In which I endeavor not to set the house on fire...

I got a lampwork glass bead-making kit as a gift a few years ago at Christmas but until now, haven't had enough room in the garage to be able to set up and try it out. We finally shoved everything to one side of the garage just this month, giving me non-flammable spot to attach a torch to a table.

Along with the kit, I also got an instructional book, which has pictures of gorgeous lampworked beads on the cover - aspirational, more than instructional... Working with molten hot glass is harder than they make it look in the pictures. My attempts at decorative dots were more like blobs, and I managed to create a perfectly round bead only by accident. But still, nothing exploded, nothing got set on fire, and I managed to make a dozen reasonably attractive beads. As with everything, getting good at this will take practice but it's another great hobby to add to the long list of crafty things I like to do!

Here are some pictures of the beadmaking process.