Area 253 Glass Blowing

The studio itself was great - spacious, well-equipped with multiple glory holes and tools. While the studio was impressive, the instructor/owner, Patrick, unfortunately used a primarily negative teaching style. There wasn't much encouragement, and the constant feedback felt discouraging, taking away from the enjoyment of the class.

Overall, the studio has a lot of potential, but the teaching style might not be ideal for everyone who wants a more positive learning environment and to have fun learning a new art.

I was so lucky to visit my very first GLASS PUMPKIN Patch! Every item is so unique and beautifully crafted. I was getting delighted, each time you though a pumpkin was gorgeous and held it in the sun it changed to even deeper or brighter colors, it was just stunning. There are many shapes, standard round pumpkin, lay down pumpkin, gourd shapes were my favorite, mushrooms, starfish and ornaments. Normally this is a Tacoma Washington shop BUT this was their ninth season in f holding the glass pumpkin patch in Lincoln City. I can't wait to go to their shop and make something.
Glass pumpkin patch! Patrick Cahill, co-owner of Area 253 Glassblowing was happy to pose for a quick photo shoot. I love the yellow pumpkin I am holding, it looked like a lemony dream, exuding happiness and warmth, just waiting to come home and spend the holidays with me.

What a fun outing this was ! My work did a team building activity here where we all made a item out of glass. Most of the people in my group blew their own bowls but I went a different route and made a paper weight. With assistance of course by the folks that run Area 253!
You can pick from a variety of colors as to what you want your glass piece to look like. Paperweights they usually go with two colors while with bowls it can be up to three.
I went with a light blue and a bright green for my paperweight and went with the organic option that I was given (as opposed to the spiral design which you can also have inside the paperweight). The result of the colors I picked and the blister bubbles that were captured gave my paperweight a turbulent oceanic look which I absolutely loved!
I would love to come back here again to make more paperweights and try out different colors and maybe the spiral option. I have a small group of friends I'm going to try to get to go... they would really enjoy it!
Awesome place and now I think I'm addicted to glass blowing places like Area 253!

Customer service was great! Prompt returned phone call, great experience with everything explained well. When items were ready, I got an immediate text. Would recommend for a unique activity.

Area253 Glassblowing in Tacoma today. What a great experience. Excellent staff, patient and knowledgeable and you can tell they love what they do. Huge space with plenty of ventilation and masks worn at all times.

Found some gorgeous mushrooms yesterday at Maris Farms!! The artist helped my husband to choose some glass mushrooms for me. I can't wait to see what's in store for next year!!

**happy 250th review to me!**


I've been holding onto this review for some time, since I wanted to do a good write-up. But it's time. Heh.

My friends and I attended the 'float' workshop on a Saturday in December. The workshop was $50ea and was for 4hrs down in their Tacoma Studio.

It's in an industrial location in Tacoma next to the Self Storage (which you can see from the freeway). We were lucky with our parking, but a gal from SS did come out to demand why we parked where we did because they needed the spot. Um, the spot isn't marked with your business so we're staying! :P

They had a glass sale just before class, which explained the parking shortage. But that gave us time to look over their wares. There were ornaments, cups, votives, and creepy/cool baby head glasses. Class attendance was about 25-30ppl and the reason why the workshop was 4hrs is that you're waiting for your turn to make your float.

You may think that's a lot of time, but it actually goes pretty quick. It gave my friends and I time to chat and catch up on things while browsing their studio space and the glass on display, giving us ideas on what colors and patterns we hoped our floats would be.

There were three guys running the show, Joe, Oliver, and Connor. They were very nice and patient because they've been repeating the same stuff to everyone when they had their turn! But not once did I sense any annoyance, just lots of patience.

The glass is hot, like molten honey and when it came to be my turn I forgot all I had observed for the past couple hours. Heh. But it went okay! I dipped my colors, spun it a few times in the kiln, smoothed it into a round shape and blew air into it to make it larger.

It ends with you stamping your initials into the glass and it going into a holding chamber for a few days. The whole process takes about 15-20mins or so, it goes so fast.

You can pick up your piece a couple days later. A great experience and conversation starter!

I'm seriously considering their other workshops too and this makes a great gift for any occasion.

PS: Check my profile pics for more photos during this workshop!

A real gem of a place, and the personality of Patrick is wonderful. Took my team there to make an ornament for Christmas, and it was a memorable experience.
If you get a chance, well worth it. And the results were outstanding!

My wife got me a spot at an intro to glass-blowing 1 day class here as a birthday gift and I just made use of it.

The class was great and the instructors seemed like really cool people and they made it easy to get started working with glass. I'd been wanting to try glass blowing for about 10 years now and this was a great place to try it out.

I'm even considering coming back for one of the multi-week courses because it was so fun.

M-SPACE! I am a stay-at-home Mom ... Now I only say that to express how LITTLE I get out and do things that are more adult (with the exception of Babysitters and dates with my husband!) -- but especially things for MYSELF that revive the creative side that gets lost in diapers, snot and crayons.

I did the one day Pumpkin blowing in October -- and had such a wonderful time. I have made a pledge with myself (and husband has offered to watch kiddos!) to get here more often this year and invest in that part of me that seems so far away at times.

M-Space is not only inspiring, but I loved that (though I knew nothing of glassblowing) the instructors were totally cool. They didn't make me feel stupid and seemed to actually ENJOY their jobs -- and explaining everything to me.

If you can (and enjoy creative outlets) -- you really need to take one of these classes!!!