All a-twitter for holiday glitter
Turn up the sparkle and shine when prepping for the holidays
The holidays are the perfect excuse to get glitzy. Whether you’re dressing your home or yourself, a little shimmer welcomes the season and boosts the spirits – often without a whole lot of effort or cash.
Decor-wise, glittered and mirrored surfaces offer what one observer calls “a cheap buzz.”
You can buy a pack of glittered faux pears for a few bucks, keep them in a pretty bowl right through January, pack them away and use them again next year.
And you probably already own many sparkly things, such as silver ornaments, mirrors, crystal vases, apothecary jars.
It’s just a matter of pulling them out, shining them up a bit and, perhaps, using them in new ways.
(Besides rifling through your own inventory in search of shiny goods, craft stores, dollar stores and second-hand stores are other good resources for inexpensive decorations.) Susan Berger, owner of Flower A Day, 1879 Whitehaven Road, Grand Island, suggests grouping things together to create a focal point in one or two places – such as your mantel or tabletop. “You really want to doll it up,” said Berger, one of the featured designers in this weekend’s holiday Lewiston Tour of Homes.
Her favorite tools include sparkle spray – in silver or gold – which can be used on living greens, poinsettias, pine cones.
“They turn out so pretty, and you can add gold or silver ribbons and bows,” she said.
Sugaring fruit is another way to add sparkle. It’s a festive look for centerpieces, and the Internet is full of instructions, she said. ( www.hgtv.com is one resource; just type in “sugared fruit.”)
Among the recommended fruit: crab apples, grapes, oranges, lemons, pomegranates and more.
You also can take lidded apothecary jars and fill them with glass ornaments and mix in some tinsel. Glittery snowflake ornaments are pretty in them, too, Berger said, and glass vases also work well if you don’t have the jars.
If your inventory is lacking, sparkly decor and decorations are widely available in all price ranges.
Especially trendy this year are glittered reindeer, decorative “mosaic” tabletop trees covered in highly reflective mirrored glass, and glittery faux flowers and stems in jewel tones such as amethyst.
A warning: Glitter ornaments, silver bells and other high-shine decorations are especially attractive to pets and children.
Keep everyone safe by placing these items out of reach.
Other ways to bring sparkle and shine into your life:
• Metallic gel pens: They aren’t just for writing holiday cards. Use them for place cards at the table or for little notes in your child’s lunch box.
• Crystals: Hang them in windows. Dangle them from chandeliers.
• Mirrors: You can take small mirrored coasters or trays and top them with glass or crystal candlesticks or vases. Or place a larger mirror on a buffet or dining table as a base for a centerpiece.
You even can put a full-length mirror to work by placing it down the middle of your dining room table — if the table is long enough. Then add candles, silver ornaments, etc.
• Silver jingle bells: Take a bunch and put them in a pretty glass or vase. Michaels sells a pack of 75 of them for about $5.
Real Simple magazine suggests filling a brandy snifter to the brim with silver bells of various sizes to add sparkle to a table.
And keep them there right through New Year’s to ring in 2009.
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