DIY Southwest Belt

Southwest style is the star here with this DIY embellished belt! Using eyelets, crystal flatbacks and bohemian cabochons, a plain belt is dressed up and ready for the summer season.

Go with a mixed metal theme (gold and rose gold used here) to amp up that Southwest feel. It’s all about mixing textures and colors! I’ll show you the basic techniques I used here to create this dressed-up belt, but feel free to switch out colors and components to match your personal style.

Step 1: Gather materials. You will need a belt (preferably a thinner faux leather belt, as it’s very difficult to use eyelets in thick leather!), Gem Tac, eyelets, an eyelet setter, a small hole punch or leather punch and southwest-style flatbacks or cabochons and flatback crystals if desired.

Step 2: Play around with patterns on your belt. Place the components down on the surface and create your desired pattern. This saves a LOT of time and agony later on! Trust me! You can create and re-do your pattern as many times as you want, until you are happy with it.

Use a sharpie or marker to place dots over the spots you want your pieces.

Press lightly to just leave a small dot – this gives you an outline to your pattern, and will help you keep things even and in place when adding the embellishments.

Use a small hole punch or leather punch to create holes in the places you want your eyelets to go.

Press your eyelets in the leather, then use the setter to clip them permanently on your belt. Be careful to not slip or accidentally squeeze the other parts of the leather, as you can leave marks or ruin your eyelet.

After you finish adding your eyelets, it’s time to glue! Use Gem Tac to adhere any cabochons to your belt surface. Don’t use too much Gem-Tac, or it will leak out the sides. It dries clear, but for a clean look, you don’t want glue peeking out!

Continue gluing and adding embellishment until you see fit. For a more southwest look, used mixed metals here. I mixed gold and rose gold to play up that trend. Allow the Gem Tac a few hours to dry.

Wear with a pair of jeans (if not a wide belt like this!) or over a wrap sweater or dress for a bohemian feel.

If you liked this tutorial, check out my others on the blog at quietlioncreations.com.

Thanks for reading!!

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Allison Cooling

Blogger + Designer + Jewelry Artist at Quiet Lion Creations

My name is Allison Beth Cooling, and I am a craft addict! I am a Chicago-based graphic designer, photographer and jewelry artist. I started my blog, The Quiet Lion, in the summer of 2011. My blog is devoted to DIY-ing jewelry using all types of techniques and materials. My personal design aesthetic focuses on chic, bohemian pieces that can be mixed and matched (I love layering jewelry!) to create unique, eclectic looks!