lego belt buckle tutorial
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Hi Kojo fans!
It’s so fun to be apart of the gifts for guys series again this year. Kirstin comes up with the best series ideas and this one is no exception.
This is me with my house full of guys.
As you can see this series is right up my alley.
I can’t wait to see all the ideas coming down the pipe this year, because I need’em!
Today, I’m going to share this Lego Belt idea I actually posted about earlier this year, but with a few more extras.
Ever since I made a Lego belt for my son, my husband would often comment on how he wished he had one too.
So, I figured it was time I made a grown-up version.
All you need is a belt…
You can follow my tutorial here on how I made a reversible canvas one. You need to get a buckle to use with it. I got a ratty old belt at a thrift store with a functional buckle.
I just pitched the old belt and replaced it with the one I made.
Or just buy a belt you like.
For my husband’s belt I bought a leather one from K-Mart. Before you sneeze at a K-Mart belt {don’t worry I almost didn’t check there either}, this is a very nice quality belt that has almost the exact specs as a belt I found at Kohl’s for exactly twice as much. It frames the Lego plate quite nicely too. So, if you’re looking for a good belt for this project I would definitely look there.
Now for the how to… don’t blink or you’ll miss it… because of course all I did was:
Glue the plate on.
Easy.
Of course, not just any glue will do, but I’ll get to that in a minute.
Seriously…searching for a black 4 by 6 plate took me much longer than the rest of the project. It doesn’t help that we have waaaay too many Legos now that my parents gave us my brother’s old collection.
Don’t have a big Lego collection? You can go to Lego.com and order individual bricks and plates.
You have to do some clicking and go through customer service links to get to the per brick site.
So…just go here:
Search under the “plates” category for Legos similar to what I used.
The bricks are cheap but shipping is not. So…if you want to special order some bricks, it’s best to order in bulk.
If you want a larger buckle like my original one, just piece it together like so…
Or use a larger Lego plate piece.
The craft foam is for helping the Lego plate lie flat on the buckle. The foam is completely optional.
Now for an important word about glueing…
You will get better results if you use a dual epoxy like this and sand {and wipe clean!} your metal surface before gluing.
Then be sure to let it cure for a full 24 hours. It will set after 20 minutes {ignore the 5 minute business} and then be completely set after a full day.
In the original tutorial I recommend E-6000 glue. That worked fine but after about 7 months of it being loved and beat upon by my son, the buckle finally fell off. I put it back on with this much stronger glue that’s only about $5 at Home Depot.
I also did not use foam for my husband’s belt, because he insisted that I make the buckle smaller…I was afraid the foam would have been more obvious with the smaller plate.
There is a small gap when you look from the sides, but it’s really not noticeable unless you get right up close for a peek. 🙂 ahem…
While I was making one for my husband, and fixing my older son’s belt, I decided to make one for my youngest as well. He was feeling left out.
It’s all boy, with tan on one side and camouflage on the other; and a smaller buckle because I figured it would fit in better proportion with his smaller 3 year old body.
Now…everybody’s happy. 🙂
My boys love to add creations of all sorts to the front. It’s my older son’s favorite part of getting ready for church. 🙂
I’ve had readers glue Lego men to the front as well. Lots of possibilities…
You can jazz up the men’s belt.
Add bricks here and there, or add another 4 by 6 plate to change the color of the buckle.
That’s the reason I put black on all of them, knowing that we could add a pop of color to them later if we wanted. Plus… to be honest, my husband probably would never go for anything other than black or gray.
One last little extra…As I was making the belt, I got to thinking of more ways to incorporate Legos into a guy gift, I came across these tie tacks at my local bead store for $1. Just glue on 2 by 2 plate Legos.
Kind of funky but fun. Great for a bigger boy too.
A tie bar would be fantastic too…but I couldn’t find one. Just use a 1 by 8 Lego and glue on.
This is an easy, simple project…but that’s kind of how guys roll anyway. :)It also adds a personal touch to your gifts without draining what little time you have during your holiday crafting/shopping.
So go ahead…take 5 minutes to make one for your little guy…
or your big guy.
Thanks for having me over Kirstin!
If you want to check out her project for last year’s Gifts for Guys, here it is!
And if you want to check out more of Delia’s goodness- she whips up YUMMY-ness, her family traditions are ones that I want to add to our calendar, she makes great boy projects, she throws seriously great parties. And she’s adorable. And such a good friend. Yep, love the girl.
Oh I have to make one of these for my husband!
What a great idea!! I'm going to have to try this for my boys! Thanks 🙂
This is a fun idea. I have 2 boys and millions of legos. Although, if I took one for a project, they would totally know. Every piece is important and belongs to a star wars ship. lol. Must buy some singles. Thanks for the handy idea.
Just a quick note to let you know that a link to this post will be placed on CraftCrave today [11 Nov 02:00am GMT]. Thanks, Maria
LOVE this idea! I love legos and used to spend hours building with my brothers! So fun and creative. I'm also totally digging the tie pin! Great idea!
Natalie
http://www.projectdowhatyoulove.wordpress.com
Awe, how cute! My 12 year old would still like the lego belt (as they just opened Legoland here in FL). I like the lego tie pin too – really cute. BTW – this is Lea from Mother Baby Child. I am a new follower. Nice to meet you 🙂
Awe, how cute! My 12 year old would still like the lego belt (as they just opened Legoland here in FL). I like the lego tie pin too – really cute. BTW – this is Lea from Mother Baby Child. I am a new follower. Nice to meet you 🙂
So fun … my little guy would love that!
Love it! I was wondering what I could make for my nephew for Christmas =) This is perfect! Thank you for sharing!
Seriously genius! Way to use your right side of the brain…bravo!
Seriously genius! Way to use the right side of your brain…bravo!
Seriously genius! Way to use the left side of your brain…bravo!
The requests for my son have begun – I'll be busy…
Awesome. Love Legos….sort of wish I could still play with them…
Why not let your inner child run free?
Now that’s inspirational! Imagine what you can make as wearables! Thanks for the great ideas <3