“I think it surprises people when I say, ‘No, really, bedazzling has actual therapeutic benefits,’” Joy says. “They’re like, ‘You have to be joking.’ But there are so many factors about what makes it really good for our mental health, and it brings people so much joy.”
Here’s the thing about gluing rhinestones to a book cover: It doesn’t feel like therapy. It feels like something a 7-year-old at a slumber party would do, and that’s part of the point.
It’s also unusually grounding. Bedazzling is tactile—you’re handling tiny objects and pressing each one into place—and that sensory engagement keeps you tethered to the present moment in a way that’s increasingly hard to come by. “When I’m doing it, I don’t even think about my phone,” Joy says. “I’m just so involved in the process.”
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And then comes the payoff. Many creative projects give you a single hit of satisfaction when you finish; bedazzling gives you that, and then keeps tipping you a little dopamine every time you glance at your bejewelled masterpiece afterward. Joy bedazzled her weekly vitamin organizer because she hates taking vitamins, and now opening it is a small pleasure. “I still don’t like taking my vitamins,” she says, “but at least it’s sparkly.” Bedazzling can transform the most humdrum object in your life into something that makes you a little happier every time you encounter it.
But I’m “not a sparkly person”
Think you’re more darkle than sparkle? You might be surprised: Bedazzling has range. “You could do one rhinestone if you want,” she says. “It can be on any level. It doesn’t have to be ‘the most.’ It doesn’t have to be picture-perfect, Instagram-worthy.”
The barrier to entry is low. You can pick up a beginner bedazzling kit at craft stores or online for under $20, and it will contain most of what you need. Here’s what to look for:
A rhinestone tray. This is the small grooved plastic tray you dump your gems into. Give it a wiggle and the rhinestones obligingly flip right-side up, ready to be picked up.
Glue. Since many kit glues produce strong fumes, she recommends working near an open window, with a fan or air purifier, or—for big projects—wearing a respirator. Choose a non-toxic glue that dries clear and works on most surfaces. (Her personal go-to is Beacon Gem-Tac.)
What to bedazzle
If you want to start small, consider the nondescript objects you use every day but rarely actually look at: your phone charger cube, a pair of headphones, an AirPods case, the cap of your favorite skincare product, a medication bottle. “One of my favorite things about bedazzling is you can truly make the most mundane or everyday things so fun and beautiful,” Joy says. “It brings those little moments of joy and expression into your phone charger.”
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Fair warning: The moment you pick up your first rhinestone, you might not be able to stop seeing potential bedazzle candidates everywhere. “Once you start bedazzling books, products, covers, you see [the world] in a different lens, like, ‘That would bedazzle really well,’” Joy says. She has a running list of books she hasn’t even read yet—they just look, to her trained eye, like things that need to be bedazzled.
Find your people
Joy runs popular monthly book-bedazzling workshops at Mermaid Books, an indie bookstore near where she lives. “I’ve seen so many adult women just having so much fun and being playful,” she says. “If someone’s trying to say, like, ‘Oh, this looks bad,’ we don’t accept that kind of self-talk in the workshops that I run.”
The show-and-tell at the end of each workshop is Joy’s favorite part. “I do a little compilation,” she says, “and everyone’s ooh-ing and ahh-ing.” When one attendee finished a book cover she’d been working on for six months, the room erupted in applause.
Joy's hope is that you'll reclaim an inner sparkle many of us have let slip. “Being curious is a skill that, I think, we sometimes really lose as adults,” she says. “Let yourself play and have fun.”
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