Glitter Storage and Coverage

Glitter contamination is the bane of anyone who loves glitter. Whether you get unwanted glitter on a work in progress or the unintentional dark blue specks in the container of white glitter, it’s a guaranteed source of frustration! While this nuisance is fairly unavoidable, there are measures that I take to minimize contamination.

I prefer the sprinkle and shake versus the dredging method.
After the glue has been applied to the shoe, what’s the best way to apply the glitter? This is a simple question that presents a number of techniques. Having attended a few glitter parties, I have seen a couple of different ways. Some people like to fill plastic shoe boxes with large amounts of glitter, and hold the shoe over the container while sprinkling glitter over the shoe. I call this method dredging because it reminds me of dipping food in the wet coating and then the dry ingredients before frying. This technique is fine. Until, you find that you did not completely “shake and tap” to remove the first glitter and as you apply the second glitter, you end up with the first glitter in the second glitter bin resulting in glitter contamination!

I prefer to work, sprinkling glitter over large pieces of paper. Using two sheets for each color, I have found the 24 x 24″ newsprint sheets that are used for packing and moving are great for this purpose. I sprinkle the wet shoe with glitter over a sheet of newsprint. The glitter that does not adhere to the glue is collected on the underlining sheet, which is then funneled back into the container. To avoid spilling the glitter, the container that I’m pouring into is placed on top of a second sheet of newsprint. I write the name of the glitter on the outside sheet and stack the folded sheets inside a dedicated trash can for storage to be reused. Loose glitter is contained in the bottom of the trash can and the used sheets are stored neatly.

I work with no more than 2 ounces of glitter at any given time.
Yep, you read right! While I purchase bulk glitter to achieve the best value, I only work with a small amount of glitter. If the small amount of white glitter that I’m working with happens to become contaminated with a darker colored glitter, I either toss the remaining or use it to create glitter appliqués.

I store my glitter in food storage containers from Dollar Tree.
Instead of trying to return glitter into canisters with small openings, I transfer into the 4-ounce food containers. I usually pick up three to six containers for a dollar. I find that these containers are reasonably priced and stackable. They do not take up a lot of space, and it’s easy to pour sprinkled glitter from the newsprint sheets.

I work with light to darker colored glitter.
I usually work on five to six shoes at a time. I will spend anywhere between 30 to 90 minutes a day to touch each shoe. During each sessions, I like to work from the lightest glitter color to the darkest. This practice minimizes the possibility of contaminating my lighter colors.

Two thin coats of glue are preferable to one thick coat.
Whether you use Aleene’s Tacky Glue or Mod Podge, two thin coats of glue and glitter are superior to one thick coat. Fight the urge to load the shoe with glue. Think of your last manicure or pedicure. You got the best results with two coats of nail polish, instead of one thick coat.

When working with white or light colored glitter, acrylic craft paint is your friend.
Enough said! Painting the shoe with an acrylic craft paint and then sprinkling the first coat of glitter, provides coverage and minimizes the amount of glitter that will be needed for adequate coverage. I usually follow the first coat with a second coat of Mod Podge and glitter to achieve the best coverage.

Take these as suggestions. There are no hard and fast rules to glittering! These are simply a few things that work for me. In parting,I have three final ideas to share:

  1. A quick brush (over a completely dry shoe) with a dry 1 or 2″ paint brush does a surprisingly awesome job of knocking off loose glitter before moving to the next color.
  2. Tapping the heel on the floor or the corner of your work table does a splendid job as well.
  3. Have fun! It’s just glitter and glue!