I may be far off base here, but I don't think many people blow glass in their free time. I sure don't. When I landed on the website for Studio Fuzzishu, I knew I was ready to fire up the blowtorch and create something unique. What was even better was that I wasn't doing it alone. My family came to town this weekend, and I thought it was a perfect, family-friendly thing to do that they can brag to their friends in Chicagoland that they did in Des Moines.
The owner, Rachel, is fun and laid-back and coaches you through the process. The only thing you can mess up - which is a big deal - is how hard you blow into the glass. You see, the glass cools and hardens very quickly once you remove it from the flame. If you blow too lightly, your ornament will end up pretty small. If you blow too hard, you can pop the glass. Rachel advises a medium blow and will tell you harder or softer once you get going. It all happens very fast as you blow for maybe 5 seconds.
The process was fun, quick and painless. None of us popped our ornaments. They are a bit lopsided, but for amateurs, they turned out great. It costs $14 for each person's first ornament and additional ones are discounted. You can also spend an extra $6 to created a cool beaded hanger for the ornament, which we all did. Check out the pics!