« German Glass Glitter Christmas Ornaments »

When I was a kid, our ornaments included these little, fake, red apples. I really, really liked them. They were nothing fancy. Just fake apples on slight gold string... but for some reason every Christmas I find  myself thinking about them.

As an adult, I'm pretty surprised that I never had apple ornaments of my own on my tree before today. It all happened by accident. Walking through the dollar store I saw a fake lime that caught my eye because of the very small, obviously child-sized bite marks in it. It wasn't a slight, kind of noticeable dent but full blown, the white foam is visible in the shape of some itty bitty chompers. But the thing is, the kid didn't learn apparently, or another kid came along and decided to try their luck because there were two sets pretty close to one another.

The whole thing made me smile and rather than passing by these buckets of faux fruit as I have been for who knows how long, I actually noticed the apples. It seemed just right that they should be on my tree.

The second I got home I quickly jumped on Etsy and started looking for German glass glitter that was a: affordable, b: in the colors I wanted, c: sold by someone who wasn't looking to rake it in on postage. In the end, I found just what I was looking for in Glitter and Kitsch. First off, that name is too freakin' cute, isn't it? 

The store had lots of colors, and specifically the ones I was looking for: gold, red and silver PLUS there were different grades from fine to chunky all for around $3 for 2 ounces. Now all of the others I found were around that price for only one ounce. Plus shipping at Glitter and Kitsch is really reasonable. I was really excited to see my total for 6 ounces of 3 different colors of glass glitter was $13.45 including shipping.  Very excited.

When I received my glitters I was really happy with the quality. So  happy, in fact, I contacted Kim, the owner of the shop to see if she would be willing to share a coupon code with the readers of this post. I'm happy to say that she did! Use the code: dreambigger10 to get 10% off of your order at Glitter and Kitsch on Etsy! (and not just on glitter she has lots of cute, kitschy craft goods, too)

pssst - guys who Googled "gift for my girlfriend" - if your gal loves glitter (trust me you know if she does or not) then getting her some of this stuff would be a really nice gift. German glass glitter is about as high end as craft supplies are gonna get :) 

Let's get on this DIY... You will need:

• Fake apples
• Naturally covered floral wire (got mine for about $5 at Michael's)
• Hot glue gun
• Mod Podge & brush
• German glass glitter in chunky red, chunky silver, fine gold

Take your wire and, depending on the length of dangle you like in your ornaments, cut between 1.5 and 3 inches. Remove the plastic stem that came on the apple and shoot hot glue into the opening. Quickly shove your wire into the apple and push down a bit to get good purchase. Allow glue to fully cool.

When the glue has cooled take and bend the wire around your finger to mimic the hook shape of an ornament hanger.

In order to get a non-blotchy look with the glitter we need to mix the colors together prior to using on our apples rather than going over with one color after another (I know this because that is how I did my first and it just didn't work out well). Now, because I didn't want to just mix all of my glitter up together, I mixed small batches at a time in another container and it worked out perfectly.

Take your brush and lightly cover with Mod Podge. You can either work in sections at a time or hold by the stem and get it all in one go. (Leaving the apples the color they came adds some really great dimension once the apples are glittered.)

Take your mixed glitter and sprinkle over the Mod Podge until no more glitter will stick. Set the apples to the side to dry at least overnight.

When all was said and done, I had made 6 super glittery apple ornaments but, according to my kitchen scale, I only used about 0.75 ounces of each of the chunky red and silver glitters and right at 1 ounce of the fine gold. Which means I still have plenty to glitz up something else! It also means that the chunkier glitters are going to go further if that is something for you to consider budget-wise.

Don't forget to check out Glitter and Kitsch for glitter and other fun stuff. And, just in case you were wondering this isn't a sponsored or paid post. This gal just did right by me and I like to spread the word about great small business with equally great products, prices and service. And when I asked for a discount for my readers she happily complied which also makes me like her - so don't forget your 10% off by using dreambigger10 when you check out. 

See y'all tomorrow for a fun list that I've been so excited about for weeks!