How to make a rhinestone bag charm

What to know first

A bag charm lives the hardest life of anything on this site: it swings against zips, door frames and other charms all day, and it gets dropped into bags on top of keys. That changes two things. Stones sitting proud of the edge are knocked off first, so the design stops a millimetre or two short of the rim, and the bond has to be a tough, flexible adhesive rather than a craft glue. Charms also have two faces, and gravity means you can only work one at a time.

What you need

• Acrylic or metal charm blank, or a beadable keychain bar
• Split ring, lobster clasp or chain
• 3 mm resin or glass flatbacks
• E6000-type adhesive
• Fine sandpaper and isopropyl alcohol
• Wax pick-up pen

Step by step

1. Remove the keyring hardware so you can work flat.
2. Scuff the blank lightly and wipe it with isopropyl alcohol.
3. Glue the first face in small patches, keeping stones just inside the edge.
4. Let that side cure fully before turning the charm over — stones slide off an uncured face.
5. Do the second face the same way.
6. Fit the split ring or clasp once everything has cured.

Avoid

• Stones overhanging the edge
• Turning the charm before the first side has cured
• Heavy glass stones on a thin acrylic blank