One of my absolute favorite trends of the early 2000s was the excessive rhinestones, glitter, and overall bedazzling of just about everything. I am ecstatic that this trend is back, and I have taken to adding glitter and rhinestones to all of my belongings. With inspiration from talented Instagrammers and some online stores, I decided I’d try my hand at bedazzling SOCKS! Grab a pair of socks, a pile of rhinestones, and a maximalist attitude. Let’s start bedazzlin’.

What you’ll need:

• A pair or two of pre-washed crew socks
• Embellishments! I’m partial to rhinestones and small beads, but you can also add sequins or any other tiny trinkets.
• Ribbon
• Needle and thread
• Straight pins
• Tweezers (for picking up and placing li’l beads)
• Washable fabric glue. I recommend Gem-Tac, which you can buy in craft stores.

I’m going to try out a couple different ways of embellishing socks—one with rhinestones/sequins/various sparkly thaaangs, and one with ribbon. You can try one or the other or both. Pick your poison!

How to make sparkly socks:

Step One

Lay a pair of clean socks on a flat surface and start placing your rhinestone and bead design. The possibilities are literally endless, so try out a few designs and patterns until you find your favorite. If you’re going to be wearing these socks with short boots or high-top shoes (I will!), keep the rhinestones to the top few inches of the sock, so that they don’t rub against the shoe and fall off.

Step Two

Once you’ve landed on a design you like, it’s time to glue. If you’re gluing on teeny-tiny pieces, I recommend squeezing a little bit of glue onto a piece of scrap paper (parchment or any kind of coated paper works best). Pick up the rhinestone/sequin/bead with tweezers, dip the back into the glue, and then place it onto your sock, pressing lightly to ensure that it’s stuck. For larger rhinestones, you should be A-OK to just pick it up, coat the back with glue, and press it on the sock.

Step Three

Let the glue dry for at least 24 hours (if you’re using something other than Gem-Tac, check the instructions on the bottle for exact time) before washing or wearing the socks. Whenever you wash them, turn them inside out to keep the embellishments from falling off. Shine on, you crazy socks!

How to make ballerina socks:

Step One

Put on your socks. Measure and cut a piece of ribbon that is long enough to wrap around your ankle/calf area (where the top of the crew socks sit) twice, and then tie it in a nice bow at the front of your leg. Then cut another ribbon that’s the exact same length. (My ribbons were about four and a half feet long, for reference.) Take the socks off, then lay them on a flat surface.

Step Two

Fold a piece of ribbon in half, and place it around the back of a sock, about 2.5 inches down from the top. Pin it in place with a straight pin.

Step Three

Hand-stitch a straight line down the ribbon on the back of the sock with your needle and thread. I repeated this step twice for extra security. Tie a knot or two, and clip the excess thread.

Step Four

Repeat Steps Two and Three for the other sock, then you’re done. Put on the socks with a cute pair of shoes and lace ’em up! ♦