Tacoma: Making your own Christmas ornaments

Participants checking out possible creations and getting inspiration before entering the hot shop.

Bang!  The loud sound startled all of us as the glass shattered.  Spotting the Pyrex container on the stove, it had exploded its pieces all over the place.  The container had been sitting on the stove, but part of it was sitting on a hot plate.  The difference in temperatures resulted in the explosion.

I probably wouldn’t have been able to figure it out so quickly, if it hadn’t been for my experiences with the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio.  Making glass requires both science and art.

The glass gets heated and shaped, then heated again and shaped again.

The Tacoma / Seattle area is home to several prominent glass galleries, studios and workshops.  Dale Chihuly is from this area and has a major exhibit at the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle.  The Glass Museum in Tacoma has galleries, special exhibits and a large working hot shop.  Visitors can watch visiting artists design and create their pieces for several hours on weekends.

It doesn’t take long for the glass look and shape to change.

Even better is the opportunity to actually create your own.  The Tacoma Glassblowing Studio offers hands-on experiences.  Working with flames, intense heat and hot glass is intimidating, but each couple or group is teamed with an experienced glassblower.  Whatever reservations people have at the beginning of this wonderous adventure, are replaced with big smiles over the experience and thrill of creating one’s own ornaments.

It’s critically important to keep the glass at the right temperature to shape it. 

Creating the “handle” for the ornaments requires quite a bit of skill.

Any time one piece of glass is attached to another they need to be heated to the same temperature to bond.  If they aren’t, they will separate, break or possibly shatter. 

After methodically working through the first ornament, students get to be more hands for every step of the process.

As the session progresses, participants start to create more complex ornaments.

Student comfortably and confidently reheating his glass.

Adding a twist to create and more interesting color pattern.

Throughout the process the look changes.  At points it’s challenging to imagine what it will look like when completed.

Putting on the finishing touches.

Completed ornaments are placed into temperature-controlled ovens.  Once everyone’s work ins completed, the oven will slowly lower the temperatures over a period of 12 hours.

Even before the glass is cooled, one can see some ornaments will look spectacular.

A t-shirt reflecting the fun attitude at the Tacoma Glassblowing Studio.

Admiring an ornament by a skilled glassblower.

Part of the fun is adding color, using your imagination and seeing how it develops.