Friday, December 14, 2012

Glitter-ific!

It's snowing here. Blah. I think I am the only person I know that just doesn't like snow. Remind me to be somewhere warm this time next year? The only problem with that is that I thought I WAS somewhere warm. It was 65 degrees yesterday! Now I feel like I live in the Arctic (cue sarcastic comment about actual cold vs. warm made by my sister who actually does live in the Arctic...Love you Bandita ;) ). 

Today's Pinstrosity would be a perfect indoor activity for this time of year, and a good one to do with kids. It's inside, cheap, fast, and almost no mess (this one involves glitter, kids love it, moms/vacuum cleaners don't), and you probably have the items you would need already on hand.
Jesse sent us this craft she did with her kids that is (maybe) going to some loving grandparents for Christmas gifts, enjoy!

The Original
http://theivycottageblog.blogspot.com/2010/11/three-easy-candle-crafts.html

This cute table decoration is made with candles, double sided tape and glitter! That's it!
Here is Jesse's take on it:

The Pinstrosity

"Because I planned for the kids to make them, I didn't expect that they would turn out *exactly* as pictured.  However, they *really* didn't turn out as pictured LOL

I put the double sided tape on the candles and poured some glitter in a small tupperware container.  I had the kids roll the candles in the glitter rather than spooning glitter on top.  They had a good time, and it killed a half-hour, so that's what counts right?  

I purposely didn't use the very tall pillars since the kids couldn't handle them well, so that's one difference I expected.  But I didn't have much luck brushing excess glitter off the candles...too much static cling.  Or maybe my cheapie candles had a much tackier waxy surface than the original blogger's?  I also think she must have used a much finer glitter to get such crisp edges on the tape...our glitter gave a very ragged edge.  Even when I stepped in to help a bit, I had a hard time getting good coverage on the tape bands...the original picture shows a very solid glitter band that we just didn't get.  

All in all, it was fun and I didn't want to micromanage the kids' artistic endeavors to get the "right" result, but I'm not sure these are actually going to make it to Christmas Eve as gifts. "

Jesse, I think that any grandparent would be happy to display their grand-kids art. I say give them the gifts, and they will always have this fond memory of their cute little ones :)

As for figuring out where this one went wrong, I have three things:
1. The glitter Jesse used wasn't as fine as the original bloggers glitter. I think that glitter size throws people off a lot. You see glitter at Wal-Mart or the craft store and you're first thought is "This is glitter, it will work.".
Wrong. Not all glitter is created equal. 

For instance, some may think sequins are glitter, they are glittery. but they are not actually considered glitter. Sequins are generally used for sewing projects, clothing, crafts, but not usually as a glitter substitute, they are heavier and don't adhere (with adhesive) as well to things because they are heavier.
http://www.coloresdecarol.com/search?updated-max=2012-10-24T10:46:00-04:00&max-results=3&start=9&by-date=false

Next is chunky glitter, you will most often see this in nail polish:
http://www.google.com/imgres?um=1&hl=en&sa=N&tbo=d&biw=1600&bih=732&tbm=isch&tbnid=eACEnafj5Ia--M:&imgrefurl=http://pinterest.com/callmecrash/nail-polish-addiction/&docid=UtW2X-JlADcH2M&imgurl=http://media-cache-lt0.pinterest.com/upload/279293614362716334_yKR8hjRc_b.jpg&w=192&h=281&ei=Vn3LULXuD6mqyAGyrYG4Dg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=12&vpy=12&dur=392&hovh=147&hovw=101&tx=19&ty=69&sig=112067111584269485666&page=2&tbnh=147&tbnw=101&start=43&ndsp=53&ved=1t:429,r:43,s:0,i:226

This doesn't look like it's huge, but when it's on your nails you will definitely see a difference between this and fine glitter. May I also add as a complaint AND a warning, chunky glitter is the WORST possible thing to try to get OFF your nails. "I had a bad experience." -Name that movie!

Next is what I would consider medium grain glitter, like what Jesse used:

Generally used for crafts, can be used on costumes, but this one sheds a lot usually. I have a skirt with this kind of glitter on it, and I leave a glitter butt mark everywhere I sit. So if I am ever lost, now you will know how to find me haha.

And then there are varying degrees of fine glitter, my favorite to work with though is the Martha Stewart Brand, when I do acrylic nails I use this to mix in with my Polymer powder for sparkly nails! But I also use it on other crafts, it adheres better because it is tiny but expect to also see this everywhere for a while, it spreads like crazy! If you sneeze while your container is open, you will look like you're impersonating Gaga/Ke$ha for the next few days. Unless that's what your going for, then by all means, I for one am a glitter whore, I have glitter on everything. Poor Chip.
http://www.ditando.com/2012/01/glitter-ombre-nail-tutorial.html

This kind of gives you an idea of how small it is. And a bonus, they come in big packs like this!

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&tbo=d&biw=1600&bih=732&tbm=isch&tbnid=jvG5Yv5ByT4B7M:&imgrefurl=http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/2010/01/16/paperclipping-roundtable-martha-stewart-glitter-giveaway/&docid=DKtFyHxW8GrEXM&imgurl=http://www.scrapbookupdate.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Martha-Stewart-Glitter1.jpg&w=450&h=491&ei=_oDLUOmOJoPiyAGQ34DACQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=1230&vpy=150&dur=780&hovh=235&hovw=215&tx=101&ty=142&sig=112067111584269485666&page=1&tbnh=140&tbnw=128&start=0&ndsp=37&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0,i:110



So that is impromptu glitter tutorial. Moving on.

2. The tape. The original blogger used "Terrifically Tacky Tape", where as Jesse used plain ole' double sided tape, which is fine I would have done the same, but the first may be more tacky (hence the name), and therefore may work better, I can't say for sure because I have never used the first but I am sure it gets the job done.
3. Jesse rolled her candles in the glitter, I would think that by rolling instead of "spooning" the glitter onto the candle, it may have been pressing the glitter into the candle in spots where it was not supposed to go.

The advice I would give is as follows:
-Use fine glitter.
-Use double sided tape you know will adhere well.
-Use a spoon and shake glitter onto the candle as opposed to rolling it.
-If all else fails I might suggest using masking tape and taping off the sections that AREN'T being glittered, like you would tape off a wall when painting so as to have sharp/clean edges. This way even if you are using larger glitter, you still get the sharp/clean lines you are looking for. I would wait until everything has had a chance to set before taking the masking tape off however, because we all know how glitter is. You open the lid, and suddenly it's on your dog who is sitting across the room.
-Lastly the original said to use a paint brush to brush off excess glitter, which has always worked for me, however I don't really use the bigger glitter like Jesse did, so that may have had something to do with that.
All in all, when working with glitter, I think that this says it best:

verydemotivational.com

Happy Friday Pinstrosipeeps! 
I am off to Marquette's husband Cameron's Graduation! Online shout out!! 
Congrats Cam, we are all so proud of you!!



















14 comments:

  1. This is going to sound super weird, but if you want to wear those chunky glitters on your nails then you should try using Elmer's Glue as a base coat. It takes a little longer to dry than regular base coat, but when it comes time to take off the glitter all you need is an orange stick and it comes off in one big piece without damaging your nails :)

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  2. Thanks for your sharing, it's a good post, keep going and support you.

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  3. Glitter, the gift that keeps on giving! And giving, and giving.....LOL. and Congrats to Cam!

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  4. Dude, I hear you on the glitter. I picked up a value pack that came in tiny bags and was transferring it into tiny pots with lids and tapped the bag. I swear, I had glitter EVERYWHERE- in my hair, up my nose, on the walls... I'm still finding emerald green glitter 2 years later!

    As for removing chunky glitter from nails, it doesn't have to suck. I use regular cotton balls and remover, and I tear my cotton balls into sections about the size of my nails. (One chunky cotton ball can do 4-5 nails.) I saturate the cotton piece with remover, then press it to my nail. The remover makes the cotton stick to the nail.

    I do one whole hand like this, so I have cotton-topped fingers, and then I let it sit for a while. I sometimes will add a bit more remover to each nail with my flip-top remover dispenser to make sure everything stays juicy.

    After a minute or two (meaning 60-120 seconds) I'll test it. Lots of times the polish and glitter will slide off in one go. If there's polish left, I'll give it a gentle scrub with the back of the cotton piece, and if it needs another soak I get another piece of cotton and repeat the procedure.

    The end result is easily-removed chunky glitter with no cursing and no sore nailbeds!

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  5. The Italian Job. Loved that one. :)

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  6. Frog Tape. Guaranteed clean crisp edges. I've had so many candle 'fails'.

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  7. You can remove the static cling by rubbing the candle with a dryer sheet or spraying it with cheap hairspray before using the tape. It helps a lot.

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  8. My first thought was "Why not cut your tape to size, dip one side of the tape into the glitter, shake off then apply remaining, sticky side, to the candle? Seems a lot easier than having to sprinkle the glitter over the candle, and less messy than rolling the candle around...

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  9. I'll add a 3rd glitter polish removal method. I've tried the 2 above and like this better. Put remover on small squares of felt, lay on nails and slip on a rubber finger cot (like office people use to sort paper). Leave on 3-5 minutes, slip off cot, press on felt and slide off with the polish! AWESOME, EASY and EFFORTLESS!

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  10. I would say try putting the glitter on the tape before applying the tape to the candle. Don't know if that would work, but it's worth a shot.

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  11. The glitter in the original picture looks like tape that is purposefully sold "pre-glittered". They sell it as wall border in the home improvement department and I imagine you could cut it to whatever length and width you want with no danger of it getting messy!

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  12. I would say put painters tape/frogs tape in between the double sided tape

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  13. You could probably also use mod podge and work backwards. Use painters tape to mark off the areas you DON'T want to be gilttered, paint a thin layer of mod podge on and then dip or sprinkle or roll (CAREFULLY! Don't smudge the glue everywhere!) in/with glitter. Since you're peeling tape off you'd probably have to use very fine glitter because otherwise you're going to have chunks that come loose and or messy lines. You could even put a coat of mod podge on top to make sure it's stuck.

    That way you don't have to worry about the tape losing it's stickiness...or what happens to it when the wax melts!

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