Lolita Charm: Paint It Gold... and Rhinestones

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Paint It Gold... and Rhinestones

I'm a sucker for anything that sparkles, glitters, or shines. I've been known to chase silver gum wrappers on the pavement. I own Bodyline prints for the simple reason that they're edged with glitter. So is it any wonder that I've jumped into the world of deco?

Deco, short for the word decoration, is a Japanese fad of decorating your items with rhinestones, lace, plastic cakes, anything you can glue down really. Originally the item of choice to decorate was cell phones, giving us the term decoden (den being short for denwa, or phone). But since then the trend has expanded to just about anything that can withstand glue. Nintendo DS lites, computer mouses, iPods, makeup compacts... if you can think of it, you can probably glue rhinestones to it.

My phone is going to be upgraded in a few short months, so that project is on hold. In the meantime, I've started in on a few smaller projects. My end goal is to have my entire electronics set deco'd - my Mini Toshiba notebook, iPod, headphones, flash drive, and earbuds.

I've already finished my pillcase, which was previously just gold with an image of pansies. Now with a few flatback pearls and Light Colorado Topaz swarovskis...

It looks like this. (Also shown in this photo: incomplete pink business card case.)

In the works-in-progress rings (of which there are many occupants), there are currently the Swimmer headphones (pink with kitties, bound for a new lease on life with light rose Swarovskis), my silver USB flash (the jewel in the center came with it and flashes green when plugged in, and it is acceptably done simply, but hopefully that will be covered someday, in light Colorado topaz I believe?), and my business card case (rule: finish for con season! that seems to be when I need business cards the most).

My currently upcoming big project is my new Ipod Nano 5th generation, which is naturally bright pink. I'm waiting on my supplies to arrive in the mail as we speak!

So, do you want to get into the hobby of deco? Like any hobby there is a cost involved. Depending on what you want to deco and what materials you use, however, it can vary wildly. For example, if you're doing a small project versus a large project, or the quality of materials you use. Are you okay with acrylic (plastic), or are you dead set on Swarovski (glass) crystal?

Price wise, it's the Swarovskis that get you. I've used plastic/acrylic jewels on my old phone and they are decent if you want to do this about $20 cheaper, or even $30 or $40 cheaper depending on the size of your item. It's not water polo, but you could say that deco, normally populated by lolitas and gyaru, a group of big spenders, is a rich girl's craft. I can only assume eventually, like all crafts, you just amass supplies - enough rhinestones and cabochons that you can make things without feeling your wallet ache.

Anyway, I did use plastic on my current phone. It's not so much that I prefer Swarovski in that I disliked plastic. Swarovskis don't sparkle to death like they do in the package, but the plastic ones in my opinion just don't catch the light the way I want. If that means I do my projects piecemeal, so be it. I want to use this item for a long time, so I'm down with that. The other thing I will note from extended wear on my current phone, is that plastic, after being put in bags and on desks and used endlessly, the color or sheen wears off the crystal. Unfortunately it's the same with flatback pearls, as they're also plastic coated with a sheen. I'm going to experiment with extending its longevity by using a sealant.

So that's my experience with the rhinestone district of deco thus far. I'm hoping to make the dive into the silicone candy land of sweets deco when I replace my cellphone this spring, and then I'll add to my collection of deco articles.

Interested to know more about deco? Try going to decoden, a Livejournal community where girls post photos of their creations. Or look at Flickr, where you can see tons of inspiring deco crafts. For DIY advice, read Universal Doll's article series on deco basics like rhinestone patterns and where to buy supplies.

I'll also be showing the start-to-finish action on my iPod nano, so be on the look out!

Labels: crafty loli

13 Comments:

At January 16, 2010 at 1:45 AM , Anonymous said...: I just deco'd my ipod touch. I had a spare pink case lying around so I decided to deco it. Really fun =)
At January 16, 2010 at 2:49 AM , AngelShinigami said...: I have been into Deco for awhile, but haven't gotten brave enough to post my work. I hope it works out for you and get good glue!, my only advice.
At January 16, 2010 at 4:30 AM , Xiao Yue said...: I love to decorate things with whipped cream, it looks so yummie!
I just buy plain little wooden boxes, paint them pink and then but the whipped cream deco on it and add decoration parts like chocolate, pearls, roses, cupcakes etc.
I want to buy a new iPod soon and am planning to make it look delicious, haha~ !
I also love those kits where you can make sweets, like the ones from Whipple. My room is full of macarons now.
At January 16, 2010 at 5:51 AM , A. said...: I just bought my first deco item(shame, I know, haha..), and I think I'm hooked.
But--- I really don't have much patience so I'm afraid of buying supplies and never finishing anything. xD
But mybe the plastic crystals would be good for a first try...
At January 16, 2010 at 8:46 AM , Hello Naka said...: cant wait ^^
At January 16, 2010 at 9:54 AM , caro-chan said...: I've been slowly getting a deco supply collection. I'm not a deco-y kind of gal, but I just love glueing stuff to other stuff XD What kind of glue do you use? I can't seem to find one I like. I'm using E6000 now, but gah I hate the way it smells.
At January 16, 2010 at 11:48 AM , Anonymous said...: Cute article! But I'd have to disagree with your use of water polo as a rich girl's sport... yeah you need access to a public/school pool, but other than that and some balls it's quite cheap! Haha.
At January 16, 2010 at 12:06 PM , Victoria Suzanne said...: @Caro-chan: I use Diamond Glaze, which is this super-strong craft glue for all kinds of surfaces (my mom has our house stuck together with it, pretty much.) The super glue I had used previously left a foggy film on the stones, and this doesn't, but it does dry quickly on the palette. But it doesn't smell :)

@Boomshakkalakka: Ahaha I never thought about that!

@Xiao Yue: How cute! I've never done the clay sweets before, maybe I should try :)

@pinkplasticglitter: I love getting into the zen of gluing my things down, but I hate waiting for supplies in the mail!
At January 16, 2010 at 1:05 PM , Trish said...: I've always admired deco but I don't think I have the patience to do it myself. XD I have looked into the pre-made cases at decoden.com but I imagine thousands of others have the same one. Oh well.
At January 16, 2010 at 9:05 PM , PinkJucie said...: ah! so cute i learn some thing new every day
At January 16, 2010 at 10:05 PM , caro-chan said...: Diamond glaze?! I have some of that, I thought it was just a... well glaze. I will have to give it a shot! My e6000 makes some kinds of rhinestones foggy as well.
At January 17, 2010 at 5:57 PM , Mykki said...: That looks like a lot of fun!
At January 19, 2010 at 9:49 PM , Kaedee said...: This is so cool!

I've been looking into it after this post and I think I'm gonna try to do my DS first. Then, maybe a compact?

Now to find some good glue to use...

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Lolita Charm

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Paint It Gold... and Rhinestones

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