MADISON, Wis. – People made their own ornaments Sunday with the help of University of Wisconsin-Madison art students at the sold-out UW Glass Lab.

The glass laboratory, located inside the Art Lofts in Madison, allowed people to mold their own ornaments with pressure and heat.

“Glass is kind of like an underground art form,” said UW-Madison art student Carla Christenson.

Christenson said the lab allowed people to have a better idea of how glass art is made. Beyond education, she said the event is put on every year as a fundraiser for the glass club, Mad Gaffers.

New this year, people were able to bend their own neon.

“We definitely love public involvement,” Christenson said. “I think it’s really important that the public sees what we’re doing here and how important it is.”

Students in the UW-Madison club raise money to purchase tools for the laboratory. In addition to money raised by admission fees, they sold premade ornaments at the event. Part of the money raised from those sales is given to the students who made the ornaments, but the rest of the funds goes to the club.