I am a huge fan of the wicker/rattan trend going on right now. It's just so retro! My local Target has a whole area set up with their '70s inspired wicker on display and I feel like I've stepped into the department store where my Grandmom bought all her furniture 40 years ago. I love it!!
I thought "surely someone must have wicker sunglasses" since it's so popular right now, but when I couldn't find a single pair I decided to make them myself! These are pretty easy but a little time consuming, so put on your headphones and breeze through a few podcast episodes while you fashion yourself a pair of pretty wicker-accented sunglasses!
Materials you'll need:
Round plastic sunglasses (I used these)
Glue*
Natural colored twine (I used this one from IKEA)
I used Gorilla Glue hot glue sticks, which are supposed to be resistant to seasonal temperatures (so I'm hoping that includes hot summer sunshine!)
Start by popping out the lenses from your glasses, and then put them aside. I worked with about 12" of twine at a time, gluing one end to the back of the frames and just wrapping it around. Every so often I'd put a little bit of glue on the back again for added stability. Once you get to the end, cut the twine so that your end piece is in the back of the glasses and glue it down. I let the end piece totally dry down before adding a little more glue for my new piece of twine.
Work all the way around the lenses, except for the part where the arms meet the frames. I deliberately picked tortoiseshell frames because I thought that would look nice against the twine, but this would also look really nice with black frames too. Or hot pink! (I want everything to be pink, lol!)
When I reached the bridge of the frames I decided to add some more pattern to make this more like a real piece of wicker and not just "wrapped" frames. I made an X between the edge of the bridge and the frame, and then I started wrapping over that across the bridge. I think it would also look cool to just leave this part with the tortoiseshell showing through to match the edges, as well. (That would also be a lot easier, ha!)
Finally, the lenses! Obviously they won't fit back into the ridge where they used to be since that is now covered with the twine. So just put a little glue on the back of the frames where the bridge meets the frames, and where the arms meet the frames, and then pop the lenses back in! Make sure you get the lenses in nice and snug so you can still fold the glasses open and closed. And if you do use a glue gun, just be sure to go over the glasses once you're finished and pick off any little glue strands that are left on the glasses.
And that's it! It's a fun project to do at the end of February when spring and floppy hats and pretty dresses (and summery sunglasses!) are just around the corner :)
