Blenko 'Blow Your Own Water Bottle' Workshop

At the end of January, a friend and I took the opportunity to participate in one of Blenko Glass Co.'s workshops they offer for the public. Glass manufacturing has a long history in West Virginia, and Blenko's been manufacturing glass in our state since 1921. It's a great experience to not only tour glass manufacturing, but to take part in the process! For one price, participants are allowed to go onto the glass factory floor and work alongside the veteran glassblowers, creating one of their designated production items, and take the item home (after a week of firing in the kiln). The January workshop was to make the iconic Blenko #384 (the 4th design originally introduced in 1938): the water bottle (decanter).

The first thing you do when going to one of these workshops is enter through the gift shop doors - temptation right off the bat!

We then moved in groups onto the glass factory floor, which is basically a huge, 100 year old warehouse with glass furnaces scattered throughout, heating up to 2400° in each. We dressed in layers but most workers were in t-shirts. I went first, and my friend followed after me.

We were shown a table display of colors to choose from that day. My friend and I both chose Azure blue. The master glassblowers led us through steps of guiding a wooden spoon dipped in water beneath the glass blob to cool it, coaching us on blowing the glass into the mold, using the tool to bend the spouts, and then walking alongside us as we put the decanter onto the lehr (a type of oven that cools the glass). They handled the more dangerous and delicate steps in between of heating the glass in the ovens, rolling and breaking off the excess glass from the molds, and the handing off tools used.

A very smart marketing move on Blenko's part is giving each participant a $5 coupon toward any purchase, good only for the day of the workshop. If you bought anything, you were then given the chance to spin a game wheel for a chance at another free item. I bought the water bottle in Elderberry, and won a mini water bottle (I chose Cobalt)!

We returned a week later to pick up our water bottles. So, how did my water bottle turn out? Let me preface my answer by saying that when we participate, we are told that not all products make it through the cooling process. In that case, you're allowed to choose a 'second' from the gift shop as a replacement. Well, mine made it through the cooling without breakage, but.....

Look closely at the dimple on the front of the bottle (L frame, above), and then look at the interior of the bottle (R frame, above). Evidently I didn't blow hard enough because the glass didn't fill out the mold completely! No problem, my friend gave me hers (same color), and she chose Elderberry (same color I bought the day of the workshop). It was all good!

I love the iconic Blenko #384 glass decanter, and I have been growing my collection, using each one frequently. They are 8" tall and hold 32 oz (minis are 6" and hold 16 oz), easy to handle with indented bodies, and have pour lips on both edges, great for either right-hand or left-hand grip. They are often colorful elements featured in my tablescapes, such as the Elderberry in this tablescape.....

.....the Cobalt Blue in this tablescape.........

.....the vintage color, Antique Green, from this tablescape......

.....as well as this tablescape....

I also love using them in seasonal displays, such as the Antique Green one, below.....

.... and this one (Spring Green).

The water bottles can also be used very handily as flower vases. Below is a photo of my current growing collection of Blenko #384s: (L to R) Cobalt (including a 16 oz mini), Azure, Elderberry, Antique Green, Spring Green.

I participated in one of the earlier Blenko workshops in 2016, making Easter eggs. You can read about that here (btw, if you read that earlier post, you'll find I am 0 for 2 in success for end results, lol). If you're ever coming through West Virginia or making plans to, you really ought to check out the Blenko Glass Co. website and see if one of their workshops is being held during your trip. The workshops fill quickly, so keep that in mind! Here's a link to the official Blenko Glass Co. Facebook page also, where I first saw my workshop advertised.

Do you like Blenko or have any pieces, vintage or new? Do you think you'd enjoy a workshop like this? I love reading your comments, so do tell, and thanks for your readership today!

Rita C. at Panoply

(A special thanks to Cecilia of My Thrift Store Addiction's Vintage Charm Party #221 for featuring this post!)

Sharing at any of these given parties: Pieced Pastimes, Best of the Month, Happiness is Homemade, Love Your Creativity, BNOTP, All About Home Common Ground, All About Home Follow the Yellow Brick Home, A Stroll Thru Life, My Wee Abode, Thistle Key Lane, Bluesky at Home, The Dedicated House, Zucchini Sisters, French Ethereal SYS, Delightsome Life H&G, Katherine's Corner TFT, Grace at Home, My Thrift Addiction