Rhinestone a Duffel Dance Bag

How to glue rhinestones to a dance bag

Your daughter loves to dance but has outgrown her small dance bag you bought her when she was 4. You’ve found a roomy duffel bag that will fit all her shoes but it needs something girly and sparkly. With these step by step instructions and the template (which you can download here), you can make her a special dance bag to match her personality.

For this project I used:
1 duffel style bag
Gem Tac
Crystal 12ss rhinestones (about 212 pieces)
Aquamarine 12ss rhinestones (about 75)
Wax tipped tool
Ruler
Chalk
Scissors, X-acto knife and cutting mat

Start by downloading the template. You may need to adjust the size of the lettering depending on the size of the bag you’re rhinestoning.   I used a template with letters measuring 8.5 inches in length and capital letter 2.875 inches, lower case letters 1.25 inches in width.  Cut out the darkened areas of the template using scissors and/or an X-Acto knife and cutting mat.  

 Using a ruler, mark the side of the bag with chalk both horizontally and vertically. Using these marks, position the template in the center of the side of the bag and using the chalk, trace the word “Dance” and the swirl underneath. When you remove the template you can check your chalk markings to make sure it is centered.

Place a drop of glue slightly smaller than the rhinestone on the chalk mark. Some of the glue should seep out from the sides to prevent the rhinestones from peeling off. Gem-Tac dries clear so don’t worry if you accidentally use too much.  Then using your wax tipped tool, pick up a rhinestone and gently press it into the glue. Continue gluing using the chalk marks and the smaller word “Dance” as a guide. Allow to dry for 24 hours.

Using a little bit of water on your finger, rub off any chalk marks.

Dance bags like these are costly but you can make yours for a small fraction of the cost. She will love her new dance bag and you will love how easy it was to make.

Rhinestones and wax tipped tool are available from:

www.RhinestonesEtc.com

You can download the template used rhinestone this bag here.