TACOMA, Wash. — Not all pumpkins are meant for carving. Some are meant to be just a bit more permanent and handled with care.
A treasured Northwest tradition, nearly three decades in the making, glass pumpkin patches offer shoppers hundred of choices in all shapes, sizes and colors.
Each one is born in fire. Artists at Tacoma Glassblowing Studio made six-thousand hand blown glass pumpkins this year.
Every pumpkin begins as a molten piece of glass.
A little bit of chemistry, a whole lot of heat and a dash of magic bring them all to life.
And no two pumpkins are the same.
At the Waterfront Market at Ruston, gallery manager Debra Colson-Jackson says glass pumpkins are colorful keepsakes that will never spoil.
"Most people, when they walk in, the selection almost overwhelms them," she said, holding a two-toned glass pumpkin. "This is our collector pumpkin. We do one every year. We held a contest on our Facebook page, and this two-toned pumpkin design won."
This year's collector pumpkin is so popular Tacoma Glassblowing Studio sent out a Facebook alert over the weekend that they were running low.
Children may love collecting candy at this time of the year but their parents and grandparents have made collecting glass pumpkins a Northwest tradition.
The pumpkin patch will be at the Waterfront Market through Dec. 23.
RELATED: Alien corn maze lands in Kent
KING 5's Evening celebrates the Northwest. Contact us: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Email.