Altering Christmas Baubles: Which Glitter Works Best?
I hope I'm not the only one who can't resist adding their own little DIY spin on store bought Christmas decorations - please tell me I'm not alone! Well this year I have partnered with a fabulous Aussie store Christmas Kingdom to indulge in my little decoration DIY love and create a table centerpiece using some of their fabulous products and some very special altered baubles.
You may have noticed that I love to make things a little more sparkly than they were originally and that one of the products I often use is glitter. I have glitter in a wide variety of forms from chunky vintage glitter glass to micro fine, but which is best when it comes to covering a non-porous surface, like a Christmas bauble? Which allows the colour from the object to shine through, what enhances the look and what works best? Today I will be trialling three different glitters and I hope to answer those questions.
What I Used for the Altered Baubles
- Products from Christmas Kingdom: Light Blue Christmas Bauble Pack 40mm (complete product list for the centrepiece below)
- Liquitex: Matt Medium
- Glitter: I chose the following glitters, as they are all clear/very pale, have a variety of sizes and I thought they would look amazing
Twinklets Diamond Dust,
Ranger - Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy and
X-Press It Micro Fine Glitter - Crystal
To Alter the Baubles
I kept this simple!
- Coat each bauble with Matte Medium, painted on thinly with a paintbrush.
- Carefully pour glitter over bauble, I used a different type of glitter on each of the 3 baubles:
Twinklets Diamond Dust,
Ranger - Distress Glitter - Clear Rock Candy and
X-Press It Micro Fine Glitter - Crystal - Tap off excess glitter and pour back into the jar and hang bauble in a safe place until dry.
These are my results.......
Bauble No 1 - Coated with Diamond Dust
- Coverage - Excellent, no visible lines, even coating
- Colour - bauble colour shows through glitter almost unaltered
- Appearance - Love it, super sparkly
Bauble No 2 - Coated with Distress Glitter in Clear Rock Candy
- Coverage - Good, fine glue/brush lines, glitter is thicker in some areas
- Colour - Bauble colour shows through glitter, though is muted and where glitter is thicker is almost white
- Appearance - Love it, really pretty soft colouring, glue lines look like snowdrifts!
Bauble No 3 - Coated in X-Press It Micro Fine Glitter
- Coverage - Good, fine glue/brush lines, glitter slightly thicker in some areas
- Colour - Bauble colour shows through glitter, though is a little muted
- Appearance - Love it, really pretty soft colouring, iridescent sparkles, glue lines look like pretty patterns!
What's My Favourite?
I think my favourite altered bauble is the one covered in Diamond Dust, I like the way it enhances the bauble and allows the colour to show through, I love the fact it is very forgiving and brushstrokes are invisible and to be very honest - this had the most SPARKLE!
I used the rest of the fabulous goodies from Christmas Kingdom to create a unique blue and silver table centrepiece and of course, I couldn't resist using the custom glittery baubles I have just created! Not only do they look amazing, but it's a great way to personalise your holiday decorations and for my part add a little 'Sparkle Tart' into the mix!
For those of you who haven't heard of Christmas Kingdom, they are on online Christmas decorations store based in Australia and they have an amazing range of products. What I love most is that they stock a rather LARGE array of items so the Christmas D.I.Y. addict (like me) can create custom pieces. You can get all sorts of individual elements in a wide range of colours so you can create your own perfect Christmas door wreath, decorations, table centrepiece or garland. There is also a fabulous range of already finished, high quality items for anyone in a bit of a rush or who would prefer to purchase a finished item :) If you are wanting to create something of your own but not sure where to begin then there is also Christmas Kingdom on YouTube where you can watch and learn! I think my favourite items are in the pic 'n' sprays section, this is where you can grab what you like to make your own items - I love them all!
Loving how my table centrepiece turned out and it was super easy to put together, I used pieces of several Christmas Kingdom sprays, threaded these into the table garland and used wire to attach the extra baubles.
Putting it together was a little bit fiddly (only because I had to keep fending off cats - apparently those Christmas baubles looked VERY interesting), so worthwhile though as the result was a stunning custom table decoration, it in any colours you like. I wanted to say a BIG thank you to Christmas Kingdom for the opportunity to play with so many pretty Christmas decorations.
***CHRISTMAS GIVEAWAY***
Now I have a special surprise for my Australian readers today, Christmas Kingdom has generously provided a $50.00 gift voucher for me to give away to one lucky follower!!!!! All you need to do to enter is to leave a comment on this post, telling me which of the altered baubles you like best and one product from Christmas Kingdom you would buy if you win the voucher. Super simple!
For extra chances to win:
- LIKE the Christmas Kingdom Facebook page and my Sparkle Tart page
- Follow me on Instagram or Christmas Kingdom on YouTube
- Follow this blog OR
- Share this giveaway on Facebook with all your friends
This giveaway is open to both current and new subscribers (must be an Australian resident) AND don't forget to let me know in your comment where you have shared or that you have liked, so I can credit you with those extra entries!
Entries Close December 11th at midnight and I will use Random.org to pick a winner on December 12th @ 9:00 am AEST and post the winner's name here on the blog - so check back to see you YOU are the winner!
Good luck and may your holiday season be Merry and bright!
These are the products from Christmas Kingdom used to create my table decoration:
