Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Customized Graduation Cap

After years of moving, establishing residency, trying to figure out my major, and then deciding on one (instead of doing two like I briefly tried), I FINALLY graduated on June 12, 2015!! I have about 6 months off before I go for my Bachelor's Degree, but it feels great to have this accomplishment finished. 

For the ceremony, I customized my grad cap. I added my own style and my parents were able to spot me very easily. Although the finished result looked amazing, I wouldn't recommend doing this unless you have LOTS of time on your hands. 


The finished product!

This part literally took me like 4 hours because I wasn't using tweezers and the jewels kept popping out of my hand.






Tips:

-USE TWEEZERS!! Oh for the love of all that is helpful, use tweezers. I was at work when I did mine, so I didn't have tweezers when I started and it took sooooooo long to get the jewels positioned and then glued. I'm talking HOURS just for the "J" & the "E".

-Print out letters or something to use as your guide. I was going to free-style it at first, but I am glad I decided against it. I printed the letters for my name, lightly taped them, and lined the jewels around them to create a negative space for the letters. 

 -Use fabric glue or something. I used super glue and when I look closely, I can see that the back of the jewel kinda melted because it fused with the fabric. 

-LESS is more, especially with super glue! I put too much on a few of the jewels and as soon as it hits the fabric for the cap, it spreads and darkens. Not pretty. 

-Be Patient. It took me a full work day and part of another to complete this. (I work at a law firm so at times I have lots of down time). I would highly recommend starting this early and coming back to it in phases. Otherwise you might go crazy and your eyes will start to see permanent sparkles. 

-If you can find a stick on jewel sheet that you like, definitely use it. I picked and glued EACH INDIVIDUAL jewel, and while it is gorgeous, I doubt I will be doing the same for my Bachelor's because it just took too long. (10 hours!)