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i have been making lots of ornaments lately. i discovered that i can glue them up on wax paper and put them in the kiln still attached to the paper. the wax paper burns off clean. it allows me to glue up a bunch, let them dry, stack them up in a box and fire whenever. got a kiln load of four shelves going now. organicsgirl

Wow, what a good thing to know, you don't notice any effect on the kiln shelf?

lissa.

Say, would you tell me a little more about your ornaments. How big are they? How much will they retail for? Have you done them in past years? What was popular? Xmas tree shapes? Or more abstract? How are you hanging them? I have made a bunch of Xmas-colored bracelets, but didn't think of ornaments.

Hi Rosana,

This is great information to pass onto people that are working with kids too. That way you can transport thier projects intact too. I would assume you are using white glue with this. How about using CMC? or even Klyr-fire as the glue? Have fun and thank you for sharing.

Patty
http://www.pattygray.com

kiln shelf effects: none . wax paper is almost nothing. the carbon burns out. this would be great for kids projects. yes i use white glue. i am not patient enough for klyrfire as a glue. i have to tilt my shelves to load them. there are three thermocouples in my ceramic kiln. i have glued large glued up projects to the shelf for loading. i trim the paper close for who knows what reason. i just trust the carbon to burn out. rosanna

excellent idea,,,,,,,when you fire it,,,does the wax paper shrink up, making the pieces fuse together if they are too close,,,,,what does the back of the glass look like,,is it totally smooth,,,,is the a replacement for thin fire,,,thanks again,,rodney

Rosanna,
Thanks for the great new idea!!

Ruth, I have some photos of ornaments that I came up with for some fusing classes I teach. The photos are in my picture trail "sharing ideas" album. They are pretty popular at the stained glass shop where I work.

Vernelle (another Texan)


http://www.picturetrailcom/vernelle

Sorry,...forgot a "dot"

the link should be

http://www.picturetrail.com/vernelle

Wow!!! Thank You for sharing, the tips & inspiring me to do more stuff, will never be able to catch up to your beautiful glass working.

the wax paper is NOT a substitute for thinfire. it does not shrink as far as i know . it is way gone before the glass heats enough to do any moving. it is just tissue paper and wax. rosanna

I love wax paper when I get a little overzealous with glue. I can just peel it off after it dries and put it in the kiln on a kiln shelf( prepared of course). I am always worried about anything getting on my shelves or elements. I know I won't ever spend that much on a piece of equipment again. My husband would freak.Lia

First off, thank you so much for sharing.

My usual question (because I live in a Manhattan apt and do my fusing in my living room). Does it smoke when it burns? Is there an issue with burning wax? Wax, I thought, is very ignitible.

Regards,

Melissa

yes it burns. the glue burns too. my kiln is in it's own shed and has an orton vent. i am sure this would stink up an apartment. rosanna

I saw, I think in GPQ, where wax paper is used as a base for constructing snowflakes and glueing them together. The snowflake doesn't stick to the wax paper once the glue has dried. Clear nailpolish was used to glue the pieces together. I tried it, and it didn't leave any residue, plus it dried really quickly. I did vent the kiln till the nail polish burned off. I've also been doing a lot of Christmas ornaments, but I'm not sure about the best way to hang them. I am only using single thickness glass with design elements because I want to make them as simple as possible so I can sell them at a reasonable price. Some of the things I've tried for hanging the ornaments were to fuse some nichrome wire for hangers. This worked well, but I had to use a second layer of glass. Then I tried glueing the hooks on with E6000. This didn't work, I was able to pull the hooks off with little effort. I also tried glueing with silicone glue, and this seemed to work best, but is messy. I've drilled holes in the tops. This also works well but is really time consuming. Does anyone have a better method for applying hangers to single thickness ornaments?
Joan

Make copper wire loops, and embed the split between two pieces of glass. When it fuses, the wire is trapped, the sharp split is safely away from the fish line, and you're done. All you need is a little quarter inch piece to sit on top of the ring. Only drawback is you have to go hot enough for the holding piece of glass to fuse to the base, which is well beyond tack. I've done this over the years with great success. Good luck

if you put the quarter inch piece on the shelf, then the wire, then the big top piece it will stick better cooler." gravity, it's the law".....saw that on a t-shirt today. lol. rosanna

How much are you selling the ornaments for? I know it depends on the area, but I would like to have an idea.

joan wrote:I saw, I think in GPQ, where wax paper is used as a base for constructing snowflakes and glueing them together. The snowflake doesn't stick to the wax paper once the glue has dried. Clear nailpolish was used to glue the pieces together. I tried it, and it didn't leave any residue, plus it dried really quickly. I did vent the kiln till the nail polish burned off. I've also been doing a lot of Christmas ornaments, but I'm not sure about the best way to hang them. I am only using single thickness glass with design elements because I want to make them as simple as possible so I can sell them at a reasonable price. Some of the things I've tried for hanging the ornaments were to fuse some nichrome wire for hangers. This worked well, but I had to use a second layer of glass. Then I tried glueing the hooks on with E6000. This didn't work, I was able to pull the hooks off with little effort. I also tried glueing with silicone glue, and this seemed to work best, but is messy. I've drilled holes in the tops. This also works well but is really time consuming. Does anyone have a better method for applying hangers to single thickness ornaments?
Joan

When I fuse a single layer for sun catchers I cut a small triangle of thin clear and place the wire between the cllear tri..and the piece to be hung.
robertb

Roseannas right about the small piece being under the big one, only reason I never did it that way was appearance. Felt the ornaments were cleaner looking the other way.

Hi Ruth,
I sell the ornaments from $9 to $15 here in Canada. The price depends on the complexity. For example, a little Chrismas stocking with 2 pieces of glass is $9 and a tree decorated with glass balls is $15. I just did a show and they sold well.
Joan