Terri with WaterSong Creek Creations does it again with these beautiful beach themed crushed glass hearts. We love seeing what she comes up with using our ProGlas 1000 Tabletop Epoxy Resin. These would be a fun Valentine's Day gift or an every day decoration.

If you would like to read the edited transcription instead of watching the video, read below-

Hey Resin Fans!

Today we are going to do something a little different. We are going to make some crushed glass hearts on a shadowbox to make a pretty wall hanging. Or, you can set it on your counter. They make great gifts and they are really fun and easy to make.

We are going to start with an 8x8 shadowbox from Michaels that has a hook on the back. I buy these in a three pack when I have a “buy one get one” coupon. Then I get a heart cut out that I use my Cricut machine for tracing. Then I have these glass beads. I’m going to use the green and the clear. And then these little plastic beads are flat on one side. I sprinkle these around to give a bubble effect. Of course, our base materials are going to be stir sticks, toothpicks to keep everything in the shape I want it and cups to keep the glass up on for resin drips. Also, mixing cups, gloves, my respirator, my torch and heat gun, and as always, my ProGlas 1000 UV Clear Coat epoxy resin.

First thing we are going to do is disassemble the shadowbox. I just need the glass piece for this first part. There is a frame inside the frame that holds the glass away from the front edge of the outer frame which makes it a shadowbox. And what I am going to start by doing is tracing that inner frame because I don’t want resin or the embellishments that I am going to put on it to go outside that. Otherwise, it is going to make the glass not fit down in the shadowbox as it should. If the resin goes over that line, it is not the end of the world but if I put any crushed glass or seashells then the frame won’t go back together at all. So, after I trace my heart, I make sure to flip the glass over and just use that as an outline from the back. If I poured resin over all that, I would not be able to erase those black lines and they would show through on my piece of finished art. As always, I am going to lay out what I want the piece to look like before I ever start. A big mistake is to have resin on your project and lay things down and then decide you want it to be different. Or, you want a different additive or seashell and you have the one you don’t want covered in resin. So, I always always lay my projects out first and then take a picture of them so that I have a reference point when it is time to reassemble everything and I got my resin down.

I like to use larger glass beads to simulate bigger bubbles and add a little color and interest. And later on, I am going to use some tiny beads to give the effect of bubbles. When I am happy with how everything looks, I will mix up and pour some resin. I did forget to turn the camera on when I actually poured the resin out but here is the glass with resin on it. I poured two ounces of resin per glass. It was a little thicker than I needed it to be but I always would rather have more since I will be laying out a thick layer of crushed glass in the heart. I wanted to make sure it was deep enough that glass would sink down in. I am using my little hand tool to bring the resin out to that black outer line that I drew and make sure everything is covered and all will sit down nicely.

I am using a teaspoon to scoop the crushed glass. And I believe I used 4 tsp per heart. Then I use a flat stir stick to move everything out to the edge of the line. Then outline so that it is just the way I want it. I use a toothpick to push all those little pieces of crushed glass into the line of the heart. I’m pretty intentional about making sure every little piece of glass is where I want it. You don’t think much about it when you have a black outline but later on when I take that away if there are pieces that are straggling then it takes away from the crisp look of the heart that I am going for.

Now I will start on the teal again using 4 teaspoons of crushed glass. This glass I buy at Michaels in the section where the flower vases are and other additives. It is considered a vase filler. It is tempered glass so it is not sharp glass with shards that are going to cut you. Obviously, you want to be respectful of it but it’s fine to use. Again, I will take my toothpick and work all those pieces of glass into the perfectly straight lines I am looking for so I can have a crisp, clean heart for my finished art piece.

Then I will start laying down all of my shells. I realized that the starfish were not touching the resin at any point the way I had them laying on the seashell. So, I just took some of that excess resin as I referenced. I poured it pretty thick. Use that to tack the starfish to the seashell. I like the 3d effect of a starfish sitting up on a seashell especially in this piece. I made these several times. They are very popular. They always sell as soon as I take them into any of my shops. I wholesale to gift shops around quite a bit of Florida. It is always well received.

Still not comfortable with how secure that starfish is so I add a little more additional resin. And if you know me, you know that my iPad is just over to the left with the picture of my layout so I put everything back just the way I want it.

Putting in those glass beads and then after I torch the bubbles. I don’t mind torching on glass or wood. I try to never torch in a mold but I always torch with anything that won’t melt like a silicone mold would. I am using my tweezers to lay these little plastic beads down. As I said, they are flat on one side. So, they are a little tedious to make sure I get the dome side up so I get the bubble effect I am looking for. It just depends on how I am feeling, whether I want a lot of bubbles or if I just want a few. Just kind of go with the flow. I don’t want to overwhelm with bubbles and take away from the crushed glass heart but I do want that underwater effect.

After the final torch, I am going to put it on the drying rack and leave it for 24 hours. And here we are the next day, I’ve got an 8.5 x 11” white cardstock. I’m going to cut it down to an 8”x8” size to put behind the glass. If I didn’t, the brown back of the shadowbox would show through and completely take away from the clean crisp effect of the clear glass with the colorful hearts popping off of it.

Once that’s done, it is time to assemble. First, I am going to clean all those sharpie marks off the back using 91% isopropyl alcohol. That works very well to clean everything off the back. I’m also going to give it a good tap to make sure any of the loose crushed shells don’t come off in case anything didn’t adhere to the resin. So, once I have it nice and clean, we will reassemble.

We are going to put the inner frame into the outer frame and put that white cardstock in the frame. Then put it all back together. I use a flathead screwdriver to push those tabs down nice and tight so nothing is loose or shaking out of the side.

You don’t have to do just hearts. You can trace any pattern to do these crushed glass art pieces. I do several. I do angel fish and starfish. I have even done little islands with palm trees or mermaid tails. Whatever strikes your fancy. I just especially like the clean crisp look of the hearts.

This is a really fun art project you can do in an afternoon. With all the right materials, they are really nice for your own home but especially to give as a gift.

Still have questions? Reach out to Fiberglass Warehouse at sales@fiberglasswarehouse.com