Handmade Glass Decorations – plus a beautiful crafty kit to make at home

One of the endless joys of any craft I get to try, is that feeling of peace and calm and for want of reinventing a phrase which serves today’s story perfectly well, the feeling of being in the moment. Recently through the wonders of Instagram introductions, I had the pleasure of virtually meeting the artist and designer Suzanne Campbell and thus discovering her stunning kiln fired glass gifts. And when Suzanne asked me if I should like to try my hand at making my very own glass decorations, I know you know the noise I made. Join me today to see how I got on and to learn more about this beautiful craft…

Nowadays there are few table-top crafts I haven’t tried at one time or other yet if I’m honest, I had never considered glass crafting. I imagined needing hoards of special tools and safety equipment and whilst yes, you are working with sharp glass and should take care, Suzanne has thought of everything to ensure the craft is a fun-filled few hours.

It was a dark, grey day when I settled down in my craft room, to enjoy a quiet and gentle afternoon making my glass Christmas tree decorations. Lighting candles and switching on lamps and fairy lights I was keen to create just the right mood, as I unwrapped my Glass Crafting at Home Kit which had arrived with the postman a few days earlier. Everything has been thought of; nothing left to chance. From tweezers for manoeuvring delicate glass pieces to glitter and glue for decoration, it’s all there at your fingertips. I couldn’t wait to get going and after a thorough read of my instructions, I was ready to begin starting with my red tree…

I took my time enjoying every stage from sticking snowflakes to marvelling at tiny iridescent squares of tree trunk glass, each step affording me that luxury of creating in the moment. Perhaps because this craft was so new to me, my mind was simply no-where else and in a few short hours I had two sweet glass Christmas trees ready to be wrapped and sent off to Suzanne at her beautiful light filled Seabird Studio.

This Glass Crafting at Home Kit is available to buy on Suzanne’s website and you can choose from several sweet designs. I think it would make for a wonderful activity Betwixtmas perhaps with a friend or loved one. Currently the Glass Crafting at Home Kit can only be mailed within the UK; not so however for Suzanne’s beautiful glass decorations which are available to be shipped worldwide and the good news is, there is still time to order before Christmas.

I spent a delightful morning listening to seasonal tunes whilst I faffed with my glass decorations. A rustic twig tree like mine is easy to create. Simply secure the garden twigs in place in scrunched up chicken wire pushed down into your vase so it’s hidden from view. And a top tip is to uplight and backlight the glass decorations with your fairy lights and candles. If you simply wrap the lights around the twigs, you are more likely to highlight the decorations ribbon than the beautiful glass itself. Uplighting and backlighting will instead cast a glow onto the decoration creating sparkles and twinkles to add to the magic.

These longer Glittering Gold Icicles and Winter Wonderland decorations are perfect to hang between twigs and branches and catch the light completely. And I suspect, rather like children, it’s just not tennis to have a favourite glass decoration so I shall say only this: A Scandinavian Bird is not just for Christmas.

Suzanne is careful to market a selection of her glass decorations as Winter Decorations something those who find January and February cold and bleak might take enjoyment from. You know by now; I need little encouragement to dress my home at any time of the year and there is often an odd branch or twig hanging around long after the big day itself. No prizes for guessing which winter decorations will be shimmering in my cold winter sunlight post-Christmas.

Last week you read about my desire to reduce excess wrapping at Christmas. Similarly, I have set myself a goal of shopping small and/or locally this festive season. With so many wonderful makers surrounding me both in real life and virtually, I have very little need for the big stores. I’m hopeful this recent article I read is wrong; in case it is not, I intend to do my bit. I am pretty sure alone I won’t make much of a difference, collectively though we will.

If you are interested in finding out more about Suzanne’s impressive back story, her exciting glass making courses at Seabird Studio or if you would like to purchase any stunning glass decorations yourself then click here You might also like to check out Suzanne’s beautiful Instagram account which is always bright and happy and the perfect antidote for a grey winters day.

Join me next week for my last story of the year, how did that even happen and to see how my very own glass Christmas Tree Decorations turned out. Until then…x

I was kindly gifted the Glass Crafting at Home Kit and Winter Decorations from Suzanne Campbell Glass in exchange for this blog post. All opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.

And here are two of my glass recycling projects which would be simple to adapt for the festive period. Click here and here to see!