Recycling tip: Creating your own gemstones

Have you ever decided to use one of the Piccolo charm products without the ring on the top? Laura here, and I'm here to tell you I have, plenty of times, and I have a tip: Cut the circle off the top carefully, and don't throw it away. Recycle it!

When you remove the ring, cut it to create a circle. Then, you can use the Enamel Embossing Powder Adhesive and your favorite color of Piccolo Embossing Powders.


You need to emboss the top and sides. A pair of tweezers can keep it in place while you heat it. Use Glastique to attach the bottom of the circle to a piece of acetate. Let it dry.

After the Glastique is dry, fill the holes with your choice of 3D Enamel Gel colors. You may need up to three layers of color to fill your bezels.

Your new "gemstones" will be ready to use before you know it. The best part? Because you created them on acetate, you can hold them over your project to see which one you want to use. After you chose a gem,  simply cut around it and glue it into place with Glastique.

This is the most recent project I used this technique on. The circles were cut from the hearts that make up this Shamrock. If you want to see the rest of this project, check it out on my blog HERE.