How to Make Salt Glitter

Co-authored by wikiHow Staff

Last Updated: January 21, 2022 Tested

Whether you would like edible glitter to dress up cocktail glasses or just run out of your favorite sparkly craft supply, you can turn ordinary salt into colorful, glistening glitter. You can mix up a quick batch with food coloring and a plastic bag, or take it a step further and bake it in the oven to help it last a little longer. If you want a really striking art supply, mix glow-in-the-dark paint with the salt for glowing glitter. Salt glitter may not sparkle quite like real glitter, but you can whip it up whenever you like in your kitchen.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Preparing Easy Salt Glitter

1
Pour some salt into a sealable plastic bag. To avoid having to wash any bowls or dishes, you can mix your salt glitter in a plastic bag that seals closed. You’ll need a bag for each color of glitter that you want to make. Fill them with as much salt as you would like, though you shouldn't fill them to the brim or the glitter will be difficult to mix later.^{[1]
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- You can use any type of salt that you like, such as regular non-iodized table salt. However, coarser salts, including kosher and sea salt, usually work best. You can even use Epsom salt, which tends to sparkle on its own.
- Keep in mind that the amount of salt you use is the amount of glitter you’ll be making.
2
Add several drops of food coloring to the bag. Once you’ve placed the salt in the plastic bag, it’s time to color the glitter. Squeeze several drops of liquid food coloring into the salt in your desired shade.^{[2]
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- You can add as much or as little food coloring to the salt as you’d like. However, the more salt that you’re using, the more food coloring you’ll need to add.
- In most cases, the more food coloring you add, the darker and more saturated the finished color will be. You may need to add as many as 10 drops if you want very dark glitter and you’re making a large batch.
- For soft, pastel glitter, 1 or 2 drops of food coloring may be enough.
- It’s usually best to start out with a small amount of food coloring. You can always add more if you want to deepen the glitter’s color.
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3
Seal the plastic bag and mix the salt and food coloring. After you’ve added the food coloring to the salt, close the plastic bag. Shake the bag thoroughly, moving the salt and coloring around together to mix them completely.^{[3]
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- To ensure that none of the salt falls out of the bag while you’re mixing, fold down the sealed edge and hold that in your hand as you shake the bag.
- If the glitter isn’t the shade that you want after shake the bag, add more food coloring and mix the bag again. Repeat the process until you’re satisfied with the glitter’s color.
4
Open the bag and allow the salt to dry. When the salt glitter is the color that you’d like, open the bag so air can reach it. Leave the bag out in a warm, dry spot, and let it dry completely. In most cases, you’ll only need to dry the glitter for 2 to 3 hours.^{[4]
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- If you’ve made a large batch of glitter, you may need to leave it to dry longer. You can leave it to dry overnight to be safe.
- Once the glitter is dry, you can transfer it to storage containers, such as old salt shakers.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Baking Salt Glitter

1
Preheat the oven. To ensure that the salt glitter dries and the color sets, it helps to bake it in the oven. Set your oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (177 degrees Celsius) and allow it to heat fully so it’s hot enough when you’re ready to dry the glitter.^{[5]
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- If you’re making the salt glitter with children, be sure to supervise their use of the oven.
2
Place some salt in a bowl or Tupperware container. Decide how much glitter you would like to make, and pour the same amount of salt into a clean bowl or Tupperware container. Keep in mind that you’ll need a separate bowl for each color of glitter that you want to make.^{[6]
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- You can use any type of salt, but regular table salt works well.
- Make sure that the bowl or container you use is large enough for the amount of salt that you place in it. There should be enough room in the container to mix or shake the salt and coloring together.
3
Add several drops of food coloring to the salt and mix. Once you’ve added the salt to the bowl or container, squeeze several drops of food coloring over the salt to achieve the desired shade. Use a spoon to carefully mix the salt and coloring together so they’re fully combined.^{[7]
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- The amount of food coloring that you’ll need depends on how much salt you’re coloring and what shade you want the glitter to be. Larger amounts of salt require more coloring, as do darker colors.
- Be creative with the food coloring. You can mix two or more shades in a single batch of salt to create other shades. For example, if you don’t have green coloring, you can use equals amounts of blue and yellow to create a green shade.
- If your bowl or container has a lid, you can place the lid on it and shake the salt and coloring to combine them.
4
Spread the salt out onto a cookie sheet. Once you’ve achieved the desired color for the glitter, carefully pour it out onto a cookie sheet or into a baking dish. Try to spread the glitter out in a single layer so it will dry more effectively.^{[8]
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- If you’re making multiple shades of glitter, it’s best to place them on separate cookie sheets. Otherwise, it can be extremely difficult to keep the glitter shades from mixing together when you remove them from the sheet.
5
Bake the salt for several minutes. After you’ve spread the glitter onto the cookie sheet, place it in the preheated oven. Allow the salt to bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the food coloring dries completely.^{[9]
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6
Allow the salt glitter to cool. Once the salt has finished baking, remove the cookie sheet from the oven. Let the glitter cool completely, which should take approximately 20 to 25 minutes. When it’s cool, it’s ready for use.^{[10]
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- Once the salt glitter is cool, you can place it in jars or other storage containers.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Creating Glow-in-the-Dark Salt Glitter

1
Spoon some salt into sealable plastic bags. Open several sealable plastic bags, making sure that you have one for every shade of glitter that you plan to make. Carefully spoon some salt into the bags. The amount of salt equals the amount of finished glitter, so fill the bags accordingly.^{[11]
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- You can use whatever type of salt that you like, but Epsom salt works especially well for glow-in-the-dark glitter.
2
Add glow-in-the-dark paint to the salt. When the salt is in the bags, squirt several drops of non-toxic glow-in-dark-paint in the color of your choice into the bags. The paint is more pigmented than food coloring, so you usually don’t need to add very much. Larger amounts of salt may require more paint, though.^{[12]
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- Unlike the salt glitter made with food coloring, the glow-in-the-dark glitter is not edible.
- If you can’t find glow-in-the-dark paint, you can use a neon formula.
- While each bag of salt will be an individual shade of glitter, you can get creative and mix together two or more shades of paint to create a custom color.
3
Close the bag and shake to mix the salt and paint. Once you’ve added the paint to the salt, shake the bags well to combine the ingredients thoroughly. It helps to squeeze the salt through the bag as you shake to make sure that it’s completely mixed.^{[13]
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- If the glitter isn’t as bright or vivid a color as you like, add more paint to the salt and shake the bag again. Repeat the process until you’re satisfied with the color.
4
Pour the salt out onto a cookie sheet to dry. When the salt glitter is colored as you’d like, pour it out onto a cookie sheet, plate, or other flat item. Keep the salt in a single layer, and allow it to dry completely, which should take 4 to 6 hours. When the glitter is dry, you can use it.^{[14]
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- The salt may clump together with the paint. Don’t worry -- it will easily break apart once it’s dry.

Community Q&A

Question

Is the glitter edible?

Community Answer

If you use food coloring to color the salt, it is edible. If you use glow-in-the-dark paint to color the salt, you can't eat it.
Question

Do I have to put the glitter in the oven?

Community Answer

No, you can put it in the freezer for 3 - 5 minutes if you add a little bit of sugar.
Question

Can I put the glitter on my lips?

Community Answer

Yes, but it could very painful if you have raw lips. Try using finer salts like table salt for this.