Making the Most of Scrap Art Glass
If you’re anything like me you’ll have small bits of left over and scrap glass in containers in your workshop. They’re FAR too nice to throw away but too small or not right to use in a project.
But did you know that Tiffany himself started making his stunning stained glass lampshades as a result of piles of scrap glass?! Here are some ideas to inspire you and fire up your scrap glass imagination.
They’re by students of my online stained glass classes – thank you each and every one of you 🙂
Janusz Niedzielski has shared a raft of great scrap glass ideas ranging from clocks to boxes to very nice lampshades:
What about a scrap glass stained glass bridal bouquet?! Kristina Gintautiene has shared her truly ingenious and beautiful idea with us:
Or another boquet idea from Laurie Schonhofer. The edges are solder. The stems are a mix of brass rods, and 12, 14, and 20 guage silver plated wire.
Steven Clarke sent pictures of this lovely transom window made from waste art glass:
And here are lots of fantastic ideas from members of the Stained Glass Hub (my private student community) who have kindly given permission for me to share their scrap glass creations:
Here is another idea from Aristide Hagiu
The challenge of using scrap glass well is being able to get the glass to work together to suit the scrap project. It’s very different from specifically choosing the glass. It’s a fun conundrum!
Scrap Glass Questions
Question: As you know we always have pieces of scrap glass after completing a project (sometimes very small). Is there a rule of thumb for the size of scrap glass you would keep versus discarding?
Milly’s Answer:
I don’t go too tiny – 2″ square is as small as I’d go for special glass. 3″ square for more standard glass. Any smaller and overwhelm follows quickly!
If you’re a mosaicist, any size will find a home.
Here are some more decorative ideas for smaller bits of scrap glass and wire
If you need some additional inspiration to get you started, you could have a look at this Stained Glass Project book by Lynette Wrigley (affiliate)
If you have any ideas of your own, I’d love to hear about them below. Thanks in advance.
I make eyes for animals from scraps. I fuse them together in a microwave kiln.
Also I am mainly a metal artist but am learning stained and fused glass to accent metal arts. I’ve found that Rustoleum Triple Glaze spray makes glass much shinier than wax. It’s easy too. I use it on metal often.
Great ideas here Bonny, thanks. I love metal and glass and am jealous of your metalwork skills.
I don’t use wax for the glass, I use it to protect the solder seams.
I get Dollar store solar garden stakes and fill them with smashed scrap glass.
That sounds interesting Pamela, I bet they look lovely. Thanks for the idea.
Love the scrappy lanterns. Where can you purchase the metal roofs?
Hi Milly,
Thank you for sharing your beautiful work. My question is … do you have any suggestions on how to clean scrap glass? I have tons from a local sg artist but it is dusty and filthy.
Thank you,
Hope
Yes, go to this page and scroll down to find the section on cleaning dirty glass: https://everythingstainedglass.com/stained-glass-sheets
I was given a lot of leftover glass and made stepping stones, well not for stepping, but for beauty, large flowers, used Gorilla clue to attach glass, beautiful in the sun!
Thank you for this Denyse, I can see them in my mind’s eye right now 🙂
Love the idea What do you use for the stems of the flowers
I’m not sure which exactly you’re referring to Linda, but stems are usually made from tinned copper wire.
I hope that helps.
Hi Milly
I have used a considerable amount of my leftover glass to make mosaic type small tables …..about to make a sixth. Some abstract and some with patterns of birds, flowers etc.
Lots of fun.
Your mosaics sound lovely Marie; a nice idea for using up those scraps of glass. Thanks.
Another great idea to use up scraps are the scrappy birds I have seen on Pinterest
Thanks for the reminder Lilo.
Love the scrappy pieces. In the first photo (blue clock piece), what is used for the wire structure? Is that tinned heavy gauge copper or something else? Thanks.
It looks like foil and solder to me Kimme. Or am I misunderstanding what you mean?
Yes Looks to me like they used a thick piece of tinned copper wire to make the spiral, then added all the pieces onto it the usual way with foil and solder.
Milly,
Wonderful ideas for using all those pieces of glass that are too beautiful to throw away. Loved the abstract by Stephanie Klenka Mitchell and others.
I look forward to your email each week, they get more helpful every time. Great subject matter!
Thank you,
Bob in Nebraska USA
Oh that’s a nice comment Bob, thank you 🙂 I’ll let the gang know that they’re all appreciated.
Lots of mosaic artists like me would be happy to purchase boxes of scraps as well! Keeps the glass going and out of landfills!
Yay to that! I’m sure you’d be inundated with scraps if you asked sg artists nicely 🙂
Everyone has scrap glass. Sending some from Baltimore to New Mexico for just cost of shipping.
Hi Tracy.
I have tons of scrap glass if you are interested.
Thank you Milly ,
I love using my left over pieces . They are great for Christmas ornaments and small items can be added to gift tags , to make them a bit special .
Umm ! Better get cracking !
Have a good day,
Barbara M.
Yes, quick! You have a couple of months so you should be okay 🙂