A table starts to shine the moment you set out your crystal and china, but to
make it truly glitter and glow, why not add some real glitter? The best kind to
use is made from ground Mylar and looks like colored sand. It can be ravishing
when sprinkled like a dusting of snow on objects from nature, such as nuts and
pinecones. Silver and gold glitters are the perfect accompaniments for a table
clothed in winter whites, but glitter comes in a great array of colors. You can
use one color alone, or blend two or three together to create exactly the tone
you want. To dull the brilliance of silver glitter, for example, add some pewter
granules. There are also larger-grain glitters, which come in a variety of sheens
and can even be translucent; just don't mix them with fine-grain glitter.
Too much glitter can seem garish, so it's best to use glittered decorations
sparingly, like a potent spice. Glittered nuts look magical when mixed with
unembellished nuts and painted silver leaves in a clear-glass compote.
Working with glitter can be messy, so spread out craft paper or paper towels
before you begin-you don't want every surface in your house to sparkle.
Gilding is the lustrous companion to glitter. Gilded decorations, like the
artificial fruit used in centerpieces, gleam with a sleek, polished finish.
You can wrap almost any smooth surface in a thin layer of metallic leaf, which
is affixed with an adhesive and then burnished with a brush or soft cloth. You
can cover polystyrene fruit in silver leaf, aluminum leaf, and green-mint and
aqua metallic leaf-icy, luminous colors to lighten the season's dark days. Metallic
leaf usually comes in "books" made up of twenty-five paper-thin "leaves"
in one of numerous sizes. Silver leaf is 3 3/4 inches square.
Aluminum leaf measures 5 inches square. And colored metallic leaf imported
from Japan, sold in books of one hundred, is 4 5/16 inches square. Although
true silver leaf tarnishes, it will retain its polish for years if treated with
a sealant such as Ronan Acrylic Clear Overcoat.
Touches of glitter and gilding can go almost anywhere. You can hang large glittered
pinecones from a silver sconce, set gilded fruit in a greenery wreath, and tie
your "silver" wishbones onto little gifts. The fun of glitter and
gilding, after all, is that it can surprise us-and a winter house should be
filled with surprises.
©2007, Kathy Burns-Millyard. Are you ready to
decorate your home more beautifully now too? Shop for
beautiful lamps and lighting at StylishLamps.com,
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