Balmain, Dolce & Gabbana, Elie Saab spring 2012 Photo: Imaxtree

Designers did some serious bedazzling on spring 2012 collections. Dolce & Gabanna used glittering gemstones, Elie Saab used thousands of glittering sequins, and Balmain decorated his structured separates with shimmering studs. You can brighten clothes, shoes and bags with spring-savvy embellishments in three easy steps. You’ll need:

Photo: Courtesy of DollDestash

1. Rhinestones, sequins or glitter of your choice. You can buy Swarovski crystals online in big batches, in almost any color. Crystals2love.com sells 144 piece packs for around $7. You can also buy plastic stones at stores like Michael’s, and A.C Moore (which is also the best place for glitter). Depending on the amount and the grain of the glitter, you can expect to pay anywhere from $4-$10 dollars.
Photo: Courtesy of Mod Podge Mod Podge adhesive, $12.

2. Adhesive. what you’ll use depends on your project. For glitter, a paint-on adhesive like Mod Podge is perfect; for rhinestones or sequins, using a hot glue gun will give you the best results. 3. Chalk.

How you’ll do it:

1. Plan first. Using chalk, gently trace your pattern (check out our fav mega-embellished spring collections in the slideshow below) on your garment or accessory. When you work with glitter, make sure you lay out plenty of newspaper so you can catch and save what you don’t use.

2. For glitter, paint a thin layer of Modge Podge and tap out a generous amount of glitter onto your piece. For Sequins or Rhinestones, dot the back of each rhinestone or sequin with glue separately. Don’t draw lines with glue! You’ll wind up with hard, tacky, streaks that your stones won’t stick to.

3. Be patient. This is probably the most important step! Embellishing by hand can take days and you shouldn’t rush the process. If you take your time, you’ll have a gorgeous, one-of-a-kind piece that would fit right in on the 2012 runway.