Eye Glasses Sun Catcher

My husband’s back up pair of glasses recently became broken beyond repair. I immediately thought how can I upcycle this into a functional item? Enter the idea of a sun catcher! Living in Texas we get a lot of sunny days so I knew immediately that we would get a lot of use from this fun upcycle! 

Some quick background on plastic vs glass lenses first. The majority of todays lenses are made from some type of plastic. But why? Well because they’re lighter, which in return makes them more comfortable to wear. In addition the plastic makes them more durable and resists to long term scratches and breaks, thus allowing you to extend the life of the item.  Plastic lenses are also able to have those protective coatings we all love for UV and blue light. Funny enough the word ‘glasses’ means just that! Originally glasses were made from glass. It wasn’t until the 1980’s until they started making the lenses from some types of plastic. We often hear in the sustainable community that plastics are bad. But we have to consider the advances made in technology and plastic lenses are one of them. So for this project only use lenses that are made from plastics after the 1980s. Unfortunately sunglasses probably won’t work for this project as it would be very hard to make the hole without braking the lens, and they usually aren’t clear. 

What you’ll need: 

-broken pair of eye glasses made after the 1980s

-drill or nail with hammer 

-dried flowers 

-clear drying glue 

-strings or beads 

Step 1:

Pop out the lens from your glasses. Depending on your glasses there should be a little screw either at the top or bottom of the lens. You can either use one of those little eye repair kits to get off the screw. Or just use a small nail file to act as a screw driver.

Step 2:

Flip your lens the long vertical way and drill the smallest hole in the top and and bottom of the lens. It can be somewhat hard if you’re using a drill and don’t have anywhere to clamp it down. I actually just used an old fashion hammer and nail to make my holes. The lens are made from hard durable plastic, believe me you’ll be able to get a hole in them easier than you think, without breaking them.  As you can see in my picture below I made the holes after I added the flower and wish I wouldn’t have done that because I damaged the flower a bit while making the holes. Luckily you’ll learn from my mistake! 

Alternatively if you don’t have the tools to make the hole you can also use a twisty tie. Just tightly wrap it around the top and then make a loop so it will be able to hang onto something.

Step 3:
Find a dried, pressed flower to add to your lens. Or if you don’t have a collection of dried flowers, start by taking a walk outside to find some flowers to press (please consult your local laws before picking any flowers. Common practice is to never pick from state parks or land that doesn’t belong to you). Place the flowers on a single layer between some paper in a heavy book for a few weeks. I have found the best flowers for this project are one that are almost translucent or very thin. As this allow them sun to shine through them. 

Step 4:
Add your clear glue (I like matte mod podge) to the front of your flower. Then carefully add that flower to the back side of your lens. You could add it to the front as well (but if you do then add your glue to the back of the flower).  But I did experiment with both and found the back side to give the most ‘sun catcher’ vibe.  Once the glued flower is on there it’s really hard to move, so make sure you have it just in the right place before adding the glue. 

Step 5:
Add some string to the top and bottom. Then add whatever embellishments you already have on hand. Buttons, beads or anything that is lightweight. 

That’s it you made a fun upcycled suncatcher. It makes me smile every time I look at mine. As for the frames of the eye glasses, I may just keep them for now to use for a future Halloween costume.  You can always check with your eye doctor to see if they recycle or donate frames that are in good condition. Everything always has a purpose in the upcycled world! Let me know if you end up making this fun upcycle!

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