Sea Glass Extravaganza!

I'm strangely enthralled with finding beautiful things.  It's a combination of the joy of discovery, and the fear of the item never being found.  There's just something about spotting that perfect piece at goodwill, a lost earring on the ground, or a 4 leaf clover among so many 3 leaves.  A few years ago I learned about sea glass, and it struck something inside me.

It's quite poetic; the accidental beauty of sea glass.  Humans dumping their trash into the ocean for years upon years, only for the ocean to patiently roll the hardest parts along the sand and through the waves to produce this beautiful smoothed little gem.  The glass is frosted by the salty sea water, breaking down the outer surface of the glass.

The glass holds pieces of human history, now gone with the advent of plastics.  They are archaeological pieces.  Blues may come from medicine, vapo rub or nivea bottles, reds may come from pre-plastic tail lights, and pastels often come from perfume bottles.



When I started planning my trip to California, this passion for sea glass was certainly in the back of my mind.  Sea glass certainly can be found anywhere, but my understanding is that it is concentrated on English, Japanese, and Californian shores.

So, trying to contain my excitement, I asked the friend I was visiting, "do you know if there's any sea glass near you?  I think it's supposed to be more common out there, and I've always thought it would be cool to find some."

To my surprise, he says, "I think there's a whole beach of it!"  It turns out that Glass Beach in Fort Bragg is 2 and 1/2 hours from Sonoma where he lives, but my very sweet companion was willing to drive me there.  We drove through beautiful redwood forests, quaint towns, and along lovely coastline.

It was more than worth it.  The beach was so unlike the East Coast beaches I'm used to.  Covered in glittering sea glass, with imposing awe inspiring cliffs.  The place was incredibly beautiful.  I collected a few interesting pieces, and we stayed in a lovely bed and breakfast with an ocean view.

If it weren't for my crazy crafting, I don't think I would have visited this incredible spot!

DIY drawer organizer- with TP

The cardboard out of my toilet paper tubes calls out to me, "use me in a craft."  So I comply sticking them in a drawer with lots of other items that *should* be trashed or taken out with the recycling.

Then it came to me -like a flash. An answer to my messy drawers AND my hoarding habit.  Recycled drawer organizer!!

Make your own!  You will need:

• Cardboard TP innards (which should have gone out with your recycling...go get them from your hall, nobody's watching)

• A beautiful color of spray paint

• Glue (Elmers, glue gun)

• Scissors (I used regular and serrated)

• Felt (I used a felted goodwill sweater)

My organizer is for my makeup drawer in my bathroom, so I cut my pieces of TP tube about 3 inches tall.  The height of yours depends on what you are organizing and your drawer.  Go ahead and cut all your pieces.  I made one side of each piece serrated and the other flat (flat side goes on the base)

I made 2 organizers, one with squares, one with circles.

Square Organizer, with 3 sizes:

To make the small squares, pinch the piece of tube together to create a 2 points, match up the points & pinch to make a square.

For the large size, cut the piece of tube long ways, bring the sides to meet, and flatten. (so you have one long side & 2 smaller tabs)  Do the same thing again with another tube.  Glue the small tabs together to make a larger square or use them for the small rectangles.

Place your squares in a pleasing design, then glue all of the squares together with whatever glue you have on hand (elmers works well)

Circle Organizer:

Fold 2 of the circle pieces into hexagons (fold in half, unfold, then fold in half again, unfold, then in half again).  Glue the hexagons together, and glue the circles around them.


For Both Organizers:

Place structure over felt & trace with a pin.  Cut out the felt piece.

Spray paint cardboard tube design, inside and out.  When it dries, glue cardboard to the felt with a glue gun.

AND YOU'RE DONE!!!  Now time to organize!