Sequins, glitter add dazzling effect

Last week, I somehow found myself in a discussion with sports writer Scott Fields about sequins.

I don’t remember how we got to that point in our conversation, but I could detect genuine surprise in his voice when he asked, “Wait. You mean sequins and rhinestones are not the same thing?”

As a girl who loves arts and crafts, I have embellished my fair share of, well, everything over the years.

Once upon a time, I decided that a football needed glitter on the laces to make it less bland. I painted the laces in glue and rolled it in glitter before setting it on the floor in my bedroom next to my basketball.

My dad came into my room later that day and casually picked up the football as he was asking me about my day, only to notice his hand was covered in glitter. It was a running joke (or a running truth) in my family for a while that if you went into my room, you would walk out with glitter on you.

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Rhinestones always have been my favorite, though. They’re less messy than glitter and are big and shiny.

I remember thinking I was so cool when I covered my pink Motorola Razr cellphone with self-adhesive rhinestones as a 16-year-old.

Even in college, as editor of my school newspaper, all the office supplies on my desk were bedazzled. My tape dispenser and calculator were covered in pink rhinestones, and my scissors and pen holder with black ones.

As graduation approached and I spoke with my friends about decorating my cap, more than one person asked me, “Is it bedazzled?” I guess by that point, I had a reputation.

(And no, I think I surprised everyone by tie-dyeing my cap and then asking my classmates to sign the top with black Sharpie.)

The most ambitious bedazzling project I’ve ever tackled, though, was my guitar.

During Christmas break my junior year, I used a hot glue gun and coated the front of my acoustic guitar with shiny silver rhinestones. I worked on it a little each day and finished it by the time spring semester rolled around.

I actually don’t regret that; it’s a nice conversation piece now.

My explanation to Scott about the difference between sequins and rhinestones was something like, “Sequins are flat, shiny discs. Rhinestones are 3D, almost like if you cut a bead in half.”

This, of course, warranted a Google search for examples of the two embellishments, so he could see what I was talking about.

The internet search led to the discovery of the “spangle,” which apparently is a synonym for sequin.

Even as an adult, walking through a craft store and seeing brand new packages of sequins and rhinestones excites me.

It makes me want to pull out my hot glue gun and turn something into art.

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Kara Coleman is a newsroom editor at The Daily Herald. Contact her at [email protected]