Art Fun Cheap

Paper glazes look a lot like thin glitter glue spread thinly over paper. Some paper glazes contain glitter; others have small confetti mixed in. Some have both.

But paper glazes also impart a quality of their own. There also seems to be a bit of acrylic medium in paper glazes that can add strength and a smooth, slightly glossy finish to paper. They are especially useful in collage or assemblage but can also be used in paintings.

Paper glazes are especially fun to use in small works such as artist trading cards.

They are also fun to use in art journals and altered books.

I often use use paper glazes to turn ordinary memo cube (square) paper into small origami paper or to decorate completed origami items.

Elmer’s Paper Glazes

Elmer’s Shimmering Shapes are transparent, pale-colored gels with brilliant glitter and tiny confetti suspended in them. The six colors come in tiny jars in a clear acetate box. The package includes a small brush for applying them.

They are sold at most drugstores and discount stores and Office Depot in the U.S. I have even found them at a large party decoration store.

[Outside the U.S. you should be able to find the same (or similar) products, perhaps sold under a different name. Please leave a comment here at Art Fun Cheap to help others find them, too.]

At about $5.50 (USD) for a package of six little jars, the glazes may seem a bit pricey. But the fabulous Pixie Dust, a clear gel with multicolor transparent glitter in it (upper left corner in the photo above), is worth the money all by itself. Because the multicolored ultrafine glitter is transparent, you can glaze right over text without impairing readability. It truly is as though touched by fairies.

Add to that the Pizazz (purple gel with multicolored tiny, tiny confetti, center of the bottom row in the photo), and those two alone are more than worth the price. The other gels are useful, too. All impart a lovely semigloss surface to paper in addition to the ultrafine glitter and tiny confetti they contain.

Originally there were three or four varieties of Elmer’s Shimmer & Shine paper glazes. Each variety offered six small jars in a little blue box. For example, the glow in the dark variety had lovely semi-opaque pastel colors with ultrafine silver glitter.

I could never understand why they were $5 a package, though, until I found some on sale and tried them. Oh, my! ALL the varieties were fabulous.

Apparently the other varieties did not sell as well as the Shimmering Shapes, so when Elmer’s got smart and repackaged in clear acetate, so you can see the glorious contents, apparently they discontinued the other varieties.

If you can find the discontinued varieties in the old blue package, and the jars are still full (not evaporated and not discolored), grab them (except the Shimmering Shapes, which are better purchased fresh in the new packaging). They are marvelous!

The dark gels with microfine gold glitter and the milky glow-in-the-dark colors with ultrafine silver glitter are equally fabulous in their way. And remember that you can layer paper glazes with watercolor, acrylics (under), and other media for special effects. Whenever I find old packages of Shimmer and Shine, I buy them.

BigLots Paper Glazes

BigLots (a discount store chain in the U.S.) sells an imitation of the Shimmering Shapes glazes, called Sparkle & Dazzle, for only $1.99. (There are probably similar chains in other parts of the world, so except for the brand names, the information here should still apply.)
BigLots Diamond Dust is not quite as good as Elmer’s Pixie Dust, but it is still excellent. BigLots imitation of Pizazz is a sort of gray, rather than purple, but it is just as good as Elmer’s. It looks fabulous on black. Those two colors alone are well worth the $1.99 price.

The other glazes are more intense colors than the Elmer’s versions, which can be good, but the confetti in these is all the same shape, hearts, while Elmer’s has different shapes for each color. I use these, though, as colors, sometimes avoiding the confetti if I don’t want hearts.

BigLots glazes are a super value, but not a complete substitute for Elmer’s, which are clearly superior. I use both, but if you can only buy one brand, buy Elmer’s. It is well worth the higher price! And it’s available in the middle of the night at drugstores and grocery stores.

However, now that Elmer’s has discontinued the other varieties of paper glazes and sells only the one kind, you may want to check BigLots (especially now, not long after the holidays), because they have been selling a set of 16 different paper glazes in one package. I don’t know if they still do, but they are worth looking for.

Paper Glaze Brushes

The new Elmer’s Shimmering Shapes paper glaze package includes a nice little brush, while the BigLots package doesn’t include a brush anymore.

I don’t use the brushes to apply the glaze. I like to apply a very thin coat of glaze with my fingers. Yes, it’s a little messy, but the effect is much better. Besides, do we ever outgrow the pleasure of applying paint with our fingers? I don’t think so!

Save the brush! You can always use the paper glaze brushes to apply glue or other messy substances later.

Using Paper Glazes

Because paper glazes are water soluble and dry with a raised textured surface if you apply them thickly, you can use them to create an amazing variety of effects. Here are a few details from the painting at the beginning of this article.

I hope you will try some paper glazes. They are easy to find in the U.S. Hopefully they are not too hard to find wherever you live. In another post I’ll talk about how you might try making your own if you can’t find them in the stores. Have fun!

confetti, fairy dust, Glitter Glues & Glazes, make origami paper, paper glaze, pixie dust, transparent glitter

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