DIY Embellished Sunglasses — Slow Dance Studio

Since summer offers so many opportunities for a little extra accessorizing and indulging in fancy cocktails, Breeyn and I have decided to tackle a few of the DIY projects and recipes that have been accumulating on our to-do lists recently. Not only does it give us an excuse to hang out and create pretty things, but we also end up with something that we get to enjoy afterwards, and nothing quite beats the feeling of "I made this!". We're talking serious bragging rights and lots of compliments.

We'll be keeping our projects fairly simple and accessible, but if you know Breeyn and I at all, you'll also know that the DIY's we select are bound to be fun, sparkly and fuelled by pink champagne.

We decided to start with an especially easy project — embellished sunglasses. All you need are a pair of sunglasses you love the shape of, a selection of gems, and some gem glue. Hello, perfect summer accessory!

MATERIALS AND INSTRUCTIONS

These beauties are pretty straight forward. Find cute sunglasses, apply sparkly crystals of your choice, and rock your blinged out sunnies. You're welcome.

1 // Awesome sunglasses. We're pretty sure you can handle this one. Breeyn and I each chose different styles, and if you want to see how hers turned out, head on over to her site to see the finished project.

2 // Gems of your choice. You can get them at Michaels (if you're in Toronto, there's a great one at John and Richmond), but they have a wider selection of better quality ones at ZH Beads, located at 388 Queen Street West, just west of Spadina. I'd recommend choosing a variety of sizes and shapes, and keep in mind that layering them (as I did on mine), can also create a neat 3D effect.

3 // Gem glue. We used F-6000 industrial strength adhesive, also available at both Michaels and ZH Beads. Put a little dab of glue on a piece of paper, use tweezers to hold the gem and either dip the back of the gem in the glue, or use a pin to apply glue to the back of the gem. It dries pretty quickly, so just use a little at a time.

If any little threads of glue happen to string across your lenses (this will almost certainly happen), don’t touch them. Just let them fully dry for a while. After an hour or so you can feel confident that they’ll just come right off when you carefully pull one end. If the glue isn’t dry and you try to rub it off, you could potentially smear it onto the lens and then you’ll be sad.