Bedazzling’s renaissance takes over as SU students embellish belongings
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During the first few weeks of the semester, Syracuse University senior Priyanka Das couldn’t get around much. Das broke her leg in the summer and was forced to stay off her feet for several weeks.
With all her friends participating in classic back-to-school festivities, like taking a dip at Green Lakes State Park and participating in bar crawls, Das felt left out. So, she found an outlet to relieve her “FOMO.”
“I love crafts, and something I’m always thinking about is that I don’t really have a lot of time for my hobbies, my DIYs and stuff like that, just because I’m so busy,” Das said. “So I was like, ‘Let me take this as an opportunity to slow down, kind of get back into that.’”
Bedazzling, the act of decorating everyday items like phone cases and headbands with rhinestones, sequins and crystals, has taken over 2026. Rooted in the Y2K revival, bedazzling is also experiencing a renaissance.
Though bedazzling started to find its footing in the 1990s, it wasn’t until the 2000s when the sparkly trend took over pop culture. Think Kate Hudson’s sheer sequin dress at the “Almost Famous” red carpet or Mariah Carey’s rhinestone butterfly tattoo. But by the 2010s, the minimalist wave hit the fashion world, and everything sparkly turned grey. But maximalism made a comeback with artists like Zara Larsson and Sabrina Carpenter bringing sparkly clothes back.
Like how 2016 made its comeback at the beginning of the year, bedazzling is back, and it’s made its way to SU’s campus, dorm rooms and houses.
SU junior Rebekah Oh started bedazzling a year ago, before the trend took off. Oh was inspired by her friend back home, who’d decorate her makeup and Sonny Angels with gems. Now, Oh bedazzles her own makeup, Sonny Angels and even gifts for her loved ones.
“For my boyfriend’s 21st birthday, I bedazzled a whole pint of Modelo beer that literally took me a whole month on and off,” Oh said.
The best thing about the activity is that almost anything can be bedazzled. Oh bedazzled picture frames while influencer Phia Dennis bedazzled the hood of her pink Porsche. For Das, weeks with a broken leg in bed meant a lot of free time to bedazzle anything and everything in reach, including her three-drawer storage shelf.
Syracuse University senior Priyanka Das bedazzled her three-drawer storage shelf. Das said a $30 bedazzling kit with 5,000 gems was worth it for the project. Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
While watching her favorite and newly-released TV shows, Das spent a week bedazzling her shelf from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
“I would put a show on, and I would literally sit there all day,” Das said. “My friends would come over at different points of the day, and I was in the same position doing all this.”
Hobbyist bedazzlers look to craft stores like Michaels or Amazon to purchase the necessary equipment, usually a bedazzling kit. While some kits go for as cheap as $7, Das spent $30 on her kit, which includes glue, tweezers, wax pens and of course, lots and lots of gems. Das said spending $30 on a kit with 5,000 gems was worth it for a sparkly shelf.
While being bedridden forced Das to stay at home, she said there was a silver lining. As a busy student juggling her extracurriculars and her double majors in Information Management & Technology and Policy Studies, Das didn’t have much time for arts and crafts before she broke her leg.
As a self-described “creative” person, Das often looks for more time to practice her hobbies, particularly scrapbooking. Staying home has brought Das back to her interests, she said.
SU sophomore Macey Hyatt began bedazzling while quarantining with COVID-19 at the beginning of her freshman year. Like Das, Hyatt was stuck in her room and needed something to do. Inspired by a hometown friend, Hyatt spent her time bedazzling.
In an interview with Time magazine, art therapist Allie Joy said activities like bedazzling can be beneficial for stress relief, the nervous system and emotional regulation. The repetitive nature of placing and sticking gems on an object can bring people to a state of meditation, while also taking time away from phones and screens, Joy said. When Hyatt started her bedazzling career, she reaped the benefits Joy mentioned.
“(Bedazzling) was something that I did as kind of a meditation to focus on something else. It’s really fun,” Hyatt said. “I bedazzled phone chargers, cases, my water bottle and I also collect a lot of Sonny Angels, and I have bedazzled them.”
Syracuse University sophomore Macey Hyatt wears her bedazzled headphones and holds her gem-studded Stanley tumbler. Hyatt is currently bedazzling hair clips for members of her sorority family. Madison Cox | Staff Photographer
Hyatt’s bedazzling hobby goes beyond everyday items. Like Oh, Hyatt often bedazzles gifts for loved ones — from sparkly birthday cards to adding her cousin’s initials to a purse.
Growing up singing and doing musical theater, Hyatt has always been surrounded by the arts. However, every time Hyatt picks up a new pastime, she said her interest only lasts a week. Bedazzling is an exception.
“This is the only hobby that I think has stuck for as long as it has,” Hyatt said. “I usually will get into the groove of something for a week or so, but obviously this has stuck for over a year.”
Oh’s creative outlet is also through arts and crafts. After a year of adding bling, Oh has bedazzled “everything in sight” and has run out of objects to cover.
When it comes to making gifts for family and friends, instead of simply purchasing something meaningful, Oh opts to bedazzle her gifts even if it takes her days to make. Whether it’s Mother’s Day or Christmas, Oh’s homemade gifts can be easy to spot — usually a personalized handwritten card, or, like her boyfriend’s birthday gift, something covered in gems.
“I just really like showing that I put a lot of effort in a present,” Oh said.
Currently, Hyatt is working on bedazzling claw hair clips for her sorority family — five clips each in a different color and design to reflect the five members in her family. For Hyatt, bedazzling isn’t just for decorating everyday items and gifts; the hobby also shows a slice of her personality.
In a classroom full of chargers and water bottles, Hyatt can always spot which belonging is hers because it’s the “ridiculously sparkly one.” Even before picking up bedazzling in college, Hyatt would express her bubbly personality with her sparkly shoe rotation. Before coming to SU, Hyatt would work in her local elementary school and wear her sparkly shoes, where her pre-K to fifth grade students would go “absolutely crazy for.”
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When Hyatt came to SU, she continued to wear the kicks and even became known as “the girl with the sparkly shoes.”
It’s easy to spot Hyatt around SU’s campus. Just look out for someone with a bedazzled water bottle, charger and once in a while, her sparkly shoes.
“I think being here in Syracuse, sometimes the days can feel gloomy,” Hyatt said. “So why wouldn’t I want to have a little sparkle in my everyday life?”
