Glitz, Glam and GLITTA!!!

Some examples of glitter done right- Cardboard houses in tonally applied glitz and bottle brush trees lightly sprinkled with opalescent glam! Git it!

Sparkle, sparkle, sparkle! Shine, shine, shine! Glitz, Glamor, and Glitta! Really, need I say any more? No ma'am! Alright already, relax, I will explain!

After an extensive conversation this afternoon (with a dear friend), I became aware that perhaps I have not been completely fair with my, uh, shoe-string-budget-know-how. To be precise, she said,

"I LOVE all of the things that you list and feel like I must have the must haves, but with J__ (insert adoring but frugal husband's name here) watching every penny lately, I just cant keep up with all of the things that I want AND manage to find the extra coin to meet my holiday demands! So Jonathan, quit being a stingy b____ (insert lovingly selected superlative here) and tell me what I can do with what I already have to make it feel new!"

When tone on tone glitter isn't an option, go for a snowed on look. SNOWED on, not stuck in a blizzard!

Well! And, Guuuurl! I mean, what do you want from me?!?!? Not even Martha can do Martha all of the time, or at least that's what I tell myself to feel a little better. Anyway, point IS that there are a few things that you can do to spruce up the more senior members of your home's holiday ensemble. And, the first one that Im going to reccomend is to run (run, not walk, burn an extra calorie, trust me you'll thank me come Thanksgiving dinner time) to Michaels or Joannes or whatever craft barn you frequent- and you may want to note this as it will be one of the VERY few times I will suggest that you actually patronize such places- and gich'yerself a bottle of glitter. Now, dont go hog wild. Dont even. Dont! Pick a bottle of green, red, gold and white/opal. And, Im going to reccommend the chunky kind. You know, the sort that they use in kindergarten classes everywhere? Thats the one. Buy a bottle of spray adhesive and regular old Elmers all purpose craft glue and bring 'em home. Now pull out your Christmas/Holiday decor and lets get to fabulizing! The trick to glittering correctly is three fold: knowing what to glitter, how much to glitter and when to stop. To know what to glitter look for old more tattered pieces (cardboard houses, natural elements like collected pine cones, or paint chipped ball ornaments) and glitter in a tone on tone pattern. The reason for sticking with the older, more time worn pieces is that they will benefit form the contrast of the sparkle of the glitter where newer Hallmark collectible type ornaments will end up looking just plain rediculous. To know how much to glitter, keep 2 things in mind. First, a little goes a long way and a lot can do a lot. So, decide if you want a softer impact or more of a punch and then go either direction completely. Keep the glitter (either heavy or light but) evenly distributed about the piece. And finally, to know when to stop, after aplying your first 'coat' step away from the project and do something else. If after you come back, mind cleared of the mesmerizing effects that applying glitter can often have on a fan of the pizzazzy, you feel like it still is not enough AND you had already commited to a heavy look, then by all means go for more. BUT, if you're just adding because it already looks pretty and more could only make it even more pretty, put the bottle down, step away from the table and take a cold shower- TRUST AND BELIEVE you will thank me next year! Without a doubt the added shimmer will add a ton of life and vibrance to what might otherwise feel like a Holiday with as little excitement as the latest news feed regarding our contry's economic state! So, have some fun being creative and keep in mind, that I am not, not, giving you liscense to glitter your entire space. To much of a good thing, might be just that... then again, naaaa!

-J