Whether you love to hate them, or hate to love them, I think we can all agree that Crocs are in. As much as I don’t want to admit it, the popularity of Crocs – including the fake Primark version - has rocketed. And now even celebrities and models are sporting them out and about.
Heidi Klum. PHOTO: RB/BAUER-GRIFFIN/GC IMAGES
With summer and the festival season coming up, Crocs are a must have essential in your wardrobe, and why not stand out from the crowd by adding some bling!?
So, here’s our easy step by step tutorial on how to apply rhinestones to crocs. This method can also be applied to foam or rubber sandals, trainers or flip flops.
We’ve chosen to embellish our crocs with Zodiac flatback non hotfix rhinestones, Zodiac is a high quality, less expensive brand of crystal and a brilliant alternative to Swarovski. We love the Zodiac range of flatback pearls too, so we’ve decided to apply both rhinestones and pearls, in an ombre effect – from white, to light pink, to fuchsia pink. And for added sparkle and bling, every available space in between is covered in clear and AB crystals too!
You will need:
- E6000+ glue – this is a strong, clear gel like adhesive. It is the most suitable glue for flexible materials such as foam, rubber or leather and most importantly, it’s waterproof.
- Sandpaper – it is important to sand down the surface before applying glue. You can pick this up cheaply from a hardware store.
- Syringe and tip – having a precision syringe and tip is essential for applying the glue neatly and it avoids wastage too.
- Pick up tool – we love the crystal katana pick up tool, it is our go-to rhinestone picker, but you can also use a tanto or wax pencil.
- Embellishments – we’re using flatback rhinestones and pearls, it is handy to keep them close by in a tray so it is easier when it comes to gluing them on.
Step by step guide:
- You must sand down the surface of the croc before you apply any glue. This roughens up the surface and gives something for the glue to adhere to. It also removes any unwanted dirt or oils.
- Squeeze out about 2cm of glue into the syringe then screw on the tip. This allows you to apply tiny beads of glue, instead of going straight from the tube which will end in a sticky mess.
- Starting at the edge of the area you want to crystallize, squeeze out tiny beads of glue close together, around 10 – 12 at a time.
- Using the pick up tool, pick up and place the rhinestone onto the glue dot, and carry on until you have covered all the glue dots. You can use the tool to adjust the placement of the rhinestone, make sure they are close together with no gaps, but keep them flush to the surface to avoid any coming off later.
- Continue this process around the outline of the shoe until you reach the first crystal you placed.
- Next, glue the rhinestones to the outside of the holes in a circle. It is important to do all the edges first as it makes a neater overall finish.
7. To create the desired ombre effect, add the large flatback pearls scattered from light to dark – here we’ve used the white ab at the top, the pink ab in the middle, then finished off with the hot pink at the bottom.
8. Once the pearls are on, do the same with the crystals. A great way of adding the crystals is a method called the ‘rockery effect’ this is where different sized crystals are used so you end up with a more 3D texture. Apply the bigger sizes first.
9. Next fill the gaps with the smaller sizes of rhinestone. Stick to your colour order and throw in some clear and ab crystals too – this will add much more sparkle.
10. Continue this technique until all the gaps are filled. Allow the glue to fully dry for 24 hours before wearing the crocs.
And there you have it – an easy and cost effective way of blinging up a pair of crocs. The whole project took around 3 hours, and it was great fun to do. It’s official, I am a Crocs convert and I’ll be wearing them all summer!