So I dropped the entire box of shiny glass balls and broke two...what's new? I'm clumsy, and I'm messy. (Moment of silence for the dear departed.)
Did I blubber? Did I fret? Nope. Been there, done that. I got out a bowl and put the broken pieces in it. Then I covered the bowl with a disposable cloth and got to work with my implements of choice: a potato masher, a meat mallet, a small jar, and a paintbrush. Follow along:
The cloth is absolutely essential, since the laws of physics dictate that little glass bits will be flying through the air. I use a disposable one, because I don't want microshards in something I'm going to reuse. Safety first.
Okay, time to get violent.
After the initial breakdown, I'm ready for the mallet. Back on with the cover cloth. Then I use the blunt top to squish the pieces even more finely.
The last step is the mortar-and-pestle effect of grinding with the jar. Moving it in an arc, I use the edge to go back and forth over the pieces until they're just the size I want. Soemtimes this takes a while.
Repeat all the above steps if necessary. You'll end up with a bowl of fine glitter that, I guarantee, looks a whole lot better than this crappy picture I took on the iPhone.
Using a paintbrush, carefully remove the shards and fine dust from the cover cloth, then dispose of it (the cloth, not the paintbrush). I put a piece of paper under the bowl to catch the glitter dust--the better to scoop it all back in the bowl and not lose any of the lovely stuffs.
Okay, so I got glitter! Now what to do? I decided to glam up one of the unbroken balls. I brushed on a goodly coat of my BFF Mod Podge and carefully rolled the ornament in the glitter bowl until it was covered all over. After that, I let it dry, tied on a bit of ribbon, and ended up with THIS:
Nice, huh?
Remember: glass glitter is not child friendly. Do not breathe in the fine dust as you're grinding. Clean your masher, mallet, and jar well, even though they don't touch the glitter directly, and tap the fine glass dust out of the paintbrush if you plan on using it again.
