My family spent last week vacationing in Newport. We’ve been going back there every summer for the last several years, so we have a pretty good handle on where to go and what to do once we’re there. This year however we did something new, and it was a lot of fun — we made our own glass floats.

The Edge Art Gallery can be found along Highway 101 just south of Newport. While art galleries seem to appear at approximately quarter-mile intervals along the coast, the Edge is a bit more than just a gallery — it’s also a glass blowing studio. We always visit the Edge because we like blown glass, we like what they do with blown glass, and we like watching the artisans while they work.

If you sign up for a glassblowing class, you get to make a glass float under the supervision of one of their glassblowers. You can select up to three different colors to add to your float, whether to have a base or a hook on it, and whether to have a classic float, or a float containing beach sand and shells (a “stuffed” float). If you opt for a stuffed float, you also get to pick out the actual seashells that will be locked inside your float forever.

Children as young as 8 can participate, with the glassblower giving them a little more assistance than he might give an adult. The process is pretty simple, except for the red-hot glowing molten glass part, and involves the application of bits of colored glass to the outside of a blob of glass, heating it until the colored glass melts, and then twisting the blob in a way that will give you the pattern you want. The actual blowing of the float into a sphere is done by the glassblower, but you still have plenty of hands-on moments. My kids and I each made a float, and it was a lot of fun. And the results can be surprisingly lovely.

So, the next time you drive down to the central coast, visit the Edge at 3916 South Coast Hwy, South Beach, Oregon. If you want to visit their website, and potentially buy their stuff online, you can find it here. If you decide you DO want to make a float, make sure you reserve an appointment in advance, and wear closed-toe shoes.