Downtown is home to two glass blowing studios and both offer fun opportunities to blow your own.
Sanctuary Glass at 425 Lake Street welcomes you to bring friends or family to create a variety of items. This time of year, pumpkins are a hit.
Glass items blown at Sanctuary Glass Studio, 425 Lake Street.
Go to sanctuaryglassstudio.com and click the green “book a workshop” button on the home page to register. Over at High Gravity Glassworks at the Red River Brewpub, 1200 Marshall Street, jack-o-lanterns are red hot.
Jack-o-lanterns from High Gravity Glassworks, 1200 Marshall St.
Here’s a story from 2020 about the fun and magic of creating your own glass keepsake!
Holiday gift buying might be a challenge in 2020. People sitting in front of computers for long stretches may have already purchased everything they want, shopping in crowded stores may be unappealing, and how many pairs of lounge-about jogging pants does anyone really need? Having a fun experience is ALWAYS a great gift, especially if the experience comes with something to remember it by. Sanctuary Glass Studio at Red River Brewpub, 1200 Marshall, is the place for both. You can schedule a time to to come with family or close friends and gift them an experience that few have ever had- a chance to create a one-of-a-kind work out of glass. Options include glass ornaments, wine glasses, hummingbird feeders, paperweights, and more. Prices range from $35 to $70 depending on what you are making. Gift certificates are also available.
The professionals are there- in the case of a recent session, Sebastian and Michelle walk us through exactly what to do and why. You choose what you want to make, and then, it’s show time!
First, you choose what you want to make. Two of us chose ornaments, one chose to make a gear shift knob!
Sebastian, wearing the green shirt, shows Albert how to hold the pipe that has been dipped into the molten hot glass. The furnace that keeps the glass liquid is at 2100 degrees F.
The magic starts happening as Albert dips the glass into the color beads for the first round of color. Albert has chosen shades of blue.
Sanctuary Glass offers a variety of colors based on the item you are making. You can go Grinch with red, green and white or shades of blues or reds, pastels and more.
After the first color dip, the glass goes back into the furnace to melt the color and keep the hot glass malleable.
The process is then repeated with more color added to make certain the entire ornament is covered.
Albert begins rolling out the ornament, then turns it over to Sebastian who works to keep the glass uniform prior to blowing.
Sebastian blows a puff of air into the pipe which creates a bubble in the solid glass and makes it a hollow sphere. While doing this, he uses a tool to keep the ornament perfectly round.
The scalding hot ornament is then transferred to a fireproof ceramic base so Sebastian can pull a hanger hook.
After creating the hook, Sebastian snips the extra glass off.
The almost-finished product! The ornament will be transferred to a slow drying kiln to harden it and prevent cracks. It will be ready in 24 hours. As it dries the colors will also become more vibrant.
This could be your tree! What fun to create both a memory and a beautiful glass piece with friends or family.
