My sea glass mobile is complete. It took a bit of patience and four types of glue to successfully put it together.
After I chose a piece of driftwood to use as a base, I added some cup hooks to the top, and a length of hemp tied onto these as a hanger. To string the glass to the driftwood my best choice seemed to be staples from a heavy-duty staple gun.
I tried rubber cement first. I taped my eight pieces of fishing line onto a board with masking tape. The next step was gluing the glass to the line.
- Largest piece of sea glass daubed with glue and placed beneath the line
- Middle piece of glass glued on top of line and pressed firmly to bottom piece of glass.
- Top piece of glass glued onto the middle. Let dry for 24 hours.
When the strings were dry I tied them onto the mobile and trimmed away the excess line. The mobile looked great, but oh my, in the near hundred degree heat of July, the pieces of glass slid down the lines and shattered on the cement floor of my back porch.
I tried gorilla glue next. Big Mistake! The glue was not clear and bubbled up and out of the confines of the glass edges, completely spoiling the glass I used.
Believe it or not, I had a bit of success with glue dots, but the heat of the porch allowed a few of the pieces to slide down the fishing line. By the time I used the glue dots I had gotten a bit smarter and only glued a few pieces together as an experiment.
Finally, I had success with a glue called Goop. Goop lived up to the promises on its package and within twenty-four hours my mobile was hanging on my porch, in high heat, intact, and glowing in the sun. I’m so glad I persevered.
MINDING MY P'S WITH Q 
I absolutely love this! And thank you for sharing your “which glue should I use” experience, so that those of us that want to try a similar project can skip the learning curve and start with the one that worked!
Sorry you lost some of treasured sea glass in the process, but the end result is just stunning. It must feel fabulous to catch sight of your newly-constructed and made-by-hand mobile each time you pass by the porch and catch it dancing in the light .
So beautifully delicate, while also being strong enough to withstand the intense heat … and it captures the rays of the sun, which helps illuminate that gorgeous sea glass! This one is definitely an A++
*even the choice of driftwood was stunning perfection!
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p.s. BTW, I’ve had the same disappointing experience with Gorilla glue. Yes, it’s strong and really holds, but I clearly missed the note on the packaging that stated the glue dries white, and not clear. Big mistake. Totally not the look I was going for, and almost ruined the piece I was working on at the time. I was making a sort of mobile myself (with bits of old jewelry and broken key chains and those sorts of things), and the very-visible white glue ruined the effect. Thankfully, I was able to use my little Dremel tool to carefully sand away the white glue, and tried again with clear super glue. But I’ll be keeping my eyes open for Goop now, so I can add that one to my crafting tools, so thanks again for sharing that tip.
*I wish I knew how to embed a photo so I could show you my jewelry mobile, but alas, I’m technologically challenged! LOL But I truly love what you did with the driftwood and sea glass, and can’t wait to try something similar. I don’t live near the water, so I will likely try something with a nice piece of wood, and perhaps bits of colorful and shiny stones instead. Will have to simmer on the idea for a bit. 🙂
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I like the idea of shiny stones. I collect rocks, shells, all nature-related items. Have a friend who lives in Texas…she told me a horror story about lichens…which I used to collect and press…she had one growing in her eye under her contact lens. Isn’t that the most bizarre thing ever…don’t know why I related it…I guess cause it’s a Texas thing.
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I also love the driftwood. It has that gnarly look I love that shows the effects of nature in beautifying even a humble root or branch. The glass is really gorgeous when the light shines through it. The photograph just did not capture the real beauty of it. Thanks so much.
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