Hiding stitching on braids (and a dragon cross stitch)

I have a project that just needed a bit of gold braid sewn on in order to finish it off.  So I stitched it on and sat back to admire THOSE BIG WHITE STITCHES STICKING OUT LIKE A SORE THUMB!

Well OK, it's not that big but it was noticeable.  And there was already a dodgy area where a thread pulled when I sewed it up so I was feeling a bit miffed.  Then it struck me... I just need gold.  Not thread- metallics are often temperamental anyway and besides, I was feeling a little lazy....

So I broke out the gold pens and found the nearest match.  A careful daub on the thread later and...

I mean it is still there if you know where to look, but it is far less in your face.  As a bonus, I also added it to the end of the braid where the white core was showing:

It isn't a perfect match, but it is far less eye catching (and yes, I did go and do the other end after taking this photo!).  A word of warning though- I would be cautious if the object needs to be laundered regularly, you might need to keep the pen handy for touch ups
All that in order to make the final touches of this:
Teresa Wentzler's Delightful Dragon Fob

Those lines in the background are 1cm apart for scale.

 The main change I did with this pattern was to bring out the glow-in-the-dark thread to replace the ecru for the decorative stitches on the back (with the initials) and the background stitching on the dragon.  It is a very subtle effect- I find that the DMC glow in the dark thread is very faint, even when looking at it on the thread bobbin.  But it does glow and I know it glows, which is the main thing as it is stuck as mine now unless I ever met anybody who liked them and who had my initials!