Sparkly Belt Buckle

Posted by Jackie on Jul 2, 2009 in Accessories

My Inspiration

I recently took my 13 year old sister on an ill-fated shopping trip, that included my finding of multiple cute $15 dresses and her needing to go into every store to counter my “success”. On our trip, I was unwillingly conned into visiting Joshua Perets - formerly known as PINK to all you Montrealers - a store that deals in sizes that are approximately 5 notches too small for petite me, with clothing casually knocking off Victoria’s Secret’s UBER successful PINK line. The store has, ironically, ONE thing that I crave - a rhinestone covered Scottie-dog belt buckle (it has a belt attached too, naturally). Their logo happens to be a teensy pink Scottie dog (are they cheaply copying Agatha Paris? Likely). Their price tag wasn’t what completely scared me off - it was the fact that my boyfriend had given me an old Scottie dog belt buckle of his (non-fancy) months ago, and I couldn’t rationalize for a split second why I needed to buy a fancier dog buckle WHEN I HAVE ONE SITTING IN MY ROOM ALREADY.

See? I don’t forget everything that comes into my craft vortex of doom.

For the first time - and likely not the last - I’m attaching a craft disclaimer to this one:
You don’t HAVE to use fancy Swarovski crystals like I did. I found them on clearance for less than half price. It’s okay - AND WELCOMED - to use ANY type of “jewel” or “gem” for this. If you don’t happen to have a kitschy old plain belt buckle like I do, you can cover any regular belt buckle, or glue jewels to a piece of stiff fabric in a pattern and glue that to your belt.

There was a time a few years ago when it was SUPER COOL to crystallize your cell phone. I never hopped on that bandwagon, because I had a sneaking suspicion that it was a painstalkingly slow process. I was right. So, here goes, the usual…

Things You Need:

1 old belt buckle/belt with buckle
Jewels or crystals of some sort - bigger = easier, smaller = slower process, but cuter!
Tweezers, and not a pair you regularly use (they’re going to get covered in glue)
Heavy duty specialty glue - a hot glue gun will NOT suffice, I used Aleene’s Jewelry & Metal Glue (available in the craft section in Wal-Mart)
Protective gloves (latex), if you’re messy [highly suggested unless you're in the mood to scrub hardcore glue off your fingertips]

How To:

Do a “dry run” of jewels on the buckle. This way, you know exactly how many jewels you need, and in what sort of pattern you plan to work with.
Test glueing 1 jewel to make sure your glue is strong enough: my trial run included hot glue (does not adhere), an all-purpose glue from my father’s tool drawer (also does not adhere), until my mother suggested a specialty metal glue.
Once you’re sure your glue sticks, place glue on a section and then using your tweezers, set one jewel at a time on the glue.
It’s 100% best to work from one corner to the other - or generally in some organized fashion.
You can make designs, you can outline the shape, put your initials on it, whatever you like!
Once you’ve covered your buckle, leave it to dry in a safe place overnight. Just to be safe!
Attach your buckle to an old belt, a piece of ribbon or a scarf and sparkle your way to the cutest waistline ever!