Frugal Friday...And More Uses For Sticky Spots

So last week’s post (sticky spots) got me to thinking…a dangerous thing sometimes.

What else can I do with repositionable glue and sticky spots…and my idea…

BLING!

So I set out to see if it would be cheaper and reasonably easy to make my own sheets of rhinestone bling.

You can buy packages of self-adhesive rhinestones, by almost every scrapbooking manufacturer, for anywhere from $1.80 to $4.50…in almost every color imaginable. The most expensive per piece price I found was $0.14/pc (32 pieces for $4.50) and the cheapest $0.03/pc (72 pieces for $1.80). This, of course, was not exhaustive research and doesn’t take into account those wonderful 40% off coupons we all love to use…but is just a general idea of cost, for comparison purposes.

Here is what I did:



I cut a 4 ¼” X 5 ½” piece of release paper (remember, we are keeping these from used office labels and such)



I placed small blobs of Aileen’s Tack It Over & Over in rows on the sheet (36 blobs in all)



I very carefully (and with a bit of frustration) dropped a small rhinestone into each blob. I used a variety of rhinestone sizes.



Now be sure the blobs are VERY small…my first sample row was a bit too large. The glue does dry clear, but the rhinestones don’t set as nice if the glue blob is too big.



And let it dry…



And, it worked! The rhinestones came off of the release paper with no troubles and adhered to my project like a charm!





So was the experiment worth it? Here is the tally:

Cost: I had the Tack It Over & Over and on hand ($0), I fished the release paper from the garbage can ($0), the package of rhinestones was $4.99 for 840 pieces making my per piece price $0.006 (or the sheet of 36, $0.22)

Cats Annoyed: 0 (I must be doing something wrong…why aren’t they hovering around me?)

Time: This is a bit hard to quantify…the blob placing is pretty quick, drying…well a few hours. The longest (and most frustrating part) was getting all the little itty-bitty rhinestones face-up so I could ‘just drop’ them into the glue…argh! Patience is definitely needed here!

Skill Level: intermediate (not too complicated, but patience and a steady hand are a must)

So there it is, homemade bling! Easy Peasy…and Cheap! Cheap!