a peek inside the fishbowl

Today’s Ottawa edition of SavvyMom features a few of my favourite Christmas DIY crafty gift-making classes for kids that are off-site (a.k.a. Not At Home).

One of the activities that deserves special mention is glassblowing. (How’s THAT for something totally different?) Glassblowing, like beekeeping and parasailing, was something that had been on my List of Things I Would Like to Try for a long time. And I can finally say I DID IT. My family recently had the opportunity to hang out at Flo Glassblowing here in Ottawa. The place is co-owned by the mother of a good friend of mine, so we had extra special treatment while we were there. I was thrilled, because not only did this mean that I got the inside scoop but was able to try it out too.

No jokes please.

It was science! It was art! It was amazing. Would you LOOK at the kid’s faces? LOOK.

Some notes:

1) This is a safe activity but I hesitate to give an age recommendation because kids are different. The owners have the party thing totally figured out and have taken measures to make it as safe as possible, but we ARE talking about hot molten stuff here… so it might not be the thing to do if you have an overly active toddler who likes to pull the Houdini act and doesn’t want to stay put. This is fun, but also, serious business.

2) It’s hot in there. Wear layers, and I would make sure the one next to your skin is sleeveless. Oy.

See? Hot.

Glassblowing is equally enthralling for both boys and girls:

And here’s the final product! They need to rest in a kiln for awhile, but don’t they look incredible? What a nice keepsake or gift for that special someone. Just think, you’re giving them your own hot air, encapsulated in a pretty glass sphere! :)

Please note: all the photos here were taken by Susan McIntyre! Thank you Susan for letting me use these here today! And thank you to the Flo gals who took such great care of us while we were there! :)