Glass baubles were invented in 1847 by Hans Greiner, a worker of the glassworks in Lauscha, Germany. He could not afford to buy glazed fruit and painted nuts, which rich burghers used to decorate their Christmas trees, so he blew glass ornaments using materials available to him at work. He probably did not expect his invention to save the glassworks from bankruptcy and amaze the entire world soon after.

German baubles, together with the fashion of Christmas tree decoration, reached Poland, which later became the world’s top producer of glass ornaments. Baubles “Made in Poland” are very popular. The quality of their manufacturing and fine design are appreciated all over the world.

– The process of manufacturing a glass bauble is very complex – says Małgorzata Ciszewska, a bauble designer and the owner of the store Bombkarnia in Warsaw. It becomes even more difficult in the case of non-spherical baubles (e.g. in the shape of animals or objects), which require special casting moulds.

– We start by designing a bauble on paper. On that basis, a sculptor creates a model out of modelling clay. Then, a plaster cast and an aluminium mould are made. The mould is comprised of two halves, which later give the baubles their specific “seam” where the halves meet – says Małgorzata Ciszewska.

During the next step, a pipe made of sodium glass is heated up over a burner at about 700 degrees and, when the glass becomes flexible, a bauble is blown. – This is an amazing and somewhat magical show. I tried blowing myself and I assure you it is not easy – says Ciszewska.

In the case of other shapes, the hot end of the pipe is put into a prepared mould, and a bauble is blown. It must be done in one blow, because glass sets very fast.

Then, the inside of the bauble is plated with silver nitrate. – Without this coating, baubles would be transparent even after varnishing. Unless this is what we want – Ciszewska explains. The last stage is decoration by hand. Patterns are painted using, for example, special brushes with natural bristles. Baubles are decorated with flowers, snowflakes, cartoon characters, Santas, winter landscapes with snow-covered cottages, or reindeer pulling present‑filled sleighs.

What else is used to decorate baubles aside from paint? – We also use, to list a few, gems and semi-precious stones such as agates and amethysts, Swarovski crystals, beads, various textiles, laces, and colourful feathers, both on the outside and on the inside of the bauble – says Janusz Prus, President of Vitbis in Złotoryja, the biggest bauble manufacturer in Poland (producing about 100 000 ornaments a day). – Our amber collection has been trendy for a decade now.