Glitter Leaf Hurricanes

By Kate Riley November 11, 2010

Happy Veterans Day all!   A big salute to the veterans and troops today!  Did your town have a parade?  Ours did, and so many came out to pay tribute!

I’m working my way through my list of holiday crafts, and I finished up one half of a project today!   We’re not hosting Thanksgiving this year, but I am helping with the table setting, so here’s one of my contributions: glitter leaf hurricanes!  Or should I say hurricane singular . . .  I still have to finish the second one, but no worries.  This is such a simple and quick project anyone can finish in under an hour.

  cg glitter leaf hurricane 1

What you’ll need:  pattern or design of choice; glass candle holder or vase; spray paint; glitter; adhesive vinyl; cutting board; box cutter or X-acto knife; cotton swabs; mineral spirits or paint thinner (for cleaning up with spray paint).

 

I was all set to use my Silhouette craft cutter, but then I couldn’t find the little blade cutters, grrrr.  I had to cut out my pattern the old fashioned way, which takes about ten times as long, but it also works if you cut slowly and carefully.  Make sure you use a cutting board underneath!

I used a leaf pattern from my Silhouette library, then placed in directly on top of the sheet of adhesive vinyl and secured it with tape.  You can use any clip art shape you find online, simply print it out in the size you need.

  cut design

 

I was going to use the negative space created with the vinyl, but then realized the adhesive backing was stickier, so I used that instead.  In hindsight, I’m realizing the vinyl may have clinged better around the edges, so I may use that instead on the second hurricane.

adhesive and paint

You can spray paint so many things, including glass, so I used that as my base to get the glitter to stick.  I sprayed a tiny bit of paint into the cap, then use a paintbrush to dab it on the glass.  After I applied the paint, I sprinkled it with glitter.  I repeated several times to get a thick application and design.

I used Krylon’s ‘Caramel Latte’ but any color close to your glitter will work.  The glitter is Martha’s ‘Bronze’ from her line of craft supplies.  Allow to dry, then peel off your adhesive. 

Clean up any ‘bleeding’ of your paint outside the lines with a cotton swab dipped in mineral spirits or paint thinner.

glitter and mineral spirits

Here’s how it looks when you’re done!  

 

cg glitter hurricane

 

cg hurricane and pine cones

 

Anything’s possible for your holiday table with glass, be it a candle holder or a vase.  Snowflake designs would look so pretty with silver or white glitter.  And it doesn’t need to be permanent.  Whenever you tire of your design, mineral spirits or paint thinner will remove the paint and glitter from your hurricane and return it to clear glass.   Just in time for you to cover it with hearts for Valentines Day, right?

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40 comments

  1. Wow! Really fabulous idea and great execution. I’m going to have to make some of these. Thanks for the tutorial!

  2. love.love.love it!! I was wondering if you could reuse them, so glad you added how to remove it…just in time for adding a new design. Great!! I will file this away in my brain to use very soon. Thanks again for a great post!

  3. Beautiful job — your table will be stunning, I’m sure! Thanks for the tutorial!

    ps — I like how I’m hot glueing a piece of burlap on my vases, and your adding glitter to a hand-cut stencil!!! We’re like preschool and art academy! :)

  4. Very pretty and an easy to follow tutorial! I bet it looks beautiful when the candle is lit and glowing at night. A nice touch to the Thanksgiving table!

  5. So pretty! I love glitter. Maybe the next one could be the same pattern but the negative space instead. Could look cool! Thanks for the idea (:

  6. I love this project and can’t wait to see this on your Thanksgiving table. (I hope you’ll share it with us!) I’m inspired now to try this project, maybe with Holly leaves for Christmas.

  7. Great tutorial as always. I didn’t know you could use spray paint if you didn’t spray it on. duh! Why don’t you give us a post about other random facts like that? Including how to use wax or Elmers to crackle paint.

  8. Do you think it would be possible to glue glitter to the vinyl then you could stick it on for the holidays and just take it off when you want to try something new rather than having to pull out the mineral spirits and/or paint remover?

  9. I saw premade Thanksgiving hurricanes w/ the words “Thanks” etched that were $15 each and thought I could do this for pennies on the dollar for our communion tables at church using advent words w/ the hurricanes we already own! Saw a similar process on Martha Stewart last year — slip a silhouette picture inside the glass, trace & flood design on outside w/ white glue (from a narrow tip bottle) and sprinkle w/ white glitter. I love your process, too! TFP!!!

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