Since my last post on the topic, I’ve become increasingly obsessed with neon accents. I mean really, how could I not love a trend that reminds me of my 90’s childhood? If only I’d had the foresight to keep that hot pink school bag from my elementary school days!
But that’s the thing about trends – they come and go. And so rather than hitting the mall and snapping up neon bling that could be yesterday’s news tomorrow, I decided to take matters into my own hands and go the DIY route with some old jewelry I already had lying around.
Ok, let’s get started! All you’ll need is some spray paint, and something you want to spray paint…like one of those tired pieces in your jewelry box that you’ve hung on to for some unknown reason. I used a cheap plastic gemstone cuff, but you could do really do this to anything. Spray paint is magic like that.
I began by lifting the prongs and removing the gems because I wanted just the gems painted neon.
If you’re working with a solid piece of jewelry, or just want an overall-neon look, skip this step and just make sure you use a spray paint that works on all the materials you want to cover. I used Krylon Special Purpose Flourescent Yellow.
Once you’ve got all your stones loose, take them outside, spread them out on a sheet of paper and mist with spray paint. Keep building the colour slowly for an even finish. If you went a little crazy and are seeing bubbles or blobbing, fret not – there’s nothing nail polish remover and a little tenacity won’t fix. Just strip ’em and start over.
Before and after. It really is that easy.
Now you can either give them a coat of gloss, or keep them matte. I chose the latter because I was barely patient enough to let the paint dry, let alone put down a gloss coat and wait a few more hours. Once they were all dry, I carefully popped them back into their settings and pressed the prongs back into place.
And that’s it! I think the hardest part of the process was trying to make sure I didn’t accidentally get paint on my dogs while I was outside. Then again, day-glo yellow does kind of looks good on this guy…
I hope you’ll find this quick tutorial useful. If you’re looking for more of a challenge, you’ll be happy to know I have a second tutorial in the works for the neon and crystal necklace you may have seen in my Instagram feed. So start looking for those needle-nosed pliers and be sure to check back for it next week!
