How To Crystallize a Champagne Flute / Wine Glass

Step by step tutorial showing how to crystallize a wine glass / champagne flute with flatback crystals

Published by: Crystal and Glass Beads – Author: Khaled Alwan

Equipment Required
1. Crystals – for this tutorial I have used ss12 and ss9 Flatback Non-hotfix crystal rhinestones. You can find the flatback crystals needed here
2. Gemtac Adhesive – alternatively you can use e6000 if you have it. You can find Gemtac here
3. Cocktail stick – for applying the adhesive or something similar.
4. Cotton Handkerchief / cloth – or something similar to clean the glass with.
5. Rubbing alcohol – to de-grease the surface of the glass.
6. Piece of paper with writing on – this can be printed, or hand drawn.
7. Crystal Katana – to pick up the crystals or magic pick mini is an alternative. You can find applicator tools here

 

Adhesives Choice ::
So why have I used gemtac and not e6000? While both adhesives work nicely for this project I like the fact that:
i.. Gem-Tac is not toxic
ii.. It’s also self levelling and shrinks when it dries/cures
iii.. With e6000 if you pull off a corner of the adhesive it will all come off in a sheet, this doesn’t happen so easily with Gem-Tac (Please note e6000 gives a good bond and doesn’t come away easily so if you do decide to use over gemtac the bond strength shouldn’t be a concern..

 

Preparation
1. Using the cotton cloth/handkerchief wipe over the outer surface of the glass with some alcohol to remove any grease or marks.

2. Lay out the flatback crystals faceted size up, for this tutorial I have used ss12 which are 3.2mm in diameter so are a nice size not too big or small.

 

Start the Tutorial

3. Using the cocktail stick (or something slim) apply a short thin line of adhesive for the crystals to be added to.

4. Using the applicator tool pick up the first crystal and place onto the adhesive at the rim of the glass. For this tutorial I have used a Crystalkatana which has a wax tip one end and chrome positioned on the opposite end of the tool. It’s by far the best tool for working with any size crystal but cost a bit more than some of the others, so if you are on a budget, you can opt for a jewel setter or magic pic mini if not I highly recommend the Katana (you wont be disappointed ; ) With the crystal in place using the chrome positioner or an orange stick gently press the crystal down so that it get’s a good bond with the glue.

5. Continue making your way around the rim of the glass adding a line of adhesive and then some crystals until the first row of crystals is nearly complete.

6. Fill in the gap to complete the 1st row (what if the gap is a little too big or small? see below). Have used a black backing under the glass to make it easier to see the crystals.

7. When it comes to the end of the row if you are lucky and the last crystal fits perfectly into place there are no worries,  if it doesn’t and there is a gap you have 3 choices:
a. If the gap is just slightly smaller than the crystal size you have been working with use a smaller crystal to fill in the gap (this way there wont be much difference between the 2 crystal sizes).
b. If its a small gay rather than fill in the space with a tiny crystal which can stand out on the base of a glass it’s sometimes better to space out some of the surrounding crystals so that the gaps aren’t so noticeable see 3, 3b, 3c and 4. above. c. The third option to filling the gap is to use 2,3,4 etc slightly larger crystals the number you use will depending on the gap size, as they are only slightly larger than the main crystal using a few should fill the gap nicely without being noticeable.

8. Start the second row of crystals offset between 2 crystals from row 1.

9. Continue adding adhesive then crystals to complete the second row, then onto the third etc.

10. That’s the first 4 rows of ss12 crystals complete.

11. Continue adding crystals.

12. Now that the stem is starting to get steeper and narrower we are going to change crystal sizes and swap from ss12 (3.2mm) and downscale to ss9 (2.6mm).

13. Continue adding crystals.

14. That’s 16 rows of ss9 crystals complete again each row is offset. Continue adding rows of crystals until you reach the end of the glass stem then you can either stop or continue onto the top of the  glass itself. For this tutorial we have continued adding a some crystals in a scattered fashion.

15. Completed closeup of base and stem.

16. Completed Glass.

Thank you for viewing the How to Crystallize a Champagne Flute Tutorial we hope you found it useful and welcome your feedback. You can view our full range of Swarovski crystals here