Create your own Christmas tar ornaments with broken glass.

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You will want to throw away broken shattered glass from your house as it is dangerous. Instead of throwing the glass away, the shattered glass can be making use as star ornaments for the Christmas tree. The special feature about these shattered glass that each had a very natural look to it that is impossible to achieve if you cut out of from a glass intentionally. Michele Beschen, one of the contributors of creative blog’s Courage to Create!  shares steps how you can turn these shattered glass into unique starry-eyed ornaments for your Christmas tree with these steps below.

Materials that you need:

  • Broken glass (from broken window, picture frame or mirror)
  • Copper foil tape
  • Soldering iron
  • Lead free solder and liquid flux (available in home improvement store)
  • Jump ring
  • Household ammonia
  • Chain, rope, ribbon or monofilament

How to make:
Choose flat, broken glass pieces that aren’t too fragile and splintery. To create starburst window ornaments, select ones that is triangular in shape. Do not worry if you cannot find “perfect” triangles as they will be irregular in shape. You will have to prepare 5 triangular shaped pieces of glass for each star.

Arrange the pieces on your work surface in the shape of star with the pointier sides facing out. Tape the copper foil tape to each edges of the broken glass piece.

Over the taped edges, brush liquid flux to help prime the surface to accept the solder. Use a soldering iron and lead free solder to tack together the pieces in the center. Cover all exposed foil tape with solder in front and back to finish off.

You can fill the center with other various pieces such as gems, large glass beads or stained glass. Wrap in foil tape and solder in place. Solder a jump ring where desired to hang.
Clean off the flux with household ammonia. Then, rinse with water and let them dry before you can hang them proudly in your Christmas tree.

Additional Reading:
http://www.couragetocreate.com/michelebeschen

Image Credit:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2338/2047369849_3b4b60e1b7_t.jpg