Blue birds of shabbiness?

When we first moved here, a dear lady gave me one of those little glass bluebirds as a gift and it meant the world to me.  Then one day I noticed it was dusty so I ran it under the water in the sink only to see all the blue go down the drain with the dust!  In days of yore, the glass itself was blue so you had no problems when you did such an innocent thing.  This one was clear with a shabby blue exterior that was water soluble!  In despair, I grabbed the sharpies, found a color that was close, and started scribbling.  It worked!  The thing is good as new and you can't tell it was fixed at home.  Now my little bird and I are both happy, though I will not be dusting the poor thing in that fashion again!