Budget Glam - The Frog Edition

The other day, I found this incredible brooch in a shop window:

Oh my... How could I not fall in love with this super-ugly, white-painted, glitter-adorned, over-priced pug?! But obviously, I can't just go and spend so much money on a brooch that I might wear once or twice and then hide in my jewel box. So I decided that what these kids at the store can do, I can do, too. And I went shopping for a plastic pug.
But, I was bewildered to find out, the plastic miniature pugs at my local toystore were sold out! A little confused (who on earth buys plastic miniature pugs ?!) I settled for a plastic frog. In the same store I purchased gold and red paint, a little brush and a bag of pins.

And the rest was rather easy! First I painted the belly of the frog and let it dry. Then I applied two thin layers of colour on the upper side of my frog, making sure I don't smear over the structure of the frog's skin. It didn't even take very long to dry. I had to bend the pin a little bit so it would sit flat on the frog's little tummy. I used my gem glue to attach the pin. That glue survived just about everything so far, pulling and tossing the brooch, just not the washing mashine. But heck, I just glued the pin on the frog again and that was it.
I wear my little frog as often as I can and already bought more brooch-material.

The turtle will be sparkly and decadent when I'm done with it. For the crayfish I have to go and buy silver paint. Oh yes, I'm serious. The sealion is not going to become a brooch, it's too heavy and bulky. And that weird green shape at the bottom of the picture is a seahorse... I already got started on painting it gold, but will add some serious glam with gems :)

Now, regarding the budget...

Original Pug Brooch : 85 €

Plastic frog : 1,80 €
Gold paint (enough for 20 brooches!) : 2,59 €
Brush : 1,50 €
Pin: 0,25 €

Total : 6,14 €

And I get to use the paint and the brush again, of course. The sea animals I got even cheaper than the frog, they were 75 c each!
Getting a little creative about things like acessories is easy and saves money, and you have the priceless feeling of wearing something unique. Who knows, you might even start a mini-trend and be THE local fashionista all of a sudden :)