YOUR FAVORITE CUBS FANS ARE BACK IN ACTION! I’ve again partnered with Bianca of Mhm That Girl to bring you more sparkly goodness.

Our last post focused on scrumptious “W” flag cookies (read it here!) so we decided to glam it up for this one – hence the overly-crystallized but OH SO RIGHT hats, tees and more.

And since everyone knows Cubs fans travel well, we took our team spirit all the way to the 305 — Miami! (*Disclaimer, Chicago won of course, and if they hadn’t, I wouldn’t be writing this post with as much enthusiasm as I am now).

Whether you’re a Cubbies fan (if you’re not, please leave lé blog NOW – just kidding, all are welcome, even Cards fans) or just someone who loves sparkly clothes, we take you through the full DIY on how to bedazzle any shirt, jersey, hat or other sports accessory you might have.

Feel free to mix up the crystal colors to match your team colors. We used mainly clear crystals with some red thrown in. My tip – always bring matching sunnies (these from Generation Bliss).

There’s also a bonus tutorial at the end for matching body glitter (ours made with a mix of blues, reds and little star sequins – for obvious reasons). Because Bianca says that body glitter is ALWAYS necessary.

Our getups in action at Marlins Park. Superfan status: achieved, we’d say.

Follow below for the full DIY!

Step 1: Gather materials. Needed are a few Cubs shirts, hats or W towels, acrylic crystal flatbacks (you can get some great mixed crystal tubs at Michaels or Hobby Lobby), Gem-Tac and a wax stick or Crystal Katana Tool. I used Swarovski red lacquer flatbacks for the Cubs hat – I mean, if you want to get ultra-fancy you can use Swarovski for everything – just might get a little pricey!!!

I really like GemTac because it dries clear, is odor free, and easy to work with. Some prefer E6000 – I’m definitely not a fan of that chemical smell.

Step 2: Choose the appropriate crystals. One thing that is SUPER important for crystallizing is knowing your stones. If you want the crystals to blend in with your background, use the same color crystals AS the background. If you want a contrasting shine, go with a white or AB crystal.

For this Cubs hat, I used red crystals which blended in and gave the “C” a subtle sparkle.

Use the GemTac and place small glue dots along your fabric – it really helps to use a toothpick here to get even dots. Use a small bit of glue, about the size of the flat back of your stone.

If you accidentally use a little extra, it’s ok – it will dry clear!

Step 3: Use the wax stick to place crystals on the glue – press down gently on each crystal to fully adhere. The GemTac starts drying pretty soon, but it will fully dry after a few hours, so leave it safe on the counter during the meantime.

To crystallize your other goodies, use the same method – but up the amount of glue for larger crystals. E6000 sometimes works better for this type of fabric (say a towel like this one) but again, I can’t stand the smell, so I use GemTac.

We decided to go with blue and white crystals for more of a POP on the towel. Bring on the bling.

CRYSTALLIZING SHIRTS

In very similar fashion, you can bling up any shirt, jersey, tank, jacket etc using GemTac and crystals. The   PREFERRED method is using an actual Hotfix crystal (which irons on and becomes one with the fabric – it’s washable and definitely sturdy) instead of a glue-on. Glue-ons aren’t going to hold up – period – and can’t be washed multiple times.

I simply had a ton of glue-on crystals I needed to do something with – hence these tees – and am fine with the possibility of a crystal falling off. I’ll just glue another back on.

I’m not going to be wearing these tees everyday either – they’re more of a special occasion thing.

Place small dots of glue along the tee or jersey’s logo – crystal clear flatbacks here coordinate with the white outlines – and place the crystals right on top. I used a bit more glue here, because the crystals will be moving around when wearing and I wanted to secure them as much as I could.

If you used Hotfix crystals here, use a Hotfix tool to set them easily – and not ruin your shirt with an iron.

If you want to go all out (like I did, I mean why wouldn’t you?!) continue gluing crystals on the back – after the front has dried for a few hours, of course. I used SS16 (which are about 4mm) crystals for the majority of the tees – smaller SS12 crystals helped fill in some gaps.

You can most certainly go for a simpler look – space crystals out evenly inside text (as opposed to outlining).

To decorate the bandana, simply fold the bandana as you’d wear it and glue the crystals – so easy, it does’t require a tutorial (ok, maybe I was just too lazy to photograph this part)!!!

Ok – now that you’ve got your tees and hats complete, it’s time for the icing on the Cubs cake – body glitter!

Bianca is the queen of glitter, for anyone who’s wondering, and her body glitter recipe is bomb. Easy, effective, sparkly. Check.

Feel free to change up the colors for other events – this is great for music festivals too.

Step 1: Gather ingredients. You’ll need 100% aloe gel (great for the skin!), fine glitter, and any accent glitter (we used red stars here – you can use other shapes, or even large flake glitter). You’ll also need an airtight bowl for storing, and a spoon or popsicle stick to stir with.

Our measurements are not precise – add about 1/4c of aloe into the bowl. Pour about 3tsp of glitter and start mixing – if you feel it’s not sparkly enough, add more by 1/2tsp amounts.

Mix, mix, mix!

To apply, simply brush on (we used a foam paint brush – it worked really well) in a thin layer and let dry. If you need more glitter, add another layer – but wait ’till the first is fully dry!!!

You could also add this in your hair – maybe try braiding and then covering the braids in glitter? I say yes. Below:::: the body glitter in action!! Ohh, ahhh!!

It dries fast and also is non-sticky. It does was off easily, as well. We left some glitter sparkles “accidentally” on the seats next to us. It’s kind of how we mark our Cubs territory.

So party on, crafters, and leave us comments below with any questions or suggestions for more tutorials!!!