I have become rather addicted to my Pair Eyewear glasses, and that includes making my own DIY Pair Eyewear toppers. When I started doing homemade glasses toppers, I was surprised at how little there is out there in terms of instruction on how to make homemade toppers. It seriously is a craft lovers dream because you can get very creative with it.
This post is an overview of different ways that you can make your own Pair glasses custom eyeglass toppers. It is not a complete tutorial on each method, but should be enough to get many people started. I plan to add some complete tutorials too and I will link to them here when I do so.
Looking for supply recommendations? I link some throughout, but also scroll to the bottom, where I link my favorites all in one place.
What is Pair Eyewear?
Quickly for those not familiar with them, Pair Eyewear (referral link) features glasses with interchangeable magnetic frames for both adults and children. They offer multiple styles of frames and numerous toppers, including limited editions, that you can purchase. The toppers attach with magnets.
Below are some of my toppers. All but the gold ones of these are from Pair Brand.
Pair can add your prescription to their glasses, and they offer all of the traditional add on features such as transition lenses, blue light blocking, thin lenses, and progressives. I have progressive thin lenses with blue light blocking in the Larkin style, and my prescription was spot on. In fact, I like the quality better than the more expensive glasses that I got at Lenscrafters.
I will write a full Pair Eyewear review down the road. For now, just know that I love them.
I love their both Pair toppers AND I love making my own. Pair is great for crafters and DIY types because making your own DIY toppers is fun and fairly easy with the right tools.
Want to Find Buy/Sell/Trade groups? Here is a link to a search for them on Facebook. There are quite a few! People also post their own creations and tips for crafting in some of these groups, especially in Custom Handcrafted Toppers.
Five Ways to Make DIY Pair Eyewear Toppers
Here is an overview of five popular ways to make custom glasses toppers. I give the basics here and will start working on more in depth tutorials. Warning! If I have any Pair Eyewear complaints it would be that making these things is addictive! I just can’t stop, lol!
It also can get pricey if you are like me and love to collect crafting supplies. But then, my addiction to buying toppers directly from Pair is a bit expensive too. I just love them so much!
These are all some toppers that I made myself. In fact these were some of the very first ones that I made.
In this article, I link to various materials. In the case of Amazon, these are referral links and I get a small commission if you purchase through the link.
I am putting a section with links to favorite supplies at the bottom of this post.
About Sealing Toppers
First, let’s talk topper sealers because those will be the same for many methods.
You can seal your DIY topper with a clear protective spray, clear nail polish, UV nail gel finish, UV resin, or a dimensional adhesive such as Diamond Glaze or Modge Podge Dimensional magic. UV resin is the most durable, but requires the most work and equipment. Dimensional adhesives work well as a substitute.
UV resin and Dimensional adhesives give a nice coated and glossy look to the toppers. If you are a beginner without a UV light, try a dimensional adhesive. If you have a UV light, I like using UV resin the best. Work in a well ventilated area and wear gloves when working with resin!
I use the little bottle pictured above for greater control when applying resin.
I own a UV light that is a box because I already owned it for nail art, but many makers like lights that can be set over the toppers. It is worth the extra money for a bit higher power light. Some UV resin wont cure well with a low power one.
Important: Resin can sometime discolor printed paper, especially if you printed your own on an ink jet printer and/or printed onto very porous paper. To avoid that, apply a layer of Modge Podge or spray sealant to your paper before you add the resin. I have been fine using UV resin directly on photo prints, most purchased cardstock prints, and washi tape without problems. When in doubt, do a test on a piece of scrap and see if the resin affects your paper.
(1) Nail Polish or Paint on Blanks
The easiest way to make DIY toppers is to use nail polish or paint on a blank. You can buy acrylic or 3D-printed blanks from various sellers on Etsy or in various Facebook Pair Eyewear buy/sell/trade groups. I also link to a few at the end of this post.
Below are two different 3d-printed blanks and an acrylic blank.
I’m currently primarily using acrylic blanks from Wishing Garden on Etsy. I often buy mine with the magnets already added. Otherwise you can buy magnets to add to them on Amazon. I use these.
Tip for getting the magnets right: Put a set of Pair brand toppers underneath your creation and add a dot of glue or resin to your DIY topper. Drop the magnets onto the glue. They will end up in the correct location with the correct side out!
Using blanks in your topper style, you can simply paint the blank and finish it with a top coat of sealant and easily have new toppers!
I love nail polish for this. A great way to get beautiful glitter toppers is to buy a chunky glitter polish or polish topper and apply it to blanks. I like to use a solid base color, let it dry, and then add a glitter topper. If you have a UV light and gel polish, all the better! It will be quicker to make, more durable, and allow you to also use UV resin.
With that said, I also use regular nail polish all the time, such as for the toppers shown below. These still have UV resin floated on top though.
(2) Cardstock or Photo Paper Toppers
Making printable paper glasses is probably the next easiest way to make your own frame toppers. You can make these with out without blanks!
While you can use a template and cut by hand, that is quite time consuming and tedious. If you have a cutting machine, that makes it much easier. You can also sometimes buy precut cardstock from various crafters. I bought some once from here, which also sells 3D Blanks.
Here is a great Etsy shop for all sorts of trusted cut files, including some fun shapes, like cat eyes and such. I have purchased from this shop and been very happy with the files: As You Wish Craft Shop on Etsy.
Here is a Dropbox link for SVG file templates of all of the Pair brand toppers. NOTE! I did not make these files. They came from shared files from this tutorial from another blogger. (A good tutorial on making magnetic sheet toppers) It is important to check the read me files for the dimensions and set that before cutting and also be prepared to have to tinker with the files. For example, I had to change the dimensions for Larkins to 5.24 x 1.56 inches instead of using what is in readme file.
These are toppers made from cut preprinted cut cardstock.
I have a Cricuit Joy, which is an affordable little cutter that does the job quite well. If you own a higher level Cricut or Sillohuette, you can also make your own acrylic blanks. The joy can’t quite handle that.
To make paper toppers, find a print that you like on cardstock, paper, or photopaper, and use a template file to cut it. Then you glue it to a blank and finish, or simply finish both sides with resin or dimensional adhesive, adding magnets,. Then you can skip the blank.
Important: If you are gluing paper to acrylic or 3D blanks, I find that regular glue is not very durable. I use Gorilla Super Glue Gel formulated for use on plastic.
You can also use magnetic sheets or adhesive vinyl instead of cardstock or photo paper. I find that adhesive vinyl stays stuck to a blank nicely, but it is a bit difficult to work with at times. I haven’t done much with magnetic toppers, but I have bought some from other crafters and they tend to come out nice. Here is a magnetic sheet topper tutorial from A Big Red Bow blog.
I love to order 4×6 prints of digital papers on photo paper at Walgreens for same day pickup. That gives a nice glossy finish and is thick enough that I don’t need a blank if I finish it with resin on both sides. I will often do cardstock and photo paper without blanks. I also sometimes use a layer of cardstock as a blank for thin paper or nail polish.
Below is a set of photo paper toppers and the little test scrap that I used to see if the resin would discolor the paper (it didn’t).
(3) Washi Tape DIY Pair Toppers
One of my favorite ways to make toppers in to use washi tape. I already had quite a collection of washi masking tape when I got my Pair eyeglasses, and sometimes this is the best way to find tiny prints that look good on toppers. You can buy washi tape on places like Etsy and Amazon.
If you do not have a cutting machine, the more tedious way to use tape is to carefully cut and wrap it to a blank. The far easier way though is to lay the tape out on a piece of cardstock, press it firmly and then cut it. From there, attach to a blank and finish as usual.
Below is van Gogh Starry Night washi tape. I did not worry about matching this one up perfectly. With some patterns you will want to be more careful.
Here is the finished product.
With these Totoro toppers, I hand cut out some of elements from pieces of the tape and stuck them on before adding resin in order to get the design more to my liking.
People also use nail wraps and nail foil to make toppers in a similar fashion. I have not done that yet, so I’ll leave instruction on that to others!
(4) Making Pair Toppers with Silicone Molds
This type of DIY eyeglass topper requires the use of resin. You can buy molds on Etsy or from creators in the various Facebook Groups. There is also this video on how to make your own molds, but it can be a pretty expensive process. I chose to just buy a couple of molds. Each mold is good for around 30 toppers before it starts wearing out.
With a mold, you can mix glitter, resin ink, objects, dried flowers, etc. with resin and make some pretty spiffy looking toppers. You can also make your own resin blanks this way, but I prefer to buy acrylic or 3d-printed blanks.
Becasue I used to make nail polish and mineral makeup, I have a TON of mineral pigments, inks, and glitter. So, for me, trying molds was a no brainer. I just got my molds, so I’ll update when I make a set of toppers in them.
(5) Multi-Media Toppers
My absolute favorite toppers are those that I make with multi-media. Multi-Media is basically anything that mixes different materials.
For example, you can buy nail stickers or charms and add those to your painted blanks. I love to find an interesting digital paper, have it printed on photo paper, and then add a combination of stickers, charms, paint, rhinestones, glitter etc. to it.
This is where you can get very creative. It also can get expensive as the materials can add up. But if you area already a crafter, you probably have a lot of things that you could get creative with already.
I buy a lot of crafting supplies and nail art supplies on Amazon. You can find them on Etsy too but often Amazon has the same items for cheaper.
If you are patient, you can get things very cheap on Alliexpress, but expect to wait weeks (or sometimes months) for it to ship from China. Shein is another good source for cheap nail art items with a bit quicker shipping. But I find Amazon to be pretty darn affordable by comparison.
The below toppers were made with a combination of photo paper (a print of a pink brick wall), and luminous nail stickers that have a clear background. I finished them on both sides with UV resin and did not use a blank.
These Steampunk toppers were made with a photo print and then a combination of nail charms and real watch pieces were added. I also made a separate set of magnetic charms to stick to them if desired. I’ll do a tutorial on that too at some point.
Fitting and Caring for Your Pair Eyewear Toppers
Homemade toppers tend to have a few disadvantages over the ones that you buy from Pair. They are not often as durable, and they usually don’t fit quite as well. But here are some ways to avoid problems.
Fitting Toppers
This applies to both DIY glasses toppers and the ones that you buy from Pair. If your toppers do not fit well, use a hair dryer to lightly heat them, then gently bend them to shape. I like to put the DIY toppers on top of a set of regular ones and the set the bottom edge under a book while they cool. That usually fits them quite well.
3D topper blanks in particular seem to often need to be fitted. If you buy from a vendor, don’t freak out if they don’t fit without shaping first! I recently bought some that initially were not even close to sticking to my glasses, but a hit with the hair dryer fixed it right away.
When making toppers, I often attach them to a set of Pair toppers with glue dots at the bottom when curing the resin (use a set that you don’t mind accidentally getting resin on). Then I let them cool that way. That process also shapes them.
Using Glue Dots
Have you ever pulled a shirt over you hear or brushed hair out of your face and had your toppers go flying off? It happens to me all the time, even with the official Pair brand toppers.
Glue dots are wonderful for anyone that uses Pair Eyewear. These tiny adhesive dots do a great job of sticking the bottom part of a topper to your frames and I often use them both with DIY toppers and with official Pair Eyewear toppers.
Simply adhere a couple of dots to each side and go. The dots scrape off easily when you remove your glasses
Eyeglass Topper Craft Supplies
Here is a list of some of my favorite supplies or links to search pages for items. Links to Amazon and Etsy are affiliate links.
All sorts of trusted cut files
3D-Toppers (this place also sells precut cardstock)
Molds (I got mine from Joy Bentley who runs the linked to Facebook group)
Cricut Amazon Store (I have the joy)
UV Resin (this one is particularly popular among topper makers)
KB Shimmer Nail Polish (They have some great chunky glitter polishes, plus holographic polishes)
Rhinestone Kits (this can be a great way to get a selection of decorations and they often include tweezers or other useful tools)
Craft Carts (I got mine at Ikea, but the link is results for a bunch of similar ones on Amazon)
How to Make Pair Eyewear Toppers, Conclusion
Ok, so there is a basic overview of different popular ways to make toppers. For those wanting step-by-step tutorials, I am going to work on some and will link to them when I get that done.
Let me know in the comments your favorite ways to make toppers and your tips and tricks! I love learning from others and trying new techniques!
Gloria says
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I am new to pair eyewear and waiting for my Ella glasses to arrive. Iam a crafter and wanted to make my own toppers without spending a lot of money using the supplies I have on hand. I did order the Joy Cricut from Amazon which I love and a set of the blanks from etsy. Your info on making the toppers without using the blanks made my day! I can see lots of toppers in my future!
Carleen says
Glad this is helpful! For basic toppers without adding embellishments, I love to not use blanks. The toppers come out lighter. I have recently done quite a few with just photo paper. You can also use a cardstock cutout as a blank if you want it a bit heavier.
Anita Mallory says
Im just learning about toppers. Are they clear glasses you put over your own framed glasses? So basically you’re wearing 2 pair at once?
Carleen says
They are base pair of glasses that you put a magnetic topper on so you can change out the look. It is not two full pairs of glasses at once.
Amy says
Thank you for this information – it’s great! I’m new to Pair but I’ve been a crafter for a very long time and own a Cricut. I am going to have fun making toppers for myself.
Carleen says
You will love it! It is really addictive!
Marian Tillery says
Thank you for sharing your talent with beginners. I learned quite a bit.
The ONLY thing I would ask is that you do your instructing in a video. It would be awesome to watch as you teach us.
Again thank you.
Trish Dyer says
I CANNOT WAIT TO GET STARTED! I have been researching how in the world to do this for many days now and your site has been the holy grail. I would absolutely love to see a video of you creating a topper with the cricut joy. I am getting ready to purchase one probably within the next five minutes 🙂 As a matter of fact, any visual tutorial would be great! I appreciate you taking the time to do explain these methods; it’s going to be a great project for my daughter and me to do!
Karen says
Thanks for the great overview! I am new to both Paireywear and Cricut. I have just just retired and have been looking for directions. I would love a tutorial on step-by-step finishing.
Tracey Lacks says
I was wondering if anyone has stl file for 3d printer…I have one but I don’t think it is that great…Hope someone can help me..ty in advance Tracey
Janice says
Ok I want to make glitter ones. So what’s the best way? Do you just plop resin in and sprinkle in glitter? Or how the heck do you do it?
Carleen says
If using a mold, most people mix the glitter with the resin. It does not take much glitter! too much and the resin won’t set. I like to do glitter by using glitter nail polish and then resin over the top when it dries. You could also apply resin or a glue, add glitter on top, let it set, and then resin over that. There are multiple ways to do it.
Traci says
I am so excited to get started making my toppers! I just randomly bought a bunch of scrapbook paper and the files for Cricut and 3D printing. After reading through your tutorial, I’m on a search for digital prints that I can print out at Walgreens because I love the idea of not using a base. Also, the scrapbook paper designs are really too big for the toppers most of the time. I am not sure what everybody else’s libraries are like, but ours does have a cricket machine for use for free. I just bring my file and paper. They also have a glow forge, and a couple of different 3D printers. The 3D printers are 5 cents per gram cost of your finished product and that’s it. And for people like me who have no clue what we’re doing, they are very helpful.
Carleen says
My library has those things too. I keep meaning to go give making my own blanks a try! I have been getting some good patterns for photos from stock photo sites. Some sites, like deposit photos or pixabay, have a decent selection of free images too.
Anya Gimpel says
I can’t find a topper mold anywhere. Do you have a link?
Carleen says
Unfortunately, I don’t have a specific link. I got mine from a person in one of the facebook groups. I’m pretty sure it was the custom handcrafted toppers group, which is here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/928747317861869
Carleen says
Hi! If you join this group on Facebook, there are several people in the group that make and sell molds. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1412395739192607
JOYCE LYDICK says
Hi. IF YU KNEW ANYONE THAT ACTUALLY MAKES SILICONE TOPPER MOLDS. IM LOOKING FOR ELLA. i LOVE TO PLAY WITH CRAFTS. IM DISABLED AND WOULD BE A GOOD WAY TO KEEP MY MIND OCCUPIEDD.
i AM STRIKING OUT LEFT AND RIGHT.
THANKS,
JOYCE LYDICK
LYDICKJOYCE@GMAIL.COM
Carleen says
Hi! If you join this group on Facebook, there are several people in the group that make and sell molds. Post there asking and I’m sure you will find someone. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1412395739192607 If you are not on Facebook and/or don’t want to join, reply to this comment to let me know and I’ll see if I can get someone in there to email you.
Carrie says
Hi! Do you by chance have the cut out download for the finley?
Carleen says
Hi! I don’t and it looks like they were removed from the dropbox files I posted? However, this shop on Etsy does a good job with cut files and also has some fun alternate shapes too. I have purchased a bunch of Larkin files from there: https://tidd.ly/3Zu3mNo
Debbie says
With the dimensional sealer over the nail Polish, does the paint ever crack, or peel, on an acrylic blank?
Carleen says
I haven’t had issues other than I do find if you bend the topper too much for shaping or if you drop it on a hard surface the paint will crack.
Desiree says
What is the name of the blue & purple topper from Pair in your first photo? It’s gorgeous!
Carleen says
It is The Turquoise Geode.
Vanessa says
Thanks so much for this tutorial. I started making my own from your directions and it’s been such a fun craft. Now I can less guiltily have a ridiculous collection of toppers without the price.
Michele says
Some of your links, such as for the magnets, don’t go to the magnets. I do get to see a cute dog though. Any way you could fix that for us? My friend shared this with me AFTER telling me I couldn’t have another hobby! LOL!
Carleen says
I’ll take a look for a replacement link. Amazon does that when an item sells out. Here is a link for similar magnets. I use 5x1mm size. https://www.amazon.com/VSKIZ-Magnets-Neodymium-Durable-Whiteboard/dp/B0BWD7H7Z9/?&_encoding=UTF8&tag=snackrules-20&linkCode=ur2&linkId=5525e2a25289300c33e928df4224d13a&camp=1789&creative=9325
LeeAnn says
I’m trying to use the Dimensional Magic on the acrylic blanks but it tends to run off and pool around the edge of the frames or like a raindrop adhered under the frame. Any tips on applying the DM by Mod Podge
Carleen says
You could try putting it in the little bottles I linked to that I use for UV Resin. Those put out a very fine line of resin. I have also seen some people put their blanks on a rack of some sort so that drips fall off below.
Debra Bonter says
PLEASE make a tutorial using acrylic blanks and nail wraps and one using washi tape. I have searched for these on the internet and have found nothing. I am not sure when to use mod podge acrylic sealer and uv resin!! Do you need both or do you pick 1 and use it?
Carleen says
Some people use modge podge to seal and then resin after. Resin sometimes discolors paper, so the modge podge prevents that.
Carleen says
I like to use Modge Podge over anything I think the color will bleed. Then when it dries, I do the resin over that.
Kat says
Thank you for the Tut.
Joann Ricca says
I would like to learn how to make the metal toppers does anyone know how to do this?
Michelle says
Wow this is great information I’m excited to try the different ways you informed us about. I’m also disabled and want to keep busy and try some different things I’m also a big craft person so I just ordered all kinds of things to try. You did an amazing job of providing the information in a way that is easy to understand I’m so glad I found this site. I will be back to use your links to get the products you use. Thanks again for this great info
Carleen says
I’m glad it was helpful!
Leah says
When you use photo paper to make the toppers, do you need to seal with modge podge (like the spray can) before you put the resin on?
Carleen says
I print on glossy paper through a high quality service (I order glossy prints at Walgreens which is good paper and laser) and do not seal first. But if I were printing on an inkjet at home I would seal it first. Basically, if you think the print might run when wet, then sealing first is a good idea.
Christine Mills says
When adding resin onto a photo do you use a mold to retain the shape or just apply resin without a mold?
Carleen says
I use the little bottle shown part way down the post to carefully add the resin without using a mold. It actually is pretty easy to apply, just go slow and use the tip of the bottle to smooth out any air bubbles.