About our Products

   JingleNog's styles begin with Melissa's sketches and stories. Many of the JingleNog characters are based on the habits, personalities and interests of her family and friends.  Once she has finished a design, she sends her drawings to her workshops in Italy and Poland with the specifications for shape, color, paint, trim and glitter details.

 All JingleNog of ornaments are created from mouth blown, hand painted, decorated and glittered glass in Italy and Poland. Every JingleNog piece is created using the Old World European Glass Making Techniques of molding or free blowing the glass. Both methods require artisans that are very well trained and skilled at the art form of glass ornament making. 

MOLDED GLASS PROCESS

 If the style is a molded piece the artisan takes the sketch and following Melissa's notes creates a soft clay or plaster sculpture which is reviewed and adjusted by Melissa until all of the details and personality for the piece are in place.

Once the style is approved it is baked so it becomes hardened and is then shellaced so the shape and details will remain in place. A metal mold is now created. These metal molds have at least two parts and depending upon the complexity of the style can have many more "parts". 

Once the metal mold for the style has been made we can start to create ornaments! It takes on average seven days to create each piece. First the glass blower assembles the metal mold and using a tube of tempered glass blows the glass into the mold, shaping and forming the piece with each breath. Once the glass has been fully blown into the details of the mold it is set aside to cool. The stem of the glass tube is left intact at the top of the piece until the end of the development process. This is used to help handle the piece through all of the steps left to come.

The clear glass form is now filled with liquid sterling silver which when dry becomes the lining to the piece. The excess silver is removed from the inside and the ornament is set out to dry. Once it is dry, the piece is ready for painting. Every color is applied carefully by hand, setting the piece aside as each color is added so it is dry before the next detail is applied. All of the glitter and trim details are added using this same careful process of painting, glittering and decorating slowly by hand and setting aside to dry until every element has been added and the piece is done. Now the glass tube handle is cut off and trimmed. The jingle bell charm and JingleNog hang tag is added to the piece through the metal wire and the cap is secured. This newly created ornament is now gently packed in a bed of shredded paper into the JingleNog  gift box, before the lid is closed your Ornament Storage & Preservation Tips card is placed into the box and the lid is closed. A JingleNog ornament has been created!

FREE BLOWN PROCESS

Free Blowing is a similar process to the creation of a molded ornament. The piece is created with tempered glass that is fired, shaped and attached by mouth and hand.

Under intense heat, each part of the body (head, trunk, & tail) is created through pressing, pulling and manipulating the now pliable glass tube. The core of the body is shaped and then attachment parts (legs, tusks, & ears) and are added onto the piece one at a time by separate pieces of heated glass, with the heat fusing the pieces together.

After the body has been created and the glass has cooled down, the piece is ready for painting.

The base color is added to the glass body. After it dries the second base color - in this case for Ellie the yellow blanket is carefully painted on by hand on and set out to dry. Paint and Glitter layers are applied by hand one detail at a time.

Stones, feathers and all trim details are added to each piece carefully by hand until all of the elements to the piece are in place and the ornament has been brought to life. Each piece is a unique work of art and one of a kind to be enjoyed by the owner.

JingleNog® - A Division of JingleBell Inc.