Post a Comment On: Larissa Another Day

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A little Sparkle at Christmastime is always a good idea.
I love little Christmas villages. I remember when I was younger, there was this one house that we would go to as a family. This house was insane with Christmas villages and Christmas trains. Now, we didn't know the owners of the home at all. In fact, most of the people that walked through their home were unknown to them. The house seriously opened up at Christmas time to have merry strangers partake in the wonder that was their house turned Christmas village. 
I was enamored by the different vignettes. It was like I was a friendly giant coming down from my beanstalk to welcome in the yuletide with them. I still remember my favorite scene. 
There was a little neighborhood that had a small mishap. It would seem that a group of holiday adventures decided to take up their hot air balloon even though the weather was not favorable. Alas, the hot air balloon did not make it far. As luck would have it, the hot air balloon couldn't keep its altitude and it crashed right into the top of a sweet little Victorian house.
The balloon was literally embedded in part of the roof.
My curious mind was amazed that the balloon had actually made a hole in the roof. Then logic came sneaking in and figured that perhaps the sweet Victorian house had some how broken, so the owners of the Christmas village ingeniously came up with the little story of a hot air balloon crash to hid the broken roof.
Crazy how some things stick with us.
While I still love the little villages, they don't really fit in with my holiday decorations.
That is until now. 
A light bulb went off. Spray paint. Sparkles. Spray paint AND sparkles.
Ah, yes. Perfect.
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This project is so easy (minus the vacuuming up of all the loose sparkles). With spray paint in whatever color you want and sparkles to match, you too can have an Sparkleville for you own home.
You simply need:
cheap Christmas village houses spray paint coordinating glitter mod podge clear acrylic coating spray
I got my little houses for a buck at The Mart. Sweet and simple.
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I chose red.  [Image]
I lucked out that the glitter I wanted was on clearance at Michael's. Miss Martha has a wonderful variety of glitter to choose from, but then again did we expect anything less from her?
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In a lot of places, it is starting to get too cold to spray paint. If you have a sunny day, even if it is a little chilly, seize the day and spray...
Hahaha...I think I might need that on a t-shirt!
Put the houses in a shallow box.
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Spray a very quick and light coat first.
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Let it set for about 10 minutes. Go back and spray a slightly heavier coat.
Let is set again for about 10 minutes. Repeat with more coats until heavily covered and you can see only a little of the original paint.
Since you are covering them with sprinkles the coverage does not need to be 100%.
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Let them dry for 24-48 hours.

Lay out newspaper and get ready to mod podge.

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Starting on the roof, and working in sections, apply the Mod Podge.
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Then sprinkle over a generous dose of glitter. Move and gently shake the house around so that the loose glitter covers the Mod Podge. 
I gathered the loose glitter into a pile and then picked up small mounts with my fingers to ensure coverage was complete, and to make sure I didn't waste glitter.
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Your hands will be a hot mess.

Repeat with each side. Go over areas that are not covered as well.

I was able to cover six small houses with less than a whole bottle of glitter. Make sure you are aware of how much you have used, how much is on the table, and how much you have to cover.

Let the newly glittered houses set out for a day. The glitter will still be loose, so be careful.

No sneezing around the houses...learned that the hard way...

Once they have dried, take them back outside.

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Evenly coat each house with a clear acrylic coating. This won't ensure that there won't be some glitter that will still come off, but it keeps most of it in place.
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Now you have a perfectly splendid Sparkleville all your own.

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I promise you will love how the light catches on them. They are so sparkly I want to swoon. I have half on my mantle and I have the rest in my kitchen. I kind of want more, but alas that would probably be sparkle overload.

...if there is such a thing...

Enjoy, I hope you have fun making your own sparkle Christmas village.

Linking Here: Lil'Luna, Ginger Snap Crafts, Someday Crafts, Southern Lovely,
Simply Kierste, The 36th Avenue, Whipperberry, Tatertots and Jello