Blowing Bubbles Like They Are Made Of Bazooka Gum

We hit the ground running last night and started blowing bubbles as soon as we walked in the door.  Our threesome fell back into the same rhythm and started banging out bubbles left and right.  Half way through the class we learned how to make punti's - these are small pieces of glass that are used to take the bubble off the original pipe and onto another one; this will allow us later to open the end which was attached to the original pipe and make a cup.

The punti is the red portion on the end; the end with the jack (tweezers) is where the original pipe is located

So I know that a lot of this might be hard to picture, especially if you have never seen glass being blown.  To get a REALLY good step by step, check out this website. 

When my two partners blew the first two we found out, sadly, they were a bit too large.  As a result the glass around the bottom was fairly thin making it hard to transfer to the punti.  The fist one got too cold too quickly and as a result when the hot glass from the punti touched the bubble it exploded.  The second one was blown up too big and the seal between the ball and the punti was not strong enough to support it.  Here is some of the carnage from our first two tries. 

When it came to my turn I decided we were going with a new approach - small, Christmas ornament size, which was a complete success.  We were able to pass it back and forth several times. 

Next week we are going to start making cups which I am SUPER excited about.  Hopefully I will be able to bang one out