Allie Joy has loved shiny things her whole life, even before her first rhinestone-studded dance costume. “I like to joke that I’m pretty sure I came out of the womb bedazzled,” she says. Now, as an art therapist and licensed professional counselor in Milford, Conn., she’s become an evangelist for the bedazzling renaissance happening on TikTok, at indie bookstores, and in living rooms across the country.
“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.”
For an instant mood boost, try picking one object—your phone charger, a paperback you love, the cap of your favorite moisturizer—and bedazzle it. The benefits, Joy says, are baked into the bling.
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.
Bedazzling is repetitive in the best way—pick up a gem, place a gem, pick up a gem, place a gem—and that rhythm is soothing. “Repetitive motions are very good for our nervous system, emotional regulation, and stress relief,” Joy says. You’ll feel your brain settle and your shoulders drop as you shimmer your way into a meditative state.
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.”
That kind of phone-free absorption is refreshing. Bedazzling fits into a broader cultural turn-back toward analog hobbies, the kind that demand your full attention and reward you with something you can hold. "We can use all the apps to try to reduce our screen time," Joy says, "but getting involved in a creative project can really help us disconnect and get into the present moment." At her workshops, she notices, almost no one is on their phone—except to snap a photo of what they're making.
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The other thing happening while your phone collects dust on the table? You're being creative in a way that Joy argues will make you reconsider every “I’m not creative” you’ve ever uttered. (“I have too much confidence that I could talk to any person for five minutes and tell them ways they’re creative,” she says.) Bedazzling offers a particularly forgiving entry point because it doesn’t demand starting from scratch. “A blank canvas for some people is like, ‘Oh my gosh, it’s too much,’” Joy says. You’re not staring down a sketchpad trying to summon inspiration. Instead, “it’s almost like a color-by-numbers,” she says, with rhinestones.
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.
Joy has also found that bedazzling is a practice in patience. She has ADHD and is used to her attention “ping-ponging around all day.” Yet she credits bedazzling with helping her sit with a project over time. “The first time I bedazzled a whole book cover, I did it over the whole winter,” she says. “I would just do it here and there when it was dark and cold.” You can do five rhinestones and walk away, she says, and come back to it in a week. There’s instant gratification—each gem sparkles the second you place it—and a slower, accumulating satisfaction as the project builds.
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.”
Bedazzling is also accessible to any age or skill. Joy has run workshops with kids, with adults who haven't done anything creative since middle school, and with people of varying physical abilities. "You don't have to be a super-talented artist to bedazzle," she says. If you can pick up a rhinestone, you can do it.
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 wax pencil or pen. This is what you'll use to pick up individual rhinestones—the wax grabs them just enough to maneuver them into place. Joy prefers a softer wax over the firmer pencils that come in most kits, but either works.
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.
Rhinestones. Most beginner-friendly rhinestones are made of resin, which is affordable and looks great. There are glass and crystal rhinestones, too, and they're stunning—save those for a special project.
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.)
A few minutes of surface prep will help everything stick. Use fine-grit sandpaper to lightly rough up slick surfaces so the glue has something to grip, then wipe everything down with an alcohol wipe to remove oils (yes, even on a brand-new book). And once you’ve placed your rhinestones, give the project about 24 hours to fully dry before you start moving it around. Then it’s time to admire your design to your heart’s content.
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.”
Think about what you love, too. Joy hosts book-bedazzling workshops because she’s been a lifelong reader, and she finds something especially meaningful about ornamenting the objects she already cherishes. A favorite paperback is a natural starting point—bedazzle the title, scatter rhinestones around an illustration, or commit to the whole cover if you’re itching for a challenge. Same goes for a vinyl record sleeve, journal, or magazine you can’t bring yourself to recycle.
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You can also go all out. Joy once bedazzled a full beach ball for her friends’ Beach Boys–themed wedding. “Truly, the possibilities are endless,” she says.
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
Bedazzling is satisfying as a solo activity. It can be even better in a room full of other 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.”
People who just moved to the area show up because they want to make new friends. One regular—a librarian—was so inspired by the events that she started running her own bedazzling program for teens at her library.
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.
These events are popping up across the country: at indie bookstores, libraries, craft shops, and other community spaces. Search around for one near you, Joy suggests. And if nothing turns up, consider starting one yourself.
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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