1It's hard to beat the glitter and glow of glass Christmas ornaments.
2For many people, the Christmas tree just wouldn't be the same without them.
3They were invented in the 19th century by a German glassmaker who decided to improvise
4because he couldn't afford to decorate his tree with the usual nuts and candy.
5They're Christmas eye candy.
6Today's glass ornaments are a visual treat.
7To make some of the ornaments, they start with a sketch and make a plaster model of it.
8They use it to create a two-part metal mold.
9They take a glass cylinder and fire its wider end so it softens.
10The glassmaker blows into the pipe end
11to stretch the supple glass into the basic shape of a bauble ornament.
12Other glass tubes are more bulbous at the center,
13and that's the section that's fired.
14As the glassmaker blows it into a more elongated bubble,
15he places that bubble in the mold and blows extra hard.
16The glass expands into its crevices and takes its shape: a snowman.
17He burns off one of the blowpipe ends and then aims the torch at the snowman's nose to pull it out.
18A quick cool down could shatter this ornament,
19so he gradually lowers its temperature with a less intense flame.
20Blowing and molding glass figurines is quick work.
21The glassmaker has just a few seconds to complete the job
22before the glass becomes too cold and stiff to shape.
23The ornaments now head down the line to get some shine.
24This will be an inside job.
25The glassmaker pours silvering solution into the baubles through the stem.
26She then dips the bauble in warm water.
27This activates the silvering chemicals,
28and shaking the ornament accelerates this process.
29She swirls the silvering liquid around to completely coat the inside of the ornament.
30A final dip gives this bauble a mirror finish from the inside out.
31She empties the silvering solution into another tank for recycling.
32They also use this technique on the figurines, like the snowman.
33A quick shake gives this guy an inner beauty.
34Next, they submerge the glass ornament in lacquer to give it some color.
35The mirror finish inside shines through the lacquer.
36Now the snowman ornament gets an artist's touch.
37She airbrushes white lacquer onto the figurine for a frosty finish.
38It makes the snowman look more like old Frosty.
39The artist paints some of the details by hand,
40like the trim on the hat and robe of the Santa ornament.
41This gives it more visual depth.
42Once the paint dries, she brushes glue onto sections where she wants glitter dust to stick.
43The glue dries quickly, so the artist applies more.
44When it comes to Christmas sparkle, you just can't get enough.
45Next, she makes an incision in the stem and snaps it off.
46A metal cap fits on the ornament's top.
47Time to pack up these fragile beauties very carefully.
48They put them in boxes that cradle each one individually, to ensure they arrive safely.
49Now these glass ornaments are ready to go out on a limb to add beauty to the holidays.