Fused Glass: Wreaths & Trees

Meg Beech is teaching a fused glass class at the Franklin Park Conservatory and Botanical Gardens on Saturday, December 12, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM. It's a holiday-themed session, and you get to choose between two different projects: a fused glass wreath or a tree suncatcher. Both are meant to hang in a window and catch the light, so you'll walk away with something you can actually use to decorate for the season.

If you've never worked with fused glass, here's the basic idea: you arrange pieces of colored glass on a pattern, and then they're fired in a kiln at high temperatures until they melt together into a single, solid piece. It's a great way to get into the medium because the process is straightforward, and the result is something that lasts. Beech will be there to walk you through it, so you don't need any prior experience to join in.

The choice between the wreath and the tree is yours to make during the class. The wreath is a classic holiday look, and the tree works just as well as a suncatcher. Since you're making it yourself, you can play with the colors and the layout rather than just buying something off a shelf. It's the kind of thing that makes a decent gift, or just something nice to keep for your own windows.

It's a two-hour session on a Saturday morning, so it fits into a weekend without taking over the whole day. The class runs from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM at the Conservatory in Columbus, and you'll leave with your finished piece. If you're looking for a low-pressure way to spend a morning and end up with a handmade holiday decoration, this is a solid bet.