DIY Beach Glass Photo Transfer

My Aunt and Uncle have been collecting beach glass for years. When I was recently at their house for a visit, I was fascinated by how many pieces they have acquired over time. I picked up a few and started looking at them. I thought to myself, “There has to be something cool that you can do with all of this glass.” I remembered Julia’s wood photo transfer post, and that gave me the idea to try a photo transfer on a different type of medium-beach glass! I snagged a couple of white pieces from my Aunt and Uncle (with their permission) and tried out the photo transfer technique.

glass-transfer-1

What you need:

White beach glass

Mod Podge

Paint Brush

Laser printed images (I made sure all of the images were a resolution of 300 and sized them down to fit my glass. Make sure to flip them so they don’t show up backwards after the transfer is complete! I used pictures of flowers, but landscapes also work really well.)

Hand towel

glass-transfer-2

Step one- Apply Mod Podge to the front side of your image.

glass-transfer-3

Step two- Place the image onto a piece of beach glass and press it down to be sure all of the air bubbles are out. Trim or tear off the excess edges. Allow the Mod Podge to dry for about an hour.

glass-transfer-3

Step three- Once all of your pieces are dry, lay them out on a towel and cover them with a damp one.

glass-transfer-5

Make sure the towel is wet enough but not soaking. Press down to make sure all of the pieces are covered and allow this to sit for 1o minutes.

glass-transfer-7

Step four- Start to rub away the white paper gently with the towel.

glass-transfer-10

Step five- Once all of the white paper is removed, apply another coat of Mod Podge.

glass-transfer-6

glass-transfer-7

After the Mod Podge is dry, your beach glass photo transfers are finished! These are great to fill up mason jars with or to use as decorative paper weights.

glass-transfer-8

You can also hang them from a tree using twine as outdoor decor. This is a perfect decoration for a festival campsite!

glass-transfer-10

… But my favorite way to use these pieces of beach glass is to make necklaces with them.

glass-transfer-11

All you need is some cording and a hot glue gun!

glass-transfer-1

Do you all have any other suggestions on ways to use these pieces of beach glass? I would love to hear!

Check out More DIY projects  from the BLDG 25 Blog.

Follow FP Jana on twitter.

0 0 vote
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
44 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Beth C
10 years ago

This is awesome! Yet another reason to continue my never ending search for more beach glass!

10 years ago

Such an awesome idea!!

xx
MacK @ SoulMakes Blog

Hemingway
10 years ago

I love this idea; thanks so much for the tutorial!

meg
10 years ago

This looks super easy to do! I love the effect the picture has on the glass!

http://happinessiscreating.com/

FpSophiaBurls
10 years ago

This is awesome, Jana! I love the idea, must try!

Lindsay Ries
10 years ago

I actually know your Aunt and Uncle..Cathy and Gil and have seen their collection too! I brought my sea glass over to show Cathy the other day before vacation and they were impressed, which meant a lot coming from those experts. I love this idea! A lady from Maine, where I found my glass, told me that jewelery wire is also a good way to make a necklace. Wrap it around the piece like a present and attach the chain!

Lauren
10 years ago

Maine has da best secret beaches and coves that hold a plethora of sea glass – lived on the coast me whole life!! totally gonna try this

10 years ago

These would be beautiful to use to make a windchime, maybe hanging from a piece of driftwood. Thanks for the tutorial!

Cathy
10 years ago

I think this glass has never looked better! Well done, Jana!

10 years ago

Love this idea! Mod podge is a must have in my house, and I love finding new techniques to use.

10 years ago

Hey Jana,

Did you ever get my wood transfer resume for the senior blog writer? I sent it to Julia and I never heard back from anyone. I called and no one would connect me either. Again, just trying to follow up.

http://breezycheetahpop.com/how-to-transfer-photos-to-wood/

Thanks,
Bree

10 years ago

such an awesome tutorial I would definitely try that! I tried the necklace idea that you showed but I had a different spin on it if you want to check it out! I created necklaces out of beach glass and sea shells: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Aj1JZINai3Q

10 years ago

I think I’ll try this but with white stones instead!
Yay!

10 years ago

Beautiful idea!! ♥♥♥

WE❤DIY:
→ DIYEARTE ♦ DIY

tamar
10 years ago

What kind of glue is “mod podge”? They don’t have the brand around where I live…

franziska
10 years ago

yei <3 printed my pictures today, will try that at the weekend, can't wait *_*

10 years ago

my mom and i have been collecting beach glass for years, what a great idea for the bigger pieces!

instead of an elephant

Erica
10 years ago

Did anyone try this? It does not work!!!

Erica
10 years ago

Suggestions please??

Hey, this is an awesome idea! I blog about tips and tricks for printing Instagram photos at printicular.com/printing-instagram and this is an awesome idea to use with peoples favorite Instagram prints!

10 years ago

It does work, I just did it. You may have to let the pieces dry a bit longer than they do in the tut, but it does work. Are you sure you have laser-printed images? Regular photos prob won’t work.
I think a GREAT idea for this would be for a Christmas tree at a beach house! You could take photographs of tradition ornaments, maybe pine cones and holly, or just really take the beach theme all the way and get some photographs of starfish, anemones, lifeguard stands, etc. Really wish I lived in a beach house so I could start working on it NOW!

10 years ago

Hi! Love this idea, do the images have to be printed on photo paper or regular paper?
Thanks!

xo

Indy
10 years ago

My partner collected hundreds of sea-polished glass pabbles off the beach in Cornwall and slowly glued them all into a large spiral until they gained an igloo shape. He carved a board exactly to fit the shape of the glass pebbles and the whole thing sits perfectly onto the carved board. iI is utterly beautiful. It is SO tactile and I can’t keep my hands off it! It gives off the most gentle and forgiving glow with a tealight inside it and is so lovely it could grace ANY table and look at home. One of life’s treasures simply looking at it! :)

Bianca
10 years ago

I see that you used regular Mod Podge. I used transfer Mod Podge for mine so hopefully they still turn out fine!!

Aysha
10 years ago

Does it really matter what the resolution is?