Blowing Holiday Cheer at Orbix Hot Glass

A Warm Welcome (and Even Warmer Furnaces)

Orbix is tucked just outside Fort Payne in Cherokee County, perfect for a weekend wander if you’re road-tripping to Little River Canyon or prowling around Mentone. We went on a rainy day, the kind where the clouds hang low over Lookout Mountain. Even so, the second we stepped into the hot shop, the heat wrapped around us like a quilt. The hiss of the furnaces and the glow of molten glass made the weather outside disappear.

The studio hums like a living thing. Furnaces roar, glass glows like molten honey, and artists move with the kind of grace you only get from years of practice. That’s where we met Jill Bittner, who promised to keep us from burning our eyebrows off (her words were a little more professional, but I know what she meant). Jill walked us over to the “frit board,” which is basically a buffet of tiny glass chips in every color you can dream up. You get to pick two—one for a base and one for a pop of personality. Pro tip: if you want your ornament to really sing, pick white as one of your colors.

Mama picked a mystery mix over white, think festive confetti. I leaned green because, well, my house is already green and yellow most days.

Steady Now, Blow

Here’s how it goes: Jill gathers molten glass on a pipe, rolls it through your colors, reheats it, and then hands you a hose. You hook it up, slide in your clean mouthpiece, and when she says blow, you blow. “Steady… softer… stop,” Jill coached me, like a yoga teacher with lava. And suddenly, there it was. A bubble. A living, glowing ornament spinning on the end of that pipe.

The piece cooled in the annealer overnight (no instant gratification here). You can pick it up the next day or have it shipped.

The Breeds Behind the Glass

Orbix isn’t just a shop, it’s a story. Cal and Christy Breed opened it in 2002, but Cal’s fire started a decade earlier. At Auburn, a stained-glass class lit the spark. He went on to train at the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Maine, earned his BFA in glass from Ohio State, and by sheer right-place, right-time luck, studied under some of the Italian masters who carried the Murano tradition to America. It was a once-in-a-lifetime moment in glass education, and Cal grabbed it with both hands.

All that training paid off. Today, Cal is a true artist whose work has been collected around the world. His pieces live in galleries and private collections—including those of the Kennedys, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Nick Saban (the coach himself owns a red water bowl).

His gallery at Orbix is stunning. Honestly? It makes me nervous. I’ve been a journalist for two decades, but nothing makes me sweat quite like standing in a room full of priceless glass. Still, it’s the most beautiful reminder that one Alabama artist’s vision can travel the globe while staying rooted in Fort Payne.

And here’s the part I love most: the Breeds chose to plant Orbix “in the middle of nowhere,” at least to them, and built something people now travel hours to experience. FedEx and UPS will deliver anywhere, so why not put your studio where the rock climbers climb, the rivers run, and the views stretch on forever? What was once just a quiet spot in the hills is now a destination—proof that art doesn’t have to live in big cities to make a big impact.

Meanwhile, Christy is the heartbeat of the place, answering phones, cheering on first-timers like me and Mama, and reminding folks that classes aren’t just for Christmas. They’re year-round, except for August (too hot) and a short pause in January.

What to Know Before You Go

• Classes fill fast in November and December. Some families book a year in advance.

• $42 per ornament, shipping extra. Gift certificates make the perfect “experience” present. Hour long classes to make a pumpkin, bowl, paperweight or flower are $105.

•  Booking is old school–call or email. It's personal that way.
•  Can't get in a class? Don't fret. Both the studio gallery and the downtown Fort Payne gallery at 210 Gault Ave. are full of ready-to-wrap pieces.

Final Word

If you're hunting for holiday magic, Orbix is it. You'll leave with more than a pretty ornament —you'll leave with a memory. And maybe, like me, you'll be planning next year's road trip back before your ornament even cools.