I’ve worked here since I was 18 with my father. It took me two years to make the first bottle [filled with layers of colored sand]. Now it takes me 10 minutes. In all of Palestine, only three or four people do this. It’s like magic. The people getting married like hearts and flowers. Tourists prefer camels. We also sell them with keffiyeh patterns. I can even do people’s portraits for online commissions. Once, Coca Cola ordered 500 in the form of their bottles. I studied interior design in the Polytechnic University, and I hope soon to expand the business to create glassed-in sand murals.

- Saad Awawdeh