How to Make a Rhinestone Purse

Use your rhinestone purse design to say whatever you like.

Have you ever looked at your purse and just wished it was a little flashier? Well, if you have an old purse that you no longer use everyday, then instead of throwing it out, consider using it to add some glamor and glitz to everyday outfits by turning it into a rhinestone purse. This fun, easy project takes very little time and you will love the results. In no time, you will be able to transform your old purses into beautiful, sparkling works of art.

Things You'll Need

• Purse without decoration
• Fabric glue
• Rhinestones in all sizes and colors
• Paper
• Pencil
• Glitter fabric paint (color of purse fabric)

Instructions

1. Sketch your design, keeping the size and shape of your purse in mind. Write in the names of the colors that you want each part of the design to be. This will help you keep it straight when you begin creating it on your purse. At first, keep your designs simple. Then, as you become accustomed to the media in this project, you can make your designs more complex.

2. 

   Assemble your materials. Make sure that you have the purse, all your rhinestones, your design and the fabric glue on hand. You will need a clear area to work in and plenty of room to spread your rhinestones out so that you can select the perfect color and shape for each aspect of your design.

3. Use your design as a guide to glue the rhinestones. Use a small amount of glue on the back of each rhinestone so that the glue does not ooze out when you press the rhinestone against the fabric. The glue dot should not touch the edges of the rhinestone, but it should be substantial enough to be seen and to spread outward when the rhinestone is applied to the purse.

4. Allow one side of the purse to dry before moving onto the other side. Give it at least 60 minutes unless you have used a glue gun to apply the rhinestones. If you have used a glue gun, then 10 minutes should be sufficient. However, glue gun glue is not necessarily fabric glue, so make sure that you are using glue sticks that will actually hold your rhinestones in place.

5. Accent your design with glitter fabric paint. If you have only placed a few rhinestones on the purse in a pattern then you may wish to supplement your sparkle with glitter fabric paint. Use the paint to add in leaves if you made flowers or pleasant swirls around the hearts. If you covered your entire purse with rhinestones, then you should not add glitter fabric paint as well or you will just cloud the rhinestones. Usually, fabric paints come in squeeze tubes with thin applicator tips so that you can draw with the bottle directly on the purse. However, some people prefer to use paintbrushes to spread the fabric paint out and create a flat version of their design instead of a raised one.

Tips & Warnings

• Denim purses work really well for this type of project. If you are making flowers, then oval rhinestones paired with round ones make a great design. However, if you plan to cover the entire purse, you may want to stick with one shape so that they all fit together smoothly. If you already have a purse with a design, you might want to just accent it with rhinestones for a bit more flair.

• If you are using a glue gun, be very careful not to touch the hot glue to avoid serious burns.

Resources

• Check out these rhinestone tees and bags for design ideas.