How to Make a Giant Margarita Glass

Create your own margarita glass.

Mold you own margarita glass and show off your cocktail skills while dining and drinking with friends. In order to create your own margarita glass, you will need to use a clay or aluminum mold to create the cup shape, and then fuse the branch and base of the glass to this shape. Once you have the mold ready, you will need to slump the glass, which is a method in which you heat the glass and let it fall over your desired shape until it has taken shape. Making a margarita glass will require patience, but its results will keep the margaritas flowing all night long.

Things You'll Need

• Glass
• Glass cutters
• Safety goggles
• Safety gloves
• Mold
• Kiln wash
• Brush
• Kiln shelf
• Kiln
• Firing stick

Instructions

1. Select the type of glass you want to use to create your margarita cocktail glass. Think about the color and transparency of the glass and select the ideal type of glass that suits your personal preference.

2. Cut the shape of the glass using the glass cutters to fit around the size of your glass mold. Take care when cutting glass and wear safety goggles and gloves.

3. Brush a layer of kiln wash over your margarita glass mold and let it dry. This will prevent your glass sticking to the clay mold. Brush three or four layers over the mold to create a thick coat of kiln wash. Apply your kiln wash three or four times to your kiln shelf as well to avoid your glass mold sticking to the shelf.

4. Place your mold onto the kiln shelf and prepare its final shape. Place the kiln shelf into the kiln and close the lid.

5. Turn the kiln on and place it on a slow fire setting; this will be the correct temperature to achieve slumping the glass. This temperature can be around 1250 degrees Fahrenheit, but is variable depending on the type of kiln you posses.

6. Cook the kiln until you reach the slumping temperature. Once you reach it, turn the kiln off and allow the glass slump to cool so that it will have formed the margarita-glass shape. Leave it at room temperature to cool, and after an hour, remove the kiln shelf lid and remove the glass.

7. Pull out your margarita-glass shape. Fuse the glass to attach the branch and base of the glass. Take a 1/2-inch-diameter glass stick that is 5 inches in length and a circular-cut piece of glass that measures half the diameter of your margarita glass. Using a hand-held firing stick, gently heat the base of the glass stick and place it in the center of the circular piece of glass. Leave these two pieces of glass heated together so that they gently melt and fuse into one another. Once the glass has fused together, pull the fire gently away and leave the glass to cool.

8. Take the base of the glass and attach the bottom of your margarita slumped section to the center of the glass stick. Place the firing stick at the top of the glass stick and the bottom of the margarita slumped-glass mold until you can see the glass fusing. Keep firing until the glass has molded into place and leave to cool.

9. Sand any rough edges of the glass and apply a glass-finishing coat to give your margarita glasses a new and unique touch of class.

Tips & Warnings

• Be careful when working with fire and glass. Take care and use safety goggles and gloves at all times.

References

• Warm glass: Molding Methods
• Glass Australia: Glass Molding Methods