Friday, May 28, 2010

Poor Man's Glitter

It's been a month since I last posted. I'm not sure why I've been away so long. Many reasons - I had computer problems, Moonshine and I have been sick and partly just that I've had things sitting heavily on my mind. I'll probably share some of these (I'd actually like your input) but not today.

Instead today here's a really easy craft idea.

I'm sorry I haven't got many photos. So I'll start with the end product and then tell you about it. You use it just like glitter. You apply glue to your paper, sprinkle on the poor man's glitter. Shake the page to spread it around then pour the excess back into the jar. For the abstract design on the left Rainbow used a paint brush to apply the glue. The person was drawn using a glue stick. The following pictures were created using potato stamps stamped in glue. The stamps were made by pressing a cookie cutter into a halved potato. Then with cutter still in place cutting a line parallel to the cut surface. You're then left with a raised shape.

So what is poor man's glitter. Simply salt with a few drops of food colouring added (just a drop or two as you don't want to wet the salt). Mix well so that the colour is dispersed.

Rainbow also likes using the poor man's glitter to make potions. The great thing is because it is salt it dissolves in the water and you get to see the effects of mixing the colours. It really does make the potion magical to a three year old.

Another interesting thing is that if you leave the pictures displayed in the kitchen or bathroom over time the salt absorbs the moisture in the air and changes texture - even dribbling down the picture at times.

6 comments:

  1. Great to read you again! And this is a lovely idea that I think we'll be trying next week - the schools are off for a week and so I'm on the look out for lots of new crafty projects for M and J. And I guess this salt glitter tidies up better than glitter glitter, which whenever we use seems to be able to hide from the hoover for days. I hope that whatever has been on your mind doesn't continue to weigh you down.

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  2. Thanks Zoe, It is amazing how you might not of used glitter for weeks but it will suddenly appear in your child's hair or a room where you've never used glitter! I did read of a parent that wouldn't let a child use glitter but that's a little sad as glitter improves everything! Your comments made me think to add about cleaning up - use a dustpan and broom rather than a sponge as adding water will make a colourful mess.

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  3. I always like it when I see my husband go off to work a few days later with a little bit of glitter under his eyes (!) (and no, he's not a disco party type...;-) )

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  4. What a good idea! We only have mixed glitter or glitter glue, I like the idea of being able to separate colours.

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  5. Hi Deb,
    That reminds me that you can mix to different coloured sand glitters together and get a new colour which doesn't happen with true glitter.

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  6. Hello! I have been away from catching up with all my favorite blogs. Hope you are well and what is weighing on your mind isn't too heavy for one mama to handle. Smile because someone is thinking of you and cheering you on all the way around the world. Take care!

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