot where the pattern is completely missing. The swirls represent the movement of the sea.  This piece is more 'chalky' and faded than the larger one above. I reckon it is twice as old. Very worn sea pottery found in these parts is often 100 years old or much more.