Hello everyone!
I know that it’s been a while since I wrote my last blog post. I have been blessed with a few freelancing jobs these last 2 years, so I’ve been designing and building logos and web sites for many clients. If you’re curious, go here and check out my professional work. 🙂
Anyway, on to the post!
So I have been digging through my collection of broken costume jewelry, and I found this pair of clip-on earrings:
They look like they’re from the mid-20th century (1950s-1970s maybe), but I couldn’t find a signature or logo on the pieces. Nevertheless, I thought they were cute and I wished that one of the flowers wasn’t missing, or else I could just glue it back together and wear them on my ears. But then I thought that was a little typical for this design, plus the earring backs were rusted and broken.
I searched through my many fashion magazines and saw some Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses with various decals decorating them. They seemed like a ingenious way to re-cycle these earrings; turn them into decals for a pair of sunglasses:
Left Photo Fall 2012 Collection from zoccao.blogspot.com. Right Photo Spring/Summer 2013 Collection from swide.com
Now that I have my idea, I collected the supplies I figured I’ll need to make this happen:
- 1 pair of plain white sunglasses (2 for $5 from Claire’s)
- the Creative Versa-Tool (a hot tool used for cutting/removing various things – $30 from craft stores)
- tube of E6000 (the GREATEST super glue of ALL TIME)
- 2 clay flower decals (found them at Bead World – Broadway and 36th Street, NYC)
- jar of Modge Podge Outdoors (thought I would need to coat the beads to protect them, but the film is pretty sticky so I dropped it)
As you can see from the gallery, the process was very simple:
- First, I used the hot tool to remove the old clip-on earring backs and the remaining flower from the decals
- Then I glued the clay flower beads to the plastic decals
- After that, I glued the decals to the corners of the sunglasses
Now for the results:
I have to say, I’m pretty happy with the final turnout. I don’t usually gravitate towards sunglasses this large and decorated, but they do add an interesting element to my everyday look and protect my eyes from the sun. Plus, it’s great that an old pair of earrings that might have been tossed in the garbage found a new life on a pair of shades. This is what I’m going for with my “Ms. FixIt” projects, and I hope to post more projects like this in the future. Stay tuned and give me a shoutout in the comments!