Daily Courage

My daughter and I put a twist on our egg dyeing tradition today by deciding to use glitter rather than dye. I have been enamored with glitter ever since I met Barbara Trombley, owner of Art Institute Glitter, at the Craft & Hobby Show (CHA) some years ago. Barbara is the Queen of Glitter, and the author of Glitter Artistry.  She manufactures the most beautiful sparkle in nearly 100 colors. I think I own nearly every color she makes. I’m partial to the superfine glitter, and use it for many projects, but this is the first time I have glittered eggs.

I picked up the new Martha Stewart’s Encyclopedia of Crafts at Costco the other day. There is a short section about glitter, and it gave me the nudge I needed to get the shiny stuff out and add a little glitz to Easter. 

We made a drying board just as the book recommends by pushing straight pins into a piece of foam core. It worked great. I had picked up about two dozen paper mache eggs to glitter.  But I  also wanted to try using real eggshells. I needed eggs for some baking I was doing today, so I blew them rather than cracking them. My mother taught me how to poke a pinhole in either end and blow like the dickens to empty out the white and yolk. I remember laughing at her while watching her face turn red from blowing so hard.  Sarah did the same looking at me today. Surprisingly, the paper eggs worked much better for this project. The real eggs didn’t hold the glue nearly as well and tended to “scratch” the glitter off when they touched anything. 

I made “nests” from raffia and wood shavings. I arranged them atop tarnished silver dishes and stands I bought at Alameda Flea Market last time I was there. I have a collection of cloches, and decided to cover a few of the nests, and placed them in groups to create little tabletop vignettes.

Superfine glitter scatters easily and I have ended up with a sparkly face-just like Barbara Trombley has every time I see her. If I can’t get it off tonight, it will give new meaning to waking up with a bright shiny face!