For quite a while now I've been almost obsessed with making
Christmas ornaments. I have made them in the past, but they were fabric,
crocheted, or made with beads or paper. Now I make them from glass. One of my
goals in learning how to make lampwork beads was to also learn to make small vessels, like
perfume bottles. I did learn how to make small bottle or urn shapes but somehow
that still wasn't enough. I wasn't quite sure why until I started making blown
glass Christmas ornaments. My first ornament was made almost exactly like the
small vessels, except for not worrying about how to make it stand upright on
its own, or adding handles so it could be hung from a chain. Now I make
different shapes and sizes, and my most popular are the chili pepper ornaments.
Chili Pepper Ornament
One of the things I really don't like about my
"traditional" ball-shaped blown glass ornaments is the cap I have
been using to finish off the top. They are silver and gold stamped metal and
are very much like the caps you will see on commercial mass-produced ornaments,
but on my hand-made ornaments they look cheap. They are the only caps I could
find when I started making ornaments, so I felt that I was limited to something
not quite up-to-par. This has made me search for a way to top my ornaments that
looks like it belongs on a handmade ornament. I have bought several styles of
bead caps, but they are usually not large enough to cover the top of the
ornament. Since I work with silver and copper I have tried making my own caps,
and have not had much success until this week. Here are photos of the
commercial bead and ornament caps, and of one I made for the ornament.
The cap is made from copper that I have enameled with many
colors to compliment the ornament. I'm sure I will continue to refine my quest
for the perfect cap for each ornament, but at least I have finally found
something that I like.
Chili Pepper, Grapes, and Pear Ornaments
Let me know what you think!
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