Glass Flower Pendants

Prep Work:

Step 1: Connecting Handles

I begin by heating the tip of the 12-18 mm clear rod in a medium size flame.  With my opposite hand I grab the 7mm handle and heat the tip in the flame.

I spin both handles in a parallel motion, and slowly bring them into the flame at the same time.

I touch the tips together and do 1 rotation in the flame. I then pull the rods out of the flame while still rotating them.

I focus on keeping my handles very straight with each other as the connection cools. It is extremely important to have a straight handle.

Tip:   If you get stuck at this point I would recommend using a 12mm glass rod to make your flower and just skip the first step.

Step 2 Pulling Stringers

To draw the glass flower design I need to stretch the colored rods into thin little strands called stringers. In this first step I need to make three stringers. I use one color for the petals, one for the leaves, and one for the pistils.

I begin by heating the tip of my color rod in a medium size flame.

I pull off any dirty glass from the tip using my tweezers.  I Heat about ¾ of an inch of the color rod in the flame.

With my opposite hand I grab 4mm rod and hold the tip of it close to the flame to preheat it.

Once the color rod is fully molten, I pull it out of the flame and quickly tack my clear handle onto the end.

I pause for a second for the heat to even out and then pull my arms apart paying close attention to the diameter of the stringer.

When I am pulling a stringer I do it in a gradual way. I like to stretch the glass a little, then as it cools a bit I stretch faster. It’s easy to stretch the glass too far too fast, but with some practice this step becomes much easier.

For the petals I use a 1 ½ mm to 2 mm stringer. 

For the pistils I use about a 1mm stringer. 

For the leaves I use a 2mm stringer.

After the stringer is cooled I disconnect it from the color rod, then move on to the next color.

I love experimenting with many different colors making glass flowers. I can get so many different effects by using different colors. I recommend to anyone that is trying to make flower pendants to experiment with lots of different colors especially silver based colors. For more information about colors take a look at our links page and check out some of the borosilicate glass color manufacturer websites.

Creating the Flower

Step 3: Making a disc

Using a 15mm glass rod I gather a 1-1 ½ inch section of glass in a large flame.

I flatten the gather of glass using a graphite pad lying flat on my bench.

My goal here is to end up with a flat disc that is well centered on my handle.

I pay close attention to the center point of the disc while flattening it, making sure to keep the handle centered.

Step 4: Drawing the pattern

To draw the pattern I hold the glass rod up to the flame with the face of the disc pointed towards me.

Before drawing the pattern I smooth out the face of the disc in the flame and get any stress marks that are left from flattening it.

I let the disc cool for a few seconds while I grab the stringer I plan to use for the petals.

From this point I can make all different designs by drawing different patterns.  For a flower I use this pattern or something similar.

I adjust the flame size down to be close to the diameter of the stringer I’m using.

As I draw the pattern I hold the disc below the flame and the stringer above it. I try to not overheat the disc or stringer by keeping them both at the edge of the flame.

I start by drawing the petals that are closest to the center.

I quickly draw a petal, pause out of the flame, then draw the next until I go all around the disc.

While drawing the pattern, I pay attention to the placement of the petals. I leave an area in the center to draw the pistils, and an area on the outside for the leaves.

During this whole process I make sure to keep the whole piece hot, by [flashing] the face of the disc between steps.

Next I grab my green stringer. Using the first set of petals as a guide, I draw the leaves around the outside edge of the petals. I draw a small line in the gap between the petals.

The last step in drawing the pattern is the pistils. I adjust my flame size to a pinpoint. Using my stringer I quickly draw tiny dots of glass onto the center of the disc.

I adjust my flame size to a wider bushier flame. I heat the whole disc and carefully blend in the design.

I use my graphite paddle to assist in this process.

Step 5: Imploding the Design

I adjust my torch to a more intense oxidizing flame. I face the disc towards the flame at a 45 degree angle. I quickly and evenly spin the disc in the flame concentrating the heat on the edge of the disc.

Once the clear glass starts to flow from the edge of the disc towards the center, I use my graphite pad to flatten the disc.

I repeat this step of heating, letting the clear glass flow towards the center, and flattening, until I see the design has been condensed all the way into the clear glass.

Step 6: Connecting handle to make the loop

After imploding the flower, I grab the 7mm 16” clear glass rod. I heat the tip of it in the flame and connect it to the back of the flower using a cold seal.(a cold seal is a connection that is done when the glass is warm, making it possible to remove later with a tap)

Next I heat up the area above the flower. I adjust my flame to an intense, medium sized flame and spin the glass quickly, concentrating the heat right above the flower.

I continue heating the area until I can pull the 15mm rod away.

I heat any leftover glass and smooth out the face of the pendant.

Step 7: Making a Loop

There are many ways to make a loop for a pendant. This is my preferred way, but you can do this any way you feel comfortable.

I look at my piece and decide where the loop would look the best. I heat up the point where I want to connect the loop. With my other hand I grab a 7mm glass rod and heat the tip.

Once they are both glowing hot, I join them together in the flame. I pull out of the flame and pause for a second.

I tap the cold sealed handle off the back of the piece & use a small flame and smooth out the area.

Next I cold seal a 7mm rod to the opposite side of my piece for a handle.

To make the loop I heat about 3/8 inch section of the rod just above the connection. Once the glass is molten, I remove the piece from the flame.

With the domed side facing downward I stretch the glass gently out, then I bend the glass down at a 45 degree angle. I pause for a second to let the glass slightly harden, I then flip the piece face up and bring the glass back to connect with the back of the loop.

I use a small flame to disconnect my rod from the piece. I blend in any extra glass around the base of the loop. (If my loop is a little thin I spin it around in the flame and let the glass thicken)

I use my reamer to straighten the loop, by heating lightly and gently reaming each side of the loop hole. I always look at the pendant from the front and the back and try to make it as smooth and straight as possible.

This is a very tricky technique and may seem a bit confusing at first, but once you get it, I think it makes the best looking, and sturdiest loops.

Once I am happy with the loop, I grab the pendant with my tweezers by the loop and tap off my punty.

I then clean any marks left by the punty with a small flame

I now have a finished pendant that goes into the kiln to be annealed!

If you enjoyed this tutorial, please show your appreciation by purchasing a glass flower pendant or other glass jewelry, from our store at www.glasspeace.com  We ship world-wide for free!