Holiday Boro Ornaments?

Bunyip · #1 2007-11-20, 11:34am

'tis the season, and all that. I think hand-made ornaments are just the thing to make for family members as keepsakes...I've seen a couple different types being made - from tubing and cane - would anyone care to post some quick "how to's" for us newbies?

And of course, please post pix of your final results too!

Bunyip · #2 2007-11-21, 10:18am

Guess not! Well I'll post my experiments in here for you to laugh at =)

lainee733 · #3 2007-11-21, 12:00pm

i haven't done any in boro, though i'd like to try. can't wait to see what you come up with

Kare TX · #4 2007-11-21, 12:11pm

I know there are some DVD's out there but haven't found tutorials on line. I'll keep this in mind as I surf around.

menty666 · #5 2007-11-21, 12:52pm

I could take a swing at it. What sort of ornaments are you looking to make? Blown? Solid sculpture?

There's a couple of threads around here (search for glaskolben) that link to a tutorial on how to use the premade points to do blown ornaments. Basically if you can pull a boro point you can follow the same directions and after several failed tries, voila

shawnette · #6 2007-11-21, 1:04pm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUTWD07cHGo

jknappcampbell · #7 2007-11-21, 6:49pm

thanks Shawnette

Norskiglass · #8 2007-11-28, 4:14pm

I do a few of these.....

and these....

I dont have any tuits for you though....

rusticstudio · #9 2007-11-28, 4:17pm

You're just a show off Norski!

Cosmo · #10 2007-11-28, 5:32pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norskiglass

I do a few of these.....

and these....

I dont have any tuits for you though....

Is that the asian green tubing? Have you had a problem with it just spontaneously exploding while working on it?

earlbacher · #11 2007-11-28, 6:40pm

i have some of the asian color tubes, havent played with em yet, got em in the mail, and then heard all these stories about them exploding..., guess i'll get to it soon though... whats the worse that could happen..

Cosmo · #12 2007-11-29, 8:46am

I usually don't have any problem with the amber or cobalt tubes. The red tubes are okay too, you just can't work them too long or too hot or they'll go opaque. The green and purple I've had just randomly crack and explode on me. But, I have always been using them with other colors, and not by themselves, so that may be part of the issue.

bclogan · #13 2007-11-30, 9:08am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Norskiglass

and these....

Oh my! Those are wonderful!

I really need to learn to work with tubing.... among other things...

LAG · #14 2007-12-01, 9:16am

Envy.... Envy.... Envy.... just lovely

Bunyip · #15 2007-12-03, 10:47am

Wow those ornaments are super awesome. I haven't had much luck with my attempts.. Lumps of fused mess are about it...

earlbacher · #16 2007-12-03, 2:48pm

try starting out alot smaller than you want, to try and get a feel for it... then work up in size, thats what i'm having to do...

Just Nancy · #17 2007-12-03, 2:52pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by LAG

Envy.... Envy.... Envy.... just lovely

Well said.

and I'll add

~ I love these.

pipyr · #18 2007-12-04, 8:25am

Here's an easy ornament that has been selling like hot cakes for me at the little craft fairs...They end being a sideways football shape in the middle with a loop at one end and a long point at the bottom. Sorry for the lack of pictures...

start with a gather on the end of a 12 mm rod. Get a pretty good-sized gather...about 1.5 times the diameter of the rod. You can do smaller if you like, too, but the ornament will end up smaller, of course

Roll in frit or smoosh some color on...keep the color fairly subtle...it's the clear sparkling through that makes it pretty imho.

Melt the frit or color in and get the gather nice and centered.

Let it cool a bit so it's not soupy.

Flip the whole thing upside-down so that the gather is at the bottom and you are holding the 12mm rod in the air. It should be perpendicular to the table top.

Heat the 1/3 of the gather closest to the rod and let the gather drop down. This will create a nice tail. Do this part carefully, because the weight of the gather will make it fall into a drop faster than you think. Small amounts of heat at a time until you get the feel for it.

Punty up to the other side of the gather, where it is still round. Heat the 1/3 of the gather nearest the new punty and pull it out into a point shorter than the drop you just made.

Make the short point into a loop.

Grab the loop with tweezers and melt off the other end at the length you want the point to be.

Done

Quick, easy, and can be hung in the window as a year-round ornament when the holidays are over.

pipyr · #19 2007-12-04, 8:36am

Oh! Snowmen are also easy...

1. start with a 12 mm rod and get a gather as big as you want the bottom snowball.

2. grab another 12 mm rod and make a good hot seal to the center of the first one (building up, away from the first 12mm rod as if you're making a snowman on a stick)

3. melt off the second 12 mm rod, leaving enough glass to ball up for the middle of te snowman's body.

4. Ball up the 12mm rod, taking care to center it over the first one while still leaving definition between the 2 snowballs.

5. Repeat steps 2-4 for the head.

6. Take a nice, dense black like onyx and make a dot in the center of the 2 body sections and 2 dots on the head for eyes. Make sure you melt the dots in enough so that there are no undercuts.

7. Use an orange to make a dot and pull away into a spike for the carrot nose. Again, make sure you have a good seal where the nose meets the face or it will pop off. I use NS orange (transparent) for this. It will not strike until it is annealed. Let the kiln strike the orange...it is so much easier that way.

8. Add a loop to the top of the head in your preferred method.

9. hold the loop with tweezers and melt off the 12mm rod and round out the bottom of the snowman.

Done!

These guys are really easy to make once you get the hang of them...just make sure to only put the heat where you need it so as to avoid ending up with a big blobby mess

I sold out of the snowmen at my last show...gotta make more when I get back to the studio later today!!

LAG · #20 2007-12-04, 8:42am

Wow. thanks for the tut. You are a sweetheart!!!! I plan to give this a try..

ginkgoglass · #21 2007-12-04, 9:27am

Cool ideas, thanks Pipyr! Been making some icicles for the tree here -- they are easy and a lot of fun.

Kim V · #22 2007-12-04, 9:50am

Ohhhh, to be young and impervious to the cold!!! It's freezing here, I can only imagine what it's like up there!!!

I was going to head out to the studio to make up some ornaments for gifts...no way. That wind is whippng!!!!
Seriously, thanks for the tutorials. I'll try them when it's warmer

earlbacher · #23 2007-12-04, 5:09pm

hmm Pipyr, i think your gonna have to make one of each, and snap us some photos...

JMB Glass · #24 2007-12-10, 6:24pm

I'm teaching a beginner ornament class this Sunday in Sharon New Hampshire
if you can make it..
Tubing is a great new horizon.. I would strongly suggest taking a class some where to start.
Pulling points is tough and the whole thing is in the heating and Pausing.. any type of tubing class will inform you enough to start creating.

PaulaD · #25 2007-12-10, 6:42pm

Hey JMB Where in VT are you? I'll be up there after Christmas!
Paula

JMB Glass · #26 2007-12-11, 5:34am

Im at the south east corner (Brattleboro) What area are you Headed to?

Fire Warped Glass · #27 2007-12-11, 8:01am

Quote:

Originally Posted by JMB Glass

I'm teaching a beginner ornament class this Sunday in Sharon New Hampshire
if you can make it..
Tubing is a great new horizon.. I would strongly suggest taking a class some where to start.
Pulling points is tough and the whole thing is in the heating and Pausing.. any type of tubing class will inform you enough to start creating.

Could you give some details about the class (time, location, cost)?
It's kind of far away but I might be able to go.

LAG · #28 2007-12-11, 10:25am

I have been learning how to pull points and been playing with the profile tubing.. Looking at all that wasted glass in the bucket gave me an idea..

Pretty easy stuff to do....

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas"... ta da!!

Bunyip · #29 2007-12-11, 12:23pm

Hey I lived in Brattleboro for years! In fact I still have family there. /Wave

Ed_Slawson · #30 2007-12-15, 4:54pm

Here are some clear and silver creek icicles, they are 7-8" long. Pardon the poor photo. I will put up more photos in a day or so of clear ones, and more colored ones.

-Ed-