They Made Handblown Glass Ornaments!

Vetro Glassblowing Ornament Making - Handblown Glass Ornaments - North Texas Kids Magazine

Creating Memories: Handblown Glass Ornaments

Our family has a tradition of finding  a special piece to add to our ornament collection each year. This year, we were invited by Vetro Glassblowing in Grapevine to make our own handblown glass ornaments. Cool experience for the whole family to watch and the twins enjoyed participating. And, of course, we ended up with beautiful ornaments for our collection this year!

We chose the “Extreme” experience which is by appointment and lets the participant be more involved in the entire process. The first step is to pick four colors from the colored glass palette. The Extreme experience lets the participant choose from Vetro’s entire palette of colored glass.

Next is working with the staff to learn how to start with a ball of liquid glass, then add and melt the chosen colored glass. Getting to fire the glass independently is a perk of the Extreme ornament making experience.

 

 

Once the colors are incorporated, the Vetro glass artists shape the ornament by hand. Their skill is really amazing. The liquid glass is being molded by gravity as the metal rod is turned. The round shape of the ornament is created by narrowing the glass with a special tool as shown below.

When the base of the ornament is done, the Vetro artist creates the glass hook separately which can be used to hang the ornament on your tree. Some of the Vetro glass artists have learned their skill attending the glassblowing workshops taught at Vetro.

When the ornament is done, it is placed in the cooling bin and can be picked up within a couple of business days. You can also have it shipped to you for an additional fee.

Vetro Glass Blowing - Handblown Ornaments - North Texas Kids Magazine

The handblown ornament making process at Vetro Glass takes about 10 minutes so plan to spend the rest of the day checking out all the cute shops and neat holiday decorations in Downtown Grapevine.  If you can’t make one of the scheduled times, you can come for a general session and participate in the Traditional ornament making experience on a first come, first serve basis. There are some limitations, but either way, you end up with a gorgeous and memorable keepsake! Ornament making sessions at Vetro Glassblowing run through Saturday, December 31st. Visit the Vetro Glassblowing website for details and session times: http://www.vetroartglass.com

 

Mina Frannea

Mina Frannea is an online media professional. She is the editor and social media manager at North Texas Kids Magazine as well as the Marketing and Public Relations Director for Actor Richard Hatch. Mina enjoys the Arts, Sci-Fi, new technology, cooking, enlightening discussions and sharing relevant information on her blog TheMomsJournal.  Mina also provides PR services for conventions and other events.

 

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