Area 253 Glass Blowing

A real gem of a place, and the personality of Patrick is wonderful. Took my team there to make an ornament for Christmas, and it was a memorable experience.
If you get a chance, well worth it. And the results were outstanding!

Patrick warmly greeted us at the door to 253 Glass Blowing and the fun began there. He was very knowledgeable and clearly shared with us his passion for glass blowing. I got to make my own custom cereal bowl!!! How cool is that??? Five stars for safety, five stars for value and six stars (i’m well aware the scale only goes to five) for professionalism. I will be sending business his because of our amazing experience. Cheers!

I bought 2 Groupons for my husband and I to take a three hour beginning glass beading class. The location is in an area that is all old warehouses and it’s very close to the freeway. We unfortunately turned right on the street instead of left, so when we parked we were looking around for the building and couldn’t find it. Once we realized what we did I saw the sign and it’s hard to miss. I took a picture of it and posted it. It’s really hard to miss.
So we re-​parked the car, and entered the building.
The class was all the way in the back and not hard to miss. We passed by two glass blowing stations, which was pretty neat. One of them was being used by a couple of gentlemen.
We walked into a smaller room at the back of the warehouse where there was a very large metal table with 5 torches set up. Two on each side and 1 at the head for the teacher.
When we arrived, we were introduced to our teacher who was a younger man, probably early twenties — great demeanor and very helpful — by an employee of Area 253. The class consisted of myself, my husband and two other women.
After meeting the teacher, were told to grab some glass rods (I took a picture) and sit down. Over the course of 3 hours, we made between 6 and 8 beads. The teacher would show us how to make the bead and then we would try to make it. While making the bead, he would slowly walk around the room and help us out. There wasn’t a time during the class that I felt overwhelmed. One of my beads started to melt away from the mandrill (you’ll have to take a class) and the teacher was right there to save the day. It was awesome.
All in all I had a fantastic time and I would suggest this for anyone interested in glass beads or glass art.
We were told we could pick up our beads the next day before noon, or any following weekend, or for 6 dollars he would mail them to you.

A friend gave me a 253 glass blowing Christmas present and it was fun as hell. If you like being creative, this is great fun. Did a basic beginner class for bead making and there is a lot to learn. I definitely will take some other classes there and the instructors are very cool people and let you experiment and have fun. Wear warm cloths if it is cold out, it can have some cold winds in there? Prices on website and can be rented, also? 4 or 5 people to classes.

the best place to blow glass on the puget sound. the best equipment
and best space. the folks here are really tuned into helping you make the best glass you can make. Joe miller is well known around the world for making glassblowing equipment. he made all the equipment for the corning museum floating glass shops.
the glassblowers who work there are also well known throughout the world much less washington and the puget sound. all the various techniques of glassblowing can be seen depending on what day you decide to visit.
classes are also available and one day workshops are just a blast. if you have any interest in glassblowing or are looking for that unique gift give them a call

**happy 250^th review to me!**
I’ve been holding onto this review for some time, since I wanted to do a good write-​up. But it’s time. Heh.
My friends and I attended the ‘float’ workshop on a Saturday in December. The workshop was $ 50ea and was for 4hrs down in their Tacoma Studio.
It’s in an industrial location in Tacoma next to the Self Storage (which you can see from the freeway). We were lucky with our parking, but a gal from SS did come out to demand why we parked where we did because they needed the spot. Um, the spot isn’t marked with your business so we’re staying! :P
They had a glass sale just before class, which explained the parking shortage. But that gave us time to look over their wares. There were ornaments, cups, votives, and creepy/​cool baby head glasses. Class attendance was about 25−30ppl and the reason why the workshop was 4hrs is that you’re waiting for your turn to make your float.
You may think that’s a lot of time, but it actually goes pretty quick. It gave my friends and I time to chat and catch up on things while browsing their studio space and the glass on display, giving us ideas on what colors and patterns we hoped our floats would be.
There were three guys running the show, Joe, Oliver, and Connor. They were very nice and patient because they’ve been repeating the same stuff to everyone when they had their turn! But not once did I sense any annoyance, just lots of patience.
The glass is hot, like molten honey and when it came to be my turn I forgot all I had observed for the past couple hours. Heh. But it went okay! I dipped my colors, spun it a few times in the kiln, smoothed it into a round shape and blew air into it to make it larger.
It ends with you stamping your initials into the glass and it going into a holding chamber for a few days. The whole process takes about 15−20mins or so, it goes so fast.
You can pick up your piece a couple days later. A great experience and conversation starter!
I’m seriously considering their other workshops too and this makes a great gift for any occasion.
PS: Check my profile pics for more photos during this workshop!

M-​SPACE! I am a stay-​at-​home Mom … Now I only say that to express how LITTLE I get out and do things that are more adult (with the exception of Babysitters and dates with my husband!) — but especially things for MYSELF that revive the creative side that gets lost in diapers, snot and crayons.
I did the one day Pumpkin blowing in October — and had such a wonderful time. I have made a pledge with myself (and husband has offered to watch kiddos!) to get here more often this year and invest in that part of me that seems so far away at times.
M-​Space is not only inspiring, but I loved that (though I knew nothing of glassblowing) the instructors were totally cool. They didn’t make me feel stupid and seemed to actually ENJOY their jobs — and explaining everything to me.
If you can (and enjoy creative outlets) — you really need to take one of these classes!!!

My wife got me a spot at an intro to glass-​blowing 1 day class here as a birthday gift and I just made use of it.
The class was great and the instructors seemed like really cool people and they made it easy to get started working with glass. I’d been wanting to try glass blowing for about 10 years now and this was a great place to try it out.
I’m even considering coming back for one of the multi-​week courses because it was so fun.