Rhinestone Tumbler Tutorial for Beginners — Alison Sullivan (2024)

How to make a Bling Rhinestone Tumbler for Beginners. Everything you need to know to get started

People have been blinging things for a long time, but ever since JLO showed up at the super bowl with her own personalized bling cup, the cup makers went wild for it! In this post I am going to detail everything you need to know to get started with making these cups (or other items!) and tell you exactly what you need to buy. This post is meant for beginners, but I hope if you have started some research, you will still find this post helpful and get everything you need out if reading it!

If you prefer watching via video, check out this youtube video where I outline the same stuff!

What you need to buy:

Glass Flatback Rhinestones

Supertite Fusion Tack

Crystal Katanak

Precision Tip Glue Applicator

Stainless Steel Tumbler or Acrylic Tumbler

Sand Paper

Base Paint Optional**

Before we get into how to actually make the cup, lets talk about the materials you need and how to figure out what to buy.

Glass Flatback Rhinestones

For these cups you really want to use the glass flatback rhinestones. The ones from the craft stores won’t be as shiny or durable and you really want to make sure you’re using high quality stones for these. The highest quality would be Swarovski but they’re also extremely expensive. I imagine you’re reading this because you’re just starting out, so I recommend getting other glass crystal flat back rhinestones because they still look amazing and will save you some money.

For these projects we use the Glue Fix stones, meaning they need glue to stick to the surface. There are hot fix stones that you can iron or press onto surfaces that have the adhesive already on them. It gets activated with heat! For now, we’re just going to stick with the glue-fix (or non-hot fix stones).

Where to purchase:

Amazon

Creepsakes Shop

Be Createful

What size do I buy?

The stones come in different sizes measured SS4-SS48. The SS stands for Stone Size and they coordinate with a millimeter measurement. It is most common for the cups to be done with SS16 or SS20 stones and other small sizes as fillers.

No matter what size you choose for your main stone, you will need filler stones in smaller sizes for when your stones don’t fit perfectly. You can buy Mixed Size Packsthat range from SS4-SS12 for those filler stones.

I like to use SS20 as my main stone because the stones are bigger. This means I will use less stones for the cup which means I can get it done faster! However, SS16 works great as well and it is totally up to your taste!

Here is a good visual of the different flatback stone sizes:

What Color should I get?

The most popular color stones are Crystal and Crystal AB. The AB stands for Aurora Borealis and these stones have an iridescent finish that sort of creates different colors when the light hits them! Watch this youtube video to see the difference! Many people use other colors too, but those are the most popular.

How many stones do I need?

It depends on whether you use the honeycomb method or scatter method. I recommend the honeycomb method if you’re just starting out because you will use less stones and it will take less time to complete! Plus, I personally like the way they look MUCH better.

A 20 oz skinny cup with the honeycomb method will probably need about 2-3 bags (bags come with 1440 stones) if you’re using SS20 you’ll probably use closer to 2 bags and SS16 closer to 3. I would get an extra bag of whatever size you choose just to be safe! The smaller the stone, the more you will need to cover your cup.

Make sure you get filler stones. The mixed sized bags are perfect for this. Otherwise, make sure you have an assortment of SS4-SS12 stones to fill in small spots that your larger stones don’t fit into.

If you’re using the scatter method, you’re looking at at least 4,000 stones for a 20 oz skinny. Most people choose 4 different size stones for a scatter method cup. So, you would buy one bag of each SS6, SS12, SS16, and SS20. I would get a second bag of your larger stone to be safe as well.

Glue/Adhesive

What glue should you use

I use Supertite fusion tack as my adhesive of choice. It is recommended by many professional blingers and I find it works very well! Plus, they sell it at craft stores and it was easy to find!

Other people use Liquid Fusion, Gemtac, or E6000. I don’t recommend E6000 because it’s toxic.

Precision Tip Glue Applicator – This will help you lay down thin layers of glue. Too much glue means you may get some on top of your stones which will dull them up.

Crystal Katana(or other wax tool) – this is what you will use to grab your stones and put them onto your cup

Permanent Vinyl – If you plan to put your name or any sort of pattern on your cup, you will cut it with vinyl first, then glue stones over the top of it.



Directions

So how to I make the cup? It’s actually really easy just very time consuming. You’re looking at 8 hours or so to make these cups!!

Step 1: Prep your Cup

Whether you are using a stainless steel or acrylic tumbler, you need to prep it!

Stainless Steel tumblers have a factory coating on them that needs to be removed before you can start putting your stones on. Use 220 grit sand paper and sand thoroughly. Run water over the cup to see if it is sanded enough…the water will sheet on the cup (vs. bead up) and if that’s happening, you’re done sanding! There are ways you can avoid sanding, like spraying with Shellac Spray and painting on top with a Crystalac paint (see this post for more information on the Crystalac products I use) or you can use dixie bell paints that adhere to the factory coating of the cup.

Acrylic tumblers just need a light scuff sanding with 400 grit sandpaper. This gives the glue something grab onto and make sure that your cup is long lasting!

Do you need to base paint?

No. You don’t need to. However, if you are using a colored stone it is helpful to have matching base color. There is a little room between stones so that base color will be slightly noticeable. I don’t base coat if I’m using crystal or crystal AB but base coat if I’m using a different color. I base coat with Crystalac paints but you could also use a spray paint.

Step 2: Lay Vinyl for your name/decal* & Glue stones on top

This is optional because you absolutely don’t need to put anything on your cup besides rhinestones, but I like to lay this at the beginning before doing anything else. You want to choose a matching vinyl color to the stones you are putting on the cup. Then, you can glue stones over the top of the vinyl. I always just use a mixed size bag (ss3-ss12) to lay stones on my name.

Step 3: Lay first row of Stones

You’re going to squirt out like 2 inches of glue onto the top of the cup near the rim. Place stones and try to get them flush with the top. Once you finish the entire row, flip your cup upside down on a hard surface (think coaster) overnight so the stones can settle in before you move to the second row.

Step 4: Continue laying stones

Continue with the second row by putting stones in between two stones in the first row (honeycomb). This layer doesn’t need to dry overnight before moving to layer three. You can just keep moving through each row as you have the time.

I like to lay my main stone (I generally use ss20) as close to the decal as I can. Then, once I have finished with all of my main size stone and can’t fit anymore, I go in with fillers to get as close to the decal as possible.

Step 5: Let Dry

Once your cup is complete, let it dry for 3-5 days before use.

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