Recycled Holiday Trees & Glassline Pens

My good friend just gave us a very special wine bottle, as it had an image from a tile we had in our house. The house was lost in the Cedar Firestorm of 2003. I wanted to keep the momento, but not as a wine bottle, so I peeled off the label. I decided to make her, and a few friends, a recycled Christmas Tree Oranment. I also thought it would make a great project for the "Green" Ornament contest at work.

    I crushed up the wine bottle into frit, and broke out my Glassline Pens from Delphi. After I fused them on a slow, full fuse, I noticed that the glass was still chunky, like blocks, and I liked that. I realized that every wine bottle or recycled glass might be different, and remembered not to add any foreign glass to the mix. I brushed off any loose or sharp pieces from the edges after the fusing. I wanted to make a two sided ornament, so I epoxied two of the trees together and placed two strands of ribbon in between. I used the epoxy to coat any exposed grainy glass that was uncovered.

    I was able to make a few economical, and very special ornaments for my friends and coworkers, and hope you can have lots of fun with your glassline pens on recycled glass!

Happy Holidays, Michelle