I have a friend who jokes that kids go to preschool so that they can throw glitter on the floor. She has a household prohibition on loose glitter and I always thought I would do the same, but then I discovered that I have a house full of glitter lovers. At craft time my house bears an uncanny resemblance to a Ke$ha video. This is how we clean it up:
Grab a ball of play dough and roll it around to pick up the mess. Problem solved, and you now have the added bonus of glitter play dough. Bring on the glitter and cue the pop music.
(Image: Roni Shapira Ben-Yoseph)
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Glitter Play-doh that's going to leave a sheen of glitter everywhere for forever? I think I would just grab the vacuum.
A lint roller would work well too. You could even cover a paint roller in masking tape for a giant lint roller.
Firebomb the house?
Unless you are planning on throwing away the playdoh, this just ensures the glitter will continue to be a problem for much, much longer.
Demetri Martin - "Glitter is the herpes of craft supplies."
jennysilentg I was going to quote the same. I love glitter. I don't even care if it takes over my house!
Yeah, that would also work well. Good idea!
Happy, shiny faces takes on a whole new meaning with glitter. I can't believe where that stuff shows up months later. A friend of mine makes the kids use loose messy craft supplies on a tarp with sides that was originally for plant potting. Doesn't get everything corralled but sure makes cleanup easier.
Love Demetri Martin! And I agree with your friend, no loose glitter in MY house!! ;)
It doesn't matter how well you try to contain or clean up glitter; one little speck will surely find its way to your face.
My apartment looking like a Ke$ha video is a bonus of craft time, not a reason to keep the glitter out of my house. I love body glitter too, even though I find glitter in my eyebrows for days after every drag show and pride parade. And with my new glitter kaftan, keeping glitter off of every surface in my house would be an utterly hopeless pursuit. Fortunately, I'm very happy being constantly surrounded by something that makes me so happy. If I end up having kids and they are anything like me, the amount of glitter will only multiply. I can't imagine living in a glitter free house! And as for glitter playdough, oh man! I wonder if I could bake it into my polymer clay statues for a grownup equivalent of this tip!
I laughed so hard at the comments, nodding my head vigorously in "been there" mode. My church had a student production a few years back and they had glitter signs everywhere. Little glitter, medium glitter, big glitter. The loose stuff got sucked up in the vacuum. The rest of it got tamped into the carpet by multitudes of feet. I took me a year to get it all out! Thankfully, plain glitter has been replaced by glitter glues!
This seems like a "cat in the hat comes back" solution...ah yes...let's wipe the pink ring off of the bathtub with mother's white dress...that will solve the problem....
Alternatively, you can get one of those keyboard cleaning goo thingy. They sell them at dollar stores. It is a lot stickier and cheaper than playdoh.
I love this idea! I know glitter play dough would still make a mess, but kids would love it.
Oh, and your friend that jokes about her kids dumping glitter on the floor in the classroom? Terrible! I can't even begin to tell you how hard it is to clean glitter up after 20 kids!
Every time I've made glitter playdough, it's never left glitter behind. The excitement my girls have is much more worth it than a clean house.
@Gene. Polymer clay artist and fellow glitter lover here. Yes, you can put glitter in and on polymer clay. I often use the ultra-fine glitter rubbed onto the surface of clay before baking.
One exceptionally fine technique is to roll out sheet at the thickest setting of a pasta machine. (You aren't REALLY into polymer clay without one -- check thrift stores if necessary!) Fold the sheet in half so it's double thick. Gently pat on a sheet of gold or silver composition leaf, no bubbles. (Craft store.) Run this sheet throught he pasta machine again, going down a couple of settings and running the sheet through perpendicular to the previous orientation. The clay stretches but the leaf doesn't resulting in a crackle finish with sparkles.Now here's the cool bit: Gently sprinkle some ultra-fine glitter or sparkly embossing powder (ideally another color) onto the surface, gently rubbing it into the exposed clay. (It doesn't stick to the leaf.) Brush off the excess and use the sheet of clay to create jewelry, the surface of a sculpture, or whatever. It's gorgeous! (One favorite combo of mine is gold leaf and black opal embossing powder...)