I love sparkly stuff! That’s what I decided to open up my drawer of barely used pearl-ex and make my own glimmer mist. Take a look:
Here is how I did it. I filled a small bottle 1/3 of the way up with added a teaspoon of Gum Arabic (a binder used in watercolor paints) to a small spray bottle, then filled it about 1″ from the top with water, a few drops of liquid watercolor (you can use reinker too) and 3 tiny scoops of pearl-ex powdered pigments. Shake and spray. The examples are on white cardstock! Nice color huh? It really shimmers in real life, the photos don’t do it Justice. The gold and copper have no watercolor added. The copper had lager particles so it will not spray, I’ll have to paint that on but the others work like a dream!
You could also use food coloring or egg dye for the color and hairspray instead of gum arabic+water. Pretty cool huh and a big savings!
Till next time Happy Crafting!
Lindsay
The Frugal Crafter Blog 
I love Glimmer Mist but never buy it because it is so expensive. Thanks for this great idea. I really enjoy reading your blog. It is filled with such great money saving ideas.
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Thanks for this great info! I can hardly wait to try it!
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I’ll have to go with the hairspray alternative…cool info!!! Thanks! 🙂
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Nice papers. Love it! Thanks for this idea.
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That looks great! I have to try this for sure! Thanks Lindsay!!
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Thanks for the info. I am going to try it right away.
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I have just found this site and thread after just buying some glimmer mists but I have a question.
How do you use hairspray instead – I could be way off but you would have a hard time putting hairspray into a bottle as it comes out as a “mist” from the can anyway (not using hairspray I have great trouble “seeing” this in my minds eye)
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Hi Gaz,
You need to but the hairspray that comes in a plastic bottle with a pump top. Unscrew the top and pour some in a small spray bottle with a scoop of pearl-ex. Easy Peasy!
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Where do you buy arabic gum and pearl-ex from? We have a Hobby Lobby and Michaels in our town. Also, is this still an acid-free paper after you put the mist on? I would want to use it for scrapbooking if I put that much effort into the project.
Thanks
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you can get it from any fine art supplier. Try blick art materails or cheapjoesartstuff.com they should have both at a good price. Yes, it is acid free:-) as long as you spray it on acid free paper!
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I LOVE your blog! With the economy the way it is, I am always looking for “less expensive” ways to get really neat looks. Unfortunately, I’m not really as creative as a lot of people, but I copy well. I love to come to your blog for ideas. Thanks so much for sharing your wonderful ideas. Many I haven’t had time to try, but when I sit down to play, I always come peak at your blog. It’s one of my favorites.
Thanks so much for sharing!
Heidi
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COOL!!!!! AMAZING, GREAT!!! Love it, going to make some right now. But will have to go with the hairspray, cannot get Gum Arabic, here, unless we are talking about real gum that the Arab people chew here in United Arab Emirates LOL!!!
Thanks for sharing.
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Thanks for the hairspray tip! I wasn’t looking forward to hunting down gum arabic, but I have LOTS of hairspray around the house. 🙂
And just a quick clarification – If I have it right, if you use hairspray it won’t be archival because it will yellow over time. That’s no big deal on cards, but someone should know before they use it in scrapbooks.
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Hi Sophia,
you should be fine. I rean an interview with a chemist once in an art publication who talked about using hirspry as a fixative fir pastel (chalk) painting ans she said that the hairspray and artists’s expensive fixitive was basicly, chemicly the same thing and to get the cheapest stuff you could find because it is likley to contain just the shellac you want but not the oils (like sillicon and other words ending with”cone”) and other stuff you dont want. Aqua net is a good bet!
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Wow, that’s amazing. Can’t wait to try it.
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Thanks so much!! What a great idea…I hope you don’t mind but I shared your blog link on my blog!!
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Wow! The colors are so vibrant! I want to give this a try! 🙂 Thank you so much!
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I love your blog it is so great. I love making homemade things to use instead of spending all the money it takes to keep up with todays scrapping. I used another technique for making my glimmer mist, but got the idea for your website. Thanks!
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I tried to make some Glimmer Mist, I am having
no luck at all. I bought the Ranger mini misters,
filled it about 2/3 with hairspray added the pearl ex
& now it won’t spray. Tried 2 different bottles. Still
nothing. Figured I wouldn’t waste my 3rd bottle. What
am I doing wrong. I didn’t even make it to the coloring stage. Thanks Peggy
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Hi Peggy,
I haven’t tried the mini misters, I used travel size spray bottles (.50 from walmart) and they work fine BUT some colors of pearl ex are not great for this, copper for instance is too chunky. Micropearl and the really fine powdery pearl ex colors are great! good luck!
Lindsay
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Hi, Just a quick FYI:
I have two alternatives for you in terms of mixing the materials.
1) Michaels, and Blick sell something called an iridescent medium. Shake shake shake vigorously and add to your colors for instant iridescence! It is liquid, so wont clog like the powders.
2) add a small marble or two to your misters to help break up any larger particles and really get a good mix before you spritz.
OK, a third comment,
3) Use your alcohol inks, not re-inkers, to color your mists. If you go to blick, they sell larger bottles of the alcohol inks, brand name is Letraset, that you can mix up to make all different colors! Very vibrant! Or you could use your Ranger alcohol inks or the Jaquard brand, too!
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thanks Lisa, great tips! I’ll check out think at blick as the teeny bottles are so pricey at the craft store:)
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THANK YOU! I love the look but theses sprays are so expensive. I can hardly wait to try this
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Fabulous Lindsay!!!! I bought a couple of bottles of Tattered Angels glimmer mist – but now I can add to my collection without breaking the bank!
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Thanks so much I have 4 tattered angels glimmer but I can’t afford any more and have tons of color to make thanks so much for your time and helping us all out!!
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When making your own glimmery mist you can also use colored mica powder like what is in the Glimmer Mist. You can find it online and it’s pretty inexpensive.
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Question – about how much is 3 tiny scoops of Pearl-Ex? 1/8 tsp? 1/4 tsp? Any info would be appreciated. I’m attempting this with equal amounts of Mod Podge & water, pearl-ex, and about 6 drops of ink that we’ve never used for reinking an inkjet printer. It comes out ok but I have to brush it on with a foam brush because it leaves spots on the page and it’s not nearly as shiny as your pictures are but I’m afraid to “waste” the pearl-ex.
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About a 1/4 teaspoon,. I would not use mod podge, though, instead mix it with hirspray. Just buy a smal bottle of the cheapest travel size hairspray you can find and mix the pearlex and reinker right into the bottle. If you just want a shimmer you can leave out the ink and it will add colorless sparkle over your papers.
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I bought some cheap cosmetic pigments on ebay. I am going to try using that with hairspray since I would have to go out and buy Pearl-ex. Hope it works because gm is so expensive and I seem to use a lot just for a couple pages. (maybe I am doing something wrong !)
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that should work just fine:)
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how did using the cheap cosmtic pigments work for you?? Im in same boat dont want to go out and buy pearl-ex but I did use reguarl eye shadow (hairspray and food coloring)gae me the shine
1.what is this pearl ex???
2.is there a way to buy some of this that i wont have to color instead just give the paper a shimmer (without adding more color?)Im living for the next 2 years in japan dont have anything like we have back in states.So i really have to make do with I can find on base out in town things cost double….
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Hi Delores,
pear-ex is simply mica powder. I’m sure cosmetic mica will work but I don’t have any. I reccomend buying a large jar of micro-pearl (about $4 and will last a lifetime:) at an art or craft store before you go and use watercolors to dye it and make your mists and shimmer paint. It is the most versitile and fine enough to spray (some pearl ex is chunkier and might clog yur sprayer). Of course if your big-box craft store sells the large sampler of pearl ex and you can use a coupon that is a nice treat too!
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One silly question: how do i get the hairspray (aerosol) in the sprayer? Or should i use another kind?
hamauta
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not a silly question, you use the pump style harspray with the screw-off top:)
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Can you use Gum Arabic Powder? I’ve made the glimmer mist using Gum Arabic, Rubbing alcohol 91%, water and Pearl Ex powder. it turned out very nice. but i fould a place online that sells the gum arabic in powder form by the pound.
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Hi Mona, I’m sure you could but make it into a liquid before you add it to the glimmer mist, I’m not sure if you have to boil it or how it works so be sure to get directions when you purchase:)
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Thanks for the tips! Your recipe looks great! I’ll have to try it. 🙂
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Hi! Love your site! Ive tried the glimmer mist before and had trouble with it, I will try the tips to clean the spray bottle. Do you know of anywhere to buy the clear spray bottles in bulk (maybe a dozen or so) cheaply. I have seen the ranger misters but hope to find them cheaper. If I use hairspray and ink (reinker) or food coloring…is it nessacery to also use the pearlex in each bottle to get a less shimmery look?…have you ever tried microglitter in one of these mixtures? Just curious 🙂 Thanks
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Thanks Jenn,
I buy the 4 oz bottles with sprayers in the travel cosmetic aisle at Walmart, about 50cents a peice. I don’t think you will find them cheaper in bulk online. I have a set of spray colors with no pearl ex I’ve used for years for dying paper, ribbon, silk flowers etc and I use them all the time. I made mine with liquid watercolors )because I had them on hand but reinker, food coloring or clothing dye would work too) best of all the color ones do not clog:) I have a tutorial coming up this week using the colored sprayes to make vintage crinkle ribbon, I hope you come back and check it out:)
hugs,
linday
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Thanks for all the info. I’ve had Peal-Ex powders for years and have not used them. I’m going to give this a try.
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great i love it!!!
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Do you add water when using the hair spray? If so, how much water do you use with the hair spray?
Keep on doing this good work!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks,
TJ
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You can use it full strength or not, I’d say at least 25% hairspray to bind the shimmer, the rest can be water:) You cannot mess it up except if you add too much pearl ex (or shimmer eyeshadow) then you might clog it.
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