Glass can be a barrier between the outside world and the inside. It can be broken into shards sharp enough to cut skin. It can protect, hurt and reflect. But glass can be much more than just windshields or windows - it can be beautiful.
Delphi Creativity Center, 3380 E. Jolly Road in Lansing, offers a vast variety of beginner, intermediate and advanced classes for people interested in glass art and jewelry crafts.
"We have glass bead making, and those seem to be real popular," said Roy Capp, assistant store manager of Delphi. "I think a lot of those jewelry-type classes, such as wire wrapping, are good for college students."
Wire wrapping is popular among the creative souls out there, because, Capp said, not only is it cheap for cash-strapped college kids, but it's also almost as easy as tying one's shoes.
"Wire wrapping is like taking wire and wrapping it to make bracelets or necklaces," Capp said. "Some of those will even have little beads on them for extra decoration."
Beginner programs at Delphi can be as inexpensive as a sale pair of Gap jeans - roughly $30 - or they can be as pricey as a brand new, mini Prada hand bag - peaking at $395.
It all depends on the types of machinery and supplies that will be needed to create the masterful glass beads, mosaic table or wire bracelets.
And these extras can put a hole not only through your pocket but possibly through your pants, ranging in cost from $20 to $120.
But not all classes require fees heftier than fines for having a party in East Lansing.
"There are some that we provide the materials, so there's not a lot of extra cost in it," Capp said. "Some classes you do have to buy your own tools."
Though the prices might seem steep, Capp assures they are worth the extra money.
"We take a maximum of eight people in classes," Capp said. "We like to keep it real small, because we like to give them the individual attention."
But if glass beads and wire wrapping seem a little elementary for your artistic side, Delphi provides a range of glass-fusing projects for everyone. "We have a class where you can make a glass plate," Capp said. "You design it, we fuse it in the kiln."
Glass fusing involves participants scattering or placing various-colored frits (crushed glass), confetti (glass shards) and stringers (glass strings) to make the craft they imagined come to life. After all is placed and done, the plate is set in a kiln to melt the glass together at temperatures around 1500 degrees. The disc is then formed into a 9.5-inch plate shape and participants can pick it up a week later.
He said for the fusing class, participants don't have to know much about glass, because the plate-making is at an entry-level class aimed at beginners.
But if temperatures hotter than the Sahara and materials that could cost more than what you have in your bank account don't sound like a good time to you, Chios, 203 E. Grand River Ave., might have something you're more interested in.
Chios offers hemp, already-made glass, wooden, metal and bone beads and various other little ditties to string around rope and wear around your neck.
"Students like to make jewelry for themselves and they like to make it for Christmas gifts," Sunil Patel, owner of Chios, said. "We have an entire selection of all the jewelry to make necklaces, including semiprecious stones and wooden beads."
Patel said jewelry-making isn't just an activity for people interested in bracelets or rings, but that it also can be an outlet for artists.
"You can be creative," Patel said. "If you are into wearing jewelry that no one else has, you can put that together here."
And that's exactly what interior design junior Danielle LaFave would like to do.
"I like making things for people," LaFave said as she was rummaging through beads at Chios. "It's always nice to give a gift, but when you put a personal touch into it, it means so much more."
LaFave said she has yet to visit Delphi, but when time permits, she would enjoy going to the store.
"It sounds right up my alley," LaFave said. "It's artsy, creative and useful."
For more information on Delphi or the classes it offers, visit its Web site at delphiglass.com.