Updating Sunglasses With Jewelry

For my 3 pairs of sunglasses I used earrings to spruce up the shades. You can use pieces from statement necklaces or bracelets. The techniques I use can be applied to more jewelry than just statement earrings.

Hope you enjoy!

-E

Ideas:
Take pearl beads from pearl statement necklaces and bracelets.
Find statement dangly earrings that are made up of smaller pieces. These can be used more easily on narrow shade frames than larger earring pieces.

Tips:
-when using wire cutters, wear eye protection. I didn't have any so I held the earring and cutter under a table when I was using the cutter so if any piece flew off it wouldn't hit me in the eyes. My wire cutters are super dull though so they really just weakened the jewelry so that I could use the needle nose pliers to break it.
-when using E6000, it is said that it is best to put a small amount on both surfaces you want to adhere and let sit for a little before joining them. I put the E6000 on one surface (earrings), let sit briefly, then stuck it to the sunglasses.
-when "sticking" your jewelry pieces to your sunglasses, hold them in place until you are sure they won't slide down the frames. Letting your glue sit on the earrings a little before pressing them onto the sunglasses helps avoid sliding earrings.
-When deciding what earrings to use for this project, be sure to look at how they are made/being held together and decide if you can break them into pieces that can be used for the project or if the broken off pieces would still be too big or a weird shape for your shades. One of my earring sets was a thin gold color metal cutout. The shapes were cool but too big for the shades for my preference but I was able to use my wire cutters to cut them down to be smaller. So look at what earrings you have and how they are made (where the weak points are that you can cut) and whats materials they are made out of (can it be cut or not?) to decide if you should use them or not.
-you can layer jewelry pieces! The shades with the purple stones on the corners of the frame are made with 2 different earring sets. One was a ear jacket with the gold triangles and the other were the purple stone studs. I glued the gold triangles first and let dry completely then I glued the purple stones on!
-"breaking" the jewelry you have can be done with your pliers (opening jump rings and separating pieces of the earring) or wire cutters (cutting earring material or jump rings. You can also use wire cutters to get rid of some pieces sticking out that you don't want (be careful. My earrings are inexpensive so it was easier for me. Don't attempt if you can't do it easily at first)). Wire cutters are also good for cutting off earring posts or in my case they were good for creating a weak point on the post that let me use my pliers to bend off.
-when cutting off earring posts, try to cut them off closest to the earring as you can. A flatter surface on the back will make it easier to glue onto the sunglasses and it will look better in the end.
-save any jewelry pieces you don't use on your sunglasses for another project (see last step. I made that bracelet with left over pieces from the sunglasses project!).

For this Instructable you will need the following:
-pair of shades or multiple shades
-jewelry that you can alter and break apart to use for this project
-E6000
-qtip for spreading the E6000. I didn't use one but it is recommended because E6000 isn't really good to be touching a lot (I mostly used tip of the glue bottle to move the glue around though).
-needle nose pliers (recommended) or flat nose pliers. They are the same thing but needle nose pliers are more narrow aka easier to use in small spaces.
-newspaper or a table cloth you don't care about to protect your work surface (it might get some E6000 drips on it) I used a large piece of tissue paper folded a few times and was fine

Only an adult should use the tools to break apart the jewelry so no one gets hurt. Be sure to take the proper precautions.

Decide which earrings(/jewelry pieces) you want to pair with each pair of sunglasses that you are working on. Remember you can layer pieces. Also remember to not block the lenses too much! (A little overlap is ok)

Use your wire cutters to:
-remove earring posts if applicable.
-cut thin jewelry material to make smaller pieces (if applicable. Remember to use your best judgment and be careful)

Use pliers to:
-take off earring hooks if applicable (open the connecting jump ring).
-take apart jewelry by using pliers to open jump rings that connect your piece of jewelry together

(Not pictured)
-hold up your jewelry pieces up to your shades to decide placement. If you are making more than one pair of sunglasses, decide which jewelry pieces you want on which pair of sunglasses.
-it's best to do this step not skip to gluing because once glue sets you can't change your mind! Or if you place a gluey jewelry piece on your shades and pick it up because you changed your mind, you would then have to quickly wipe the glue off your sunglasses so it doesn't leave a residue. That would detract from final effect of sunglasses especially if you end up not putting anything over it.

Glue pieces down
-place a small amount of E6000 on the back of your first piece of jewelry that you want to place and turn over so glue side is up and let sit
-immediately do this for the second piece of jewelry then place your first piece of jewelry onto the place on the sunglasses that you want to adhere it to. Hold in place with your non dominant hand and place your second piece of jewelry onto the pair of sunglasses and hold both until you can tell that the pieces won't slide down the sunglasses frame.
-repeat this for remaining pieces of jewelry/sunglasses if applicable.
-let dry completely

You're done! Now go rock your shades and make people jealous of their uniqueness! (If they start to feel too jealous you can send them the link to this Instructable :))