DIY: Glass Glitter Amber Glass and Candles

After posting that big roundup of Holiday themed DIY's, I knew I too wanted to get my craft on! I had been staring at these pretty amber glass bottles for months wondering just what to do with them, when inspiration struck! All I needed was a little bit of glitter.

I thought with some glass glitter and candles, the amber glass would make for a pretty centerpiece or coffee table decor. Glass glitter is the old fashioned stuff, the glitter before there was plastic. It's literally tiny shards of glass coated in metallic material. Glass glitter will eventually tarnish too, giving everything an even more antique look. You can totally use regular glitter for this project, but I heartily recommend picking up some glass glitter. I found mine at Michaels crafts in the scrapbooking area (over by the embossing powders) and it comes in several colors, though I bought classic silver and bronze. I know you can find glass glitter on etsy too, and I am sure elsewhere at other craft stores.

For this super easy DIY you will need:

1) Some glass jars/bottles/candles you want to glitter (mine are modern amber glass from an organic smoothie shop, but you can get amber glass quite easily on etsy too) You can glitter other things too, like the tall ivory candles I used. I found these ones for super cheap at IKEA.

2) Glass glitter in the color of your choice

3) Tacky Glue (or some other thicker glue, I'm sure regular white glue would work too)

4) A sponge craft brush

5) Masking tape or painters tape

6) A tray or plate to glitter over (so it doesn't get everywhere!)

Make sure your glass is clean and begin by marking off a shape with your masking tape. I wanted to make mine quite simple and geometric, but you can get creative here with shapes and stencils if you'd like.

Fill your shape with glue, You want a bit of a layer, not too thick but not streaky thin, if you are using glass glitter since it is quite gritty and needs a good base of glue to stick into.

Smooth out the glue with your hand-dandy brush.

Hold your glass over a plate and sprinkle glitter onto the wet glue section. Apply glitter liberally and allow the excess to fall onto the plate below.

Carefully, while everything is still wet, peel off your tape in the order you put it on to reveal nice crisp lines! Place the finished glass somewhere it can dry, preferably on its side so that gravity doesn't make the glue/glitter mix want to slide right down off the glass.

Here's another simple shape I tried that could look like snowy mountains.

I wanted some variation for my candles so I gave them stripes instead of triangles. I kept the stripes relatively close to the bottom of the candle and marked them off with tape as before. Simply paint on the glue and sprinkle on glitter, this is the worlds easiest DIY!

I even decided to try glittering some cheap tea light candles. The little aluminum cup came off easily enough, so I coated the sides in glue and rolled them in my excess glitter. When they were dry I simply popped the candles back in!

I was really happy with how these bottles and candles came out. Glass glitter gives off such an antique look without any extra effort and sparkles so beautifully in the candle light! To finish off my cluster of glass and candles, I placed them together on an old brass tray and cut some wintry branches and sprigs from our garden to use the bottles like a small vase. I know this was a super easy DIY but I hope you all enjoyed it nonetheless!