I have a confession to make.  I used to hate glitter.  Yes, I’m a girl.  Who used to hate glitter.  “Why?” you might ask.  Well…I suppose because I used to not like messes, and, well, glitter can be sort of messy.  Not in the “get your hands dirty” kind of way, but more in the “it goes EVERYWHERE and gets on EVERYTHING” sort of way.  Not to worry, though…no need for an intervention!  I have overcome my fear of messes, and not only do I now enjoy getting my hands dirty, but I have also found a place in my art heart for glitter.

And who wouldn’t be taken by these ADORABLE vintage-y glass salt-shaker bottles of Fairy Dust glitter from Clearsnap, designed by artist Donna Salazar?!  Could they be any cuter?  They are available in three colors – Pralines & Cream, Mixed Berries, and Sugar Shimmer – which coordinate with Smooch Spritz, also by Clearsnap.

The bottle arrives with a plastic stopper in the top, inside the shaker-top.  You have to remove the stopper to use the shaker…but hold onto that stopper – if you want to take the glitter with you to crops or crafting events, it will be a great way to contain your glitter and prevent spills!!

Bottle arrives with a stopper inside the screw-on shaker top

The first thing that struck me (once I got over how darn cute they were) was that you get a LOT of glitter in these bottles!  I wondered if the holes on the salt shaker tops would allow too much glitter to come out, and if I would end up going through the glitter too quickly…but after several projects using the glitter, I haven’t even made a dent in my bottles.

I found the glitter to be a very fine glitter – which means it is a glitter that really does go EVERYWHERE when you use it.  But because it is so fine, it has unbelievable sparkle that reflects light so well and catches your eye with every tiny speck.  The colors are very subtle – not at all bold – and the glitter itself is pretty transparent.  On this first project, you can see that I used the Pralines & Cream on a book-text flower.  I used matte Mod Podge as my adhesive.  You can see that the book text is still very visible, and the color of the glitter is very very subtle.  There is a LOT of glitter on this flower – but I found it incredibly difficult to capture on camera just how sparkly it is!

Tag made using book text flower with Pralines & Cream Fairy Dust glitter

Pralines & Cream Fairy Dust glitter

Next, I tried using the Fairy Dust on some Sticky-Back Canvas from Ranger Inkssentials.  I had stamped the image and colored it using watercolor pencils, then allowed it to dry.  I also did a watercolor pencil wash on the background of the ATC.   This time, I used Clearsnap’s Glue Gloss for my adhesive.  I covered parts of the stamped image, and dotted the background.  I used the Mixed Berries Fairy Dust…you can see that while it is definitely a different color than the Pralines & Cream, it is still pretty much transparent and is still very subtle in it’s color.  But isn’t it SO pretty?!

Mixed Berries Fairy Dust applied with Glue Gloss on sticky-back canvas

(As a side note, the Glue Gloss was super easy and fun to use…it comes in a lip gloss-like container, with a wand that you use to apply the adhesive.  The wand makes it easy to get the glue exactly where you want it, and to spread the adhesive over a specific area.)

For my final trial, I made a a bound stamp-storage album using my Bind-It-All, and decorated the front using several handmade paper flowers and a couple Petaloo paper flowers, all adorned with Fairy Dust.  I also added Fairy Dust to some misted Petaloo butterflies.  The handmade flowers were misted first, and then I used Art Glitter Institute Designer Dries Clear adhesive to add Mixed Berries Fairy Dust.  I used the same adhesive on the small white flowers from Petaloo, and added Pralines & Cream Fairy Dust.  I found that I actually liked adhesive the least of the three choices, simply because it was more difficult to spread the glue out, so the glitter dried in more distinct lines/patterns.  This would be fine if you were writing or trying to make shapes/follow lines with the glue and sprinkling the glitter on, but that wasn’t the look I was going for here.

Stamp storage album

Handmade flowers with Mixed Berries Fairy Dust

Petaloo flowers with Pralines & Cream Fairy Dust; Petaloo butterfly with Mixed Berries Fairy Dust

I did find out the hard way, the first time I unscrewed the metal lid to put my excess glitter back in the bottle, that you have to be very careful about this…the glitter gets stuck in the threads on the screw-top, and comes sprinkling out on your work surface when you remove the lid.  I found that two things help…one, make sure you take the top off over your scrap paper that you are using as your “catch paper” for pouring the glitter back in the bottle, and two, if you sort of tap the bottle on the table a couple times before removing the lid, it cuts down on how much glitter falls out.

Overall, I am LOVING the Fairy Dust, and find myself reaching for it over and over when I want to add glitter to a project.  Now, what about pricing?  If you just look at the price on it’s own, it may give you a bit of sticker shock.  Each bottle has a MSRP of $9.99.  However, then you need to realize that you are getting a full 2 ounces of glitter!  This is comparative to other nice glitters, such as Martha Stewart’s Tinsel Glitter, which retails at $4.99 for a 1 oz. jar, and is a much better bargain than Doodlebug Design’s Sugar Coating which retails at $6.99 for a .85 oz. jar.  You can also shop around…I was able to locate the Fairy Dust on Scrapbooking Warehouse for $7.88/jar.

Stay tuned next week for ANOTHER glitter review!  Any other glitter fans out there?  What’s YOUR favorite glitter??

• About the Author
• Latest Posts

About Guest Star

• Pat Catan’s Craft Stores Acquired by Michael’s - February 2, 2016
• Vicki’s CHA Trend Sightings - January 20, 2016
• Vicki’s Favorite Picks from the CHA Top 20 Products - January 10, 2016
• CHA Show 2015: Behind the Scenes with Vicki - January 30, 2015
• CHA 2015 Day 2 - January 20, 2015
• CHA Show 2015 – New Jewelry Products to Watch For - January 19, 2015
• CHA Show 2015: Yarnia - January 15, 2015
• CHA 2015: Day 1 - January 11, 2015
• Craft Product Review: Mod Podge Furniture in 3 Finishes - January 5, 2015
• Trend Report for 2014-2015 – Home Decor - November 26, 2014