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Thursday, June 04, 2009

Decorative Accents vs "Skittles" - AND GIVEAWAY

Okay, so I was at Michaels last weekend while DH & the kids shopped next door for supplies for the new fish tank. While there, I decided to see if they had some cool river rocks for the bottom of the aquarium and came across THESE! They were on the same aisle as the river rocks and other colored 'gems'. If you've ever used "Skittles" before, you'll know about what these are! They are very similar to Skittles, but a little bigger. Here, I am going to do a "review" on how the two compare.


The big bag you see above is what I purchased from Michaels. They were $5.99 before tax & coupon. After tax and coupon, $3.88!!! And there have to be hundreds of these things in this bag...maybe more! LOL

This is a close-up of the label. I ripped into them, pulled some out and then decided to do a write-up here on my blog for everyone to see. Yes, the bag does say there are 12 ounces of these little gems.

Okay, so this is what they looked like before I dyed them! I used Adirondack Alcohol inks, which I didn't show a picture of...oops! Anyway, I put them each into their own sack and marked them so you could see the difference in the photos.



This is what they looked like after I dyed them. They're really easy to dye! Simply drop them into a baggie (WITH a zipper!), drop in some ink (sorry, I never measure - LOL), blow some air in, shake them up, unzip and dump them out onto a paper towel. Caution: These will be wet when you dump them out, so make sure you put them onto something that won't matter if a little dye gets on! And alcohol inks take some time to wash off your hands, so umm...don't do this the day before a big event. ;o)


Here's a close-up of the two products side-by-side. The one on the left is the Decorative Accents and on the right is the Skittles. As you can see, the Decorative Accents has an "inclusion" (if you will) in the middle and a slightly jagged edge on the bottom right. The Skittles also has inclusions, but not as noticeable. Not all of the Decorative Accents have these flaws. I probably picked the worst of the ones I dyed. LOL
So, there you have it! The first review on my blog. ;o)
Now, would you like to have a one-ounce envelope of these Decorative Accents DYED in random colors and waiting in your mailbox? If so:
  1. Click to "follow" this blog
  2. Leave me a comment on this post telling me what you have or intend to use Decorative Accents or Skittles on!
  3. Check back on the weekend of June 12 to see who the winner is!

Thanks for looking!

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23 comments:

Katie Cotton said...

how fun! i never thought about dying them! i dont have any alcohol inks though either. haha.

Amanda K said...

So awesome! I have no M's around, and all I have been able to find are the ones that are bigger than a penny! I don't think I want that big on my pages! LOL. I have used skittles for centers of flowers, or dots on i's.
Thanks!!

Flipper's Closet said...

What a great idea. What is the cost difference?

Sharon said...

Billie you did very well writting this up. I have some Robins dew drops in black and white haven't used them yet.

Anonymous said...

that is AWESOME!!! since I won't be around a M for a few days, I will write this down so I can remember why I need to go to M! thanks!!!

Lorene

Card Creations said...

These are awesome I am going to check out our M's for these! Thanks for the tutotrial and reveiw!

LadyTrucker said...

What a great find! Well done and thanks for enabling again!!!

Mandi said...

What a great review write up! I've looked at Skittles on Ebay and they are usually like $2.50-$3.00 for 100 of them and that doesn't include S&H. What a deal and I would have never thought to use the dye ink like that. I am very impressed! :)

Sheri said...

Billie! Knock it off...I'm trying to not spend any money..You are killing me! LOL Great ..great review!

BoxerBrats said...

Billie,

You wrote a great review! I think for the price, I will be buying the Dec. Accents!

Love your review.

Thanks for sharing,

Laura

Froggy said...

hey hun!! Great review! Skittles are a bunch of fun aren't they? You know Darice also has some out that are just a tad smaller than the original skittles. They are all fun to use!

I use mine for anythng and everything...as an accent on empty places on a card, in the center of flowers or other embellishments, where i need a little something to POP!

Hugs!
Froggy

Anonymous said...

WOW!! Love those I will go to Micheals today to see if I can get some! Great Idea as always Thank you!

Lisa

Denise said...

Now that is some great information! I know what my next coupon will probably be used on.

Great review!

Denise Wells

KimberlyO said...

Awesome! I had heard that Michaels USED to have these in stock in a different brand but by the time I understood what all the "hype" was about, they no longer carried them. These work great as accents for flower centers, ornaments on trees, etc. :)

Anonymous said...

How awesome! I am a follower and I would use these on cards! Very cool though my michaels dont have this, then again they have nothing lol!!

stampingtink said...

My gosh, what a great idea! I never thought about dying them that way but they're fabulous! And a great comparison and And thanks for fixing up the blog blinkie for me! What a great idea! Love, love it!

Hugs to you,

Susan

The Closet Crafter said...

I use these on cards I hand deliver. I've also colored them with my copics to get that custom look. I haven't tried coloring them this way, but think I'll give it a try. I think I may have cleaned out a couple of my local Michaels getting these!

Melissa C. said...

Wow terrific tutorial and review. I know what I will be looking for the next time I visit Michaels. ;-) Unfortunately, my van is in the garage at the moment and I am not sure when I will be getting it back. :-( These would be wonderful accents for just about anything.

Tracy Brennan said...

These are beautiful. I am new to the scrapping world so I have been exposed to many embelishments. I would love to have some of these sent to me so that I play and use them on my projects. I probably would use them mainly on cards and it seems the ideas are endless. Would love to use these in conjunction with the Walk in My Garden Cart and place them on the inside of the flower or around the pedals. Oh, now you've got me thinking. Please pick me Billie!

Tracy Brennan said...

ooops! I mean I HAVEN'T been exposed to many embelishments...silly me...

Susan said...

What a great idea! I need to learn to be more frugal. I never think to re-purpose things like that! Good find!

FifthAvenueGirl said...

What a very cool idea! You inspire me! :)

I'm a follower too, Billie.

Kerry

My Serendipity said...

These are so awesome. I haven't been able to find them at any of our stores yet. I am dying to get my hands on some to use on my scrapbook pages!
BTW..love your blog!