5 Ways to Decorate with Glitter

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Glitter sometimes gets a bad rap. I’ve heard it referred to as “craft herpes,” because once you get it you can’t get rid of it. There is an actual website where you can ship your enemies glitter. And Ellen Degeneres has mentioned many times on her show all the reasons that she is anti-glitter and how she has just about banned it from her set. To all of which I say pshhh.

I love glitter. It’s fun, and girly, and glittery and if I spend the rest of my life with a speck of glitter on my cheek, just inside my peripheral vision, well I guess I have to be okay with that, because it’s glitter!

There are 9 more months till Christmas, but I am certainly not going to make you wait until the holidays roll back around to share fun glitter tutorials. This post is all about how you can use glitter in your decor for just about any party. Your Dad is turning 60? Glitter it up! Just kidding, use your discretion with the glitter, but, if you have a little girl who is celebrating a birthday, well I am here for ya, with 5 Ways to Decorate with Glitter!

The two main craft supplies that you will need for the first 3 projects are Mod Podge (I prefer the “gloss” finish), and of course glitter (Martha Stewart’s is my favorite).

One: Make a Banner!

Why not making a sparkly glitter banner spelling out a celebratory message or your guest of honor’s name? It can be completely customized!

To make this banner, you will need:

*Wood Letters

*Mod Podge

*Glitter

*Paint (optional)

*Tulle/Ribbon or Hooks

For this banner, I picked up some wood letters from Joann Fabrics. They were $2.99/each, and buy one get one 50% off, not a bad deal. I had extra tulle from other decor, and I already had the Mod Podge, glitter, and paint, so this project only cost me about $15, AND I can re-use the banner as decor in the birthday girl’s bedroom!

Since the letters were unfinished wood, I chose to paint them with a coat of silver acrylic paint. That step is optional. I really didn’t want my pink letters to have a tan undertone to them, (and we were snowed in with this year’s blizzard), so I took the extra step and painted them. You can see wear I skipped this step further down in this post when making the “2” for the wreath.

After the painted letters are completely dry, spread on a thin layer of Mod Podge with a foam brush. Only do one letter at a time, so that the glue doesn’t dry on you, and then sprinkle on the glitter. You will want to do this on a tray or inside of a box, if you can. Lay a sheet of paper under the area where you are working, so that you can transfer the excess glitter back into the bottle. I left a section empty, where I was holding the letter, and then I went back and filled that area in once the glitter was dry.

Once they are completely dry, you can hang them, or you can attempt to seal them first so that the glitter doesn’t shed (as much). If you want to really seal the glitter, paint on another coat of Mod Podge (gloss finish!). I feel that the additional Mod Podge layer dulls the shine slightly, but I have heard other crafters disagree. I have also heard that you can thin the adhesive with water, which may help, but I haven’t tried that yet. In writing this post, I also discovered that they sell Sparkle Mod Podge!!! Whaaaat??? I haven’t tried this yet either, but I can’t wait to! I’ll keep you updated. I coated my letters with a thin layer of spray clear gloss finish, and I feel like it sealed them enough.

You can hang your letters from a piece of tulle or ribbon, or you can attach a hook to the back. I used silver glitter tulle (go figure), and then hung them from the wall using removable command strips.

Two: Glitter Utensil Jars!

These jars are so fun, and can be used in so many different ways to add sparkle to your party. You could put flowers in them, cake pops, candles, pretzel sticks! I used 3 of them to hold our utensils on our buffet table, and then used a smaller one to hold paper straws at the bar. And now that the party is over, I have endless ideas on how I want to RE-use the jars!

For this project you will need:

Glass jars-mason, pickle, etc

Glitter

Mod Podge

Tape

Foam brush

Clear gloss finishing spray (optional)


Just about any type of glass jars will work for this project, it just depends what you plan on displaying in them. I used 3 standard mason jars for the utensil holders and then a small relish jar to hold the straws. The utensils sat a little low in the mason jars however, so I put a rolled up napkin in the bottom, to give them a little boost.

If you are not planning on covering the entire jar with glitter, you can make a clean line, by wrapping a piece of tape all the way around the jar wherever you want the glitter to stop. I used painters tape.

Then simply dip your foam brush in the mod podge and paint it onto your jar up to the tape and overlapping it slightly.

Hold the jar by the mouth and sprinkle on the glitter. Just as in the above project, it is helpful to do this on a tray or in a box, with a sheet of paper laid down to collect the excess glitter.

Once the glitter is applied to your liking, turn the jar upside down and allow it to dry. If it looks a little thin or spotty, apply another layer of Mod Podge and add more glitter. Mod podge dries clear, so you can go right over the part that is already glittered, in order to add more glitter. After I am completely finished applying my glitter, I usually wait about 15 minutes or so and peel off the tape, before the mod podge has fully set, so that it doesn’t pull up any of the glitter.

After it has dried completely, you can seal it with an additional coat of Mod Podge, clear gloss finish spray, or leave them as they are. Then fill them up with anything you want and set them out for a fully functional decoration!

Three: Glitter Cupcake Wrappers!

This project is one of the least messy of the glitter tutorials because I did not use loose glitter, I used glitter scrapbook paper! Some glitter scrapbook paper has a really rough texture and seems like it would still shed a bit, don’t buy that kind if you will be using it on a food product. Look for paper that has a smoother texture, is still super sparkly, but where the glitter is sealed in, buy that!

For this project you will need:

*Glitter Scrapbook paper

*Card Stock/Sheet of paper

*Scissors-decorative if you have them

*Tape or Stapler

The first step in making your own cupcake wrappers is to make a template out of a piece of card stock or thin cardboard. You can trace any cupcake wrapper or liner you have or you can print a template from the good ‘ole internet. Once you have your template, trace it as many times as you can fit, onto the back of your scrap book paper. I just traced mine with solid lines, and then cut the top line with the scalloped scissors. Cut out all your wrappers. Wrap one around a cupcake to get an idea of the measurement, and then tape or staple them closed. Once you have them all adhered, plop in your cupcakes, and you are set!

Four: Make a Glitter Pennant Banner!

Now if you over bought scrap book paper when you were shopping for your cupcake wrappers, go ahead and cut a bunch of triangles out of the leftovers. Punch a hole in the corners and string them up to make a festive glitter banner to hang over your matching cupcakes, or to hang anywhere that your party needs a little more glitter…which is everywhere.

Five: Customize a wreath!

I shared a tutorial on how to make this tulle wreath a few weeks ago in my 5 Ways to Decorate with Tulle post. Here I will show you how you can customize it with glitter!

For this project you will need:

*Wreath

*Wood Number(s) or Letter(s)

*Paint (optional)

*Mod Podge

*Glitter

*Fishing line

I customized my tulle wreath with a wooden “2” for my little girl’s second birthday. You can really customize these any way you want, with an age, name, party or holiday theme. The options are endless.

I made this 2, following the same steps that I used when making the name banner above, however, I did not paint the number before adding the glitter this time. Since the number was wood grain and I was using gold glitter, I wasn’t too worried about it showing through. If I had been using a different color glitter though, I probably would have taken the extra step. So I simply covered the wooden number with Mod Podge, sprinkled on the glitter and allowed it to dry. I then went back and filled in any spots that I may have missed or looked thin. Then I used fishing line to attach it to my wreath. Depending on the weight of your decoration, you could use hot glue as well.

This is the last post of tutorials for all of the fun DIY from Ellie’s 2nd Birthday! Make sure you also check out 5 Ways to Decorate with Tulle, DIY Outfit for The Birthday Girl (for under $20), and her birthday party roundup. When in doubt ADD GLITTER!!!

xo
c