Crystal Lane glue-on flat back rhinestones from John Bead are an excellent and economical choice for adding bling and sparkle to jewelry, costumes, apparel, and decor when on a limited budget. These rhinestones are foil-backed for brilliance and are sold only in packs. You'll love using these rhinestones in your jewelry designs. They can be used for all kinds of projects, from intricate crafts to quick jewelry and everything in between. Because they come in packs, it's easy to stock up, so you're prepared for every kind of project. We're sharing how to use these flat backs in your designs, as well as inspiration from our Design Studio to get you started.

How do I attach these flat backs to my designs?

Crystal Lane flat backs can easily be added to designs with glue. We like to use Jewel Bond or Gem-Tac when applying to fabric or bead backing (check out our tutorial for applying flat backs to fabric here). You can also use epoxy adhesive if you're looking for a super strong bond. Don't be afraid to try embedding these crystals into epoxy clay, either. If you're into nail art, you can use your nail art supplies to incorporate these flat backs into your nail designs, like you would any other rhinestone. Helpful tools for applying these flat backs to your designs include knotting tweezers, the Crystal Katana, and jewel setters. Simple toothpicks and paper clips can also help when applying glue to the back of the flat back. You can also use glue syringes to help apply glue easily and fast!

What can I make with Crystal Lane Flat Backs?

These rhinestones can help you to create all kinds of designs. We used quite a few to make a blingy fashion face mask.

We used Jewel Bond to attach these flat backs to the mask. You can add as many or as few to the mask as you like. Add them on randomly or sketch out a cool design before applying the rhinestones.

Our friend Danielle Wickes also created these beautiful jewelry designs using Crystal Lane flat backs. She attached flat backs to bead backing and then created amazing beaded designs around the bead backing, including earrings and two bracelet designs, the Sparkling River bracelet and the Sapphire Sunset bracelet. The designs are finished and embellished into gorgeous pieces of jewelry by first brick-stitching around the border of the design, and then creating a bracelet band or attachment to an ear wire. The possibilities to make these designs your own are limitless!

Need more inspiration for using these flat backs in your designs? Our Design Studio features great inspiration for incorporating flat backs into your projects, whether they are crafts or jewelry.

Sometimes a single flat back can really enhance a jewelry design. Cynthia used just one flat back in her Santorini necklace to showcase the simple embroidery techniques at the center of the design. The flat back adds just the right amount of sparkle needed to make this design shine. You can also use flat back rhinestones to embellish metal components, like in our Iron Butterfly bracelet.

Flat backs are also a must for craft projects. They provide wonderful bling to our Dainty Daisies hat when paired with sweet lace flowers. If you're into holiday crafting, flat backs are great for making ornaments, whether they are for Christmas or holidays like Easter. Check out our Regal Easter ornaments for a little flat back inspiration. You can even use flat backs for fun accessories like sunglasses. We used crystal flat backs alongside other embellishments in our Beach Boho sunglasses.

Flatbacks Explained

Learn even more about crystal flatbacks with our video: 

If you have used flat backs in your designs, we would love to see what you've created. Leave a product review with a photo on our website and you could be featured on our social media pages (it could even earn you Artbeads Rewards points). Or, share a picture in our private Facebook group for #SeriousArtbeaders.