I’m sure a lot of the ladies reading our blog enjoy cosplaying, or have friends who do, and today’s DIY is right up their alley! It’s the idea that some parts of your costume can easily be adapted or altered to make great accessories for an everyday or special occasion outfit. The possibilities are endless!

Today’s DIY is a very short and straightforward tutorial. In fact, I’m pretty sure from the pictures alone you can figure it out! But the purpose of today’s tutorial is really just to inspire and spark ideas for those that might not have thought of this kind of thing before.

A friend of mine had a few Black Widow resin cast buckles lying around and, while I had no interest in making a Black Widow costume, I was immediately interested in using the buckles for a belt accessory that I could use to add a bit of fun to my wardrobe. He let me swipe a few and I immediately set to work gathering the rest of my supplies.

Supplies Needed:

• Buckle
• Crystals
• Glue
• Tweezers
• Snaps
• Elastic
• Needles/Thread/Sewing Machine

Those following our blog might notice that Lindz and I use rhinestones for a lot of our craft projects. For those of you local to the Los Angeles Fashion District, I would highly recommend swinging by the bead stores down there to buy rhinestones in bulk. I was able to buy 100 Swarovski rhinestones for less than what it cost to buy 30 or 40 of them at Michael’s. If you enjoy adding sparkle to your projects as much as I do, it’s really cost effective to buy in bulk! Lindz and I frequent Beads & More.

Aside from stocking up on a variety of colored rhinestones, I already had all the supplies lying around the house for such a simple project, and for those that enjoy cosplaying, or sewing/crafting in general, I’m sure most of you have this stuff as well.

As you can see from the images, what I did is pretty basic. Buckle + glue + rhinestones = sparkly belt buckle! Or if you’d like a little more detail:

1. Glue stones to buckle
2. Glue snaps to back of buckle
3. Cut strip of elastic measured to waist
4. Hand sew snaps to each end of elastic
5. Snap elastic belt onto buckle
6. Wear. Enjoy!

This is a really fun and simple project that was completed in an evening while watching TV. I’m pretty sure waiting for the glue to properly dry on the snaps took longer than actually adding the stones to the buckle! Once you glue your snaps to the back of your buckle, I would recommend letting it dry overnight before wearing it to allow the glue to properly set. And, well, that’s really all there is to it! Simple, fun, and cute.I love those kinds of crafts!

If you’ve slipped a cosplay accessory into your daily wardrobe before, or do it at a later time, we’d love to see it! I, for one, can’t wait to try this on a few Star Wars belt buckles.