Make Your Own Glass Glitter for Christmas Crafting
2 Materials
$2
30 Minutes
Easy
Christmas crafting season is upon us. Glitter is all through the house. Synthetic glitter is cheap and you can buy it everywhere, but nothing sparkles or adds elegance like true glass glitter. However, it can be quite expensive and hard to find. But did you know you can make your own glass glitter?! Here's how:
True glass glitter is essentially crushed glass. So that's what we'll be doing -- smashing glass. So get out your SAFETY GLASSES and WEAR GLOVES to protect your finger tips. AND I WOULDN'T LET MY CHILD CRAFT WITH GLASS GLITTER. THEY'LL HAVE JUST AS MUCH FUN WITH THE SYNTHETIC CHEAP STUFF. 
I picked up two bags of small, plain glass ornaments at my favorite junk shop. The first thing I did was sort them by color and took off the metal hangers. Then I assembled an "envelope" out of cardboard, taping it on three sides. I placed a couple small, silver ornaments in my envelope.
Protect your work surface ... you don't want dents in your tabletop! I used my metal stamping tools, but any piece of wood and regular hammer works. Put your envelope on the wood and start smashing! After the first hit, I pull the "neck" of the ornament out of the envelope -- for some reason that glass is thicker and also a different color. Trust me on this, and just toss that piece out.
When I was happy with my glitter's consistency, I poured the glass glitter in a plastic container and repeated the process. I decided the glitter was chunkier than I wanted, so I used the butt of my hammer to manually grind it even finer. (Think mortar and pestle here! If I had an extra one, I would have used that.)
I ended up making antique white, silver, gold, and red glass glitter. I used the white to make angel wings ...
And the silver to make beautiful doves ....
Even some monograms! (Feel free to visit my site for the full tutorial on how to make the ornaments.)
It really is that simple to make your own glass glitter. I hope you give it a try. Happy crafting!
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