A great pleasure of being retired is having the time to dabble. I am a great putterer and after beachcombing extensively in Italy, I wanted to make something of my finds. I took the plunge and bought a Dremel. For the uninitiated, this is a tool that can be used like a drill, a polisher, a small grindstone, and mini electric sander. Once I discovered how to use the diamond drill ends by watching Youtube, I made a bracelet. The stones in this bracelet are from the beaches of Sicily, especially Heraclea Minoa, where there were lots and lots of flat, oval pebbles.

The bracelet was such a success that I decided to make a necklace. I used what I had on hand to connect the stones. These were labeled head pins and had a small decorative end on a straight wire. I bent them to fit and coiled the ends.Beach glass was next, and I selected pieces that were generally triangular, though there are several irregular pieces. Once I drilled them all, I strung them on beading wire with tiny crimp bead as spacers.I used these because that’s what I had with me. (Notice the clasp consists of a hook and a fishing swivel.)

I’m going to continue collecting beach glass so that I can make more. I know that you can make “beach glass” in a rock tumbler, but I am happy to wait until I find the real thing.