It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s super us! 

We love to wear things that sparkle. It’s how we inspire our humans to smile and not yell at each other about politics.  Wanna know our secret weapon? Jeweled sunnies!

Here’s how you make them.

First, buy your supplies

We found our favorite round wire frame glasses during a heavy-duty googling session. They came up as “cat glasses”, but don’t let that fool you. They’re perfect for doggies too.

You’ll be working with small stones, so finger dexterity is good.  A jewel setter’s tool helps. The plastic stick has a point on one end and a ball of waxy substance on the other end. This allows you to pick up a single stone and place it on the frame. A toothpick with a ball of beeswax on the end also works, although we prefer the long handle of the jewel setters tool. In this demo, we used a chain of rhinestones and, for that, you don’t really need this tool, but if you decide to set single stones, it’s a lifesaver! 

To ease the frustration of working with small items, Mom made us a work station. She cut an opening in a box the length of the glasses, to hold them in place during the gluing process.

The secret ingredient:  Fingernail jewels! Glasses with thin wire frames require small jewels. We use 4mm gems around the edges with 6-10mm accent pieces. Our rhinestone chain is 2mm.

 

Lay out your design

First, give your glasses a good polish since once you glue on the gems and jewels it won’t be as easy.  Then, place your glasses in the work station box and decide how you want to place the jewels before you start gluing. You can put them around the lens, or just on the corners. It all depends on the look you want. We chose a rhinestone chain around the edges, but you can also place individual jewels.

 

Start gluing

Squirt a glob of glue on the corner of one lens and place the fingernail art on the glue.  Hold the gem in place while the glue semi-dries.  That’s the annoying part, the moments before the glue begins to take hold.  The gems want to slip all over the place. It takes patience, and we don’t have a lot of that.  But we did it, so you can too!

Next, add gems to the rim. You can either squirt a small amount of glue on a piece of paper, then use the pointy end of the jewel setter’s tool to spread a length of glue on the frame. E-6000 glue dries pretty fast, so work with short lengths. If you’re feeling bold, lay down a line of glue straight from the tube. 

If you work with individual stones, use your jewel setters tool.  With the waxy end, pick up the stone you want to set (by its face) and place it on the glue along the frame.  Continue to line the jewels up on the frame. 

While the glue is in a semi-dry state, mold the stones to perfect their placement. You can easily nudge them in place, as long as the glue isn’t fully dry. E-6000 has a rubbery consistency when dry, so it’s highly moldable while drying.

If you use the rhinestone chain, hold it in place with your fingers while the glue takes on a semi-thick state then nudge them in place.

 

 

Did some glue get on the lens? No worries. Let your glasses dry for 24 hours, then gently nudge it off. Is glue stuck in the hinges? Pick it out with a pin.

The final element is the elastic strap

Simply cut a length of thin (1/8” or cord) elastic that will comfortably hold the glasses on your head and tie or glue it to the arms. To secure the knot, paint it with some clear nail polish.

And there you have it!  Don’t we look pretty?

 

xoxo

Woofie & BeaR