DIY: Shoes

This year's Back-to-School Shoes

Hi, guys! This is just an update...I recently created more DIY shoes, this time Platform Sandals (eep!), that you can read more about here.

I never really thought I had a thing for shoes. But the enormity of 'em in my closet (and under the bed, in the once-linen closet,  and stacked in the bathtub) begs to differ. So apparently I have a weak spot. Some people adopt little lost abandoned animals and give them a home...I like to think that I do the same. Just for shoes.

Now the prob with being a shoe hoarder is that it could easily become a costly venture. I found this out at the beginning of the school year when I saw the cutest pencil shoes at Modcloth...for about one hundred bucks. Being the thrift shopper that I am, I constantly experience sticker shock when shopping retail. After studying the pencil shoes, I realized that I just might be able to recreate them myself.

The kids love these shoes. Most frequently asked question: "How do you sharpen those?"

So off to the thrift store I went in search of a pair of shoes to use as my canvas. With a black pair of slip-ons, I drew out my design in white colored pencil. It was simple enough: a curved line for the lead, a scalloped line for the wooden part, a couple of straight lines for the end of the pencil. I used several coats of acrylic paint and covered the shoes in Modge Podge. 

Now, I'm not so sure acrylic paint is the best bet. I've worn these shoes a half dozen times (turns out pencil shoes don't  go with everything) and they have cracked at the crease of the shoe. I recently read that Martha Stuart makes an all-purpose paint (of course she does) that might have worked better. Any ideas? 

There's a reason I don't have many pairs of pointed shoes in my closet. Because putting my Big Foot-esque feet inside something dainty and small is like forcing my big bump-ited head into a hat: it's just not gonna happen.

After painting the pencil shoes, I was bitten by the shoe-painting bug. My next thrift store/shoe restore purchase was this pair of foot-torturing pointy black shoes. I went about painting them the same way I did the pencils: draw out design in white pencil, add coats of paint, seal in Modge Podge. Bind feet and wear.

My Crayola-inspired outfit: crayon barrette, made by me; thrifted shirt; skirt picked up off of etsy. Most frequently asked question: "Can you color with those?"

A couple of months ago, DIY glitter shoes seemed to be all over the blogs I frequent. And I just knew I had to have a pair for the countless Christmas parties I would attend (which was, like, two). Now, I have this inability to read directions. I see them, I understand their importance, my eyes glance over them and I think "oh, yeah. I got this." Well, before you follow suit, read these directions, friends: 

1. Spray paint any areas of your shoes (er, outside) that will be unglittered. I used high gloss spray paint over these once-gray thrift store shoes.
2. Use glitter dust (which I did not do) and Modge Podge
3. Mix a large amount of glitter with a small amount of 'Podge. Attack shoes with said Glitter Podge.
4. Allow to dry (duh) and wear.  

Notice the key words: glitter dust. Turns out regular ole glitter is just too big. After several wears, I've had to replace chunks of glitter that have fallen off. Being smaller, glitter dust seems to have a little more give.

My dear P.E. teacher friend had me glitterize her basketball shoes from high school!

I was attached several times while wearing these shoes...by my cat. The feather boas drove her nuts. And got her permanently placed on the Naughty List.

Okay, these are seriously cheesy. But I teach the littles, so I can get away with it. Using these thrifted never-worn red t-strap shoes, acrylic paint, Modge Podge, felt and boa, I Santa-ized these shoes. Because the design is on the toe of the shoe, these shoes have not had the design-cracking problem like the pencil and crayon shoes.

My favorite thing about these shoes? Being able to say, "Are you making good choices? Because," with a glance down at my feet,"Santa is watching." Worked better than Elf on a Shelf.

My Valentine's Day Shoes...you can read the complete, unabridged how-to here:http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2012/02/glitter-leopard-true-love-story.html

My latest, and easiest, DIY involved thrifted shoes, broken clip-on earrings and a hot glue gun. I betcha can guess how I did it.

Not sure what's up next on my shoe DIY list...I contemplated leprechaun shoes for St. Patty's Day...but now I'm leaning more toward bunny shoes for spring. Oh, the thoughts that fill my head. It's like a look inside Einstein's brain, isn't it?

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DIY: Back to Blogging!

 The above photo was taken this past July when I finished quilting a chevron pattern that I used to cover an ottoman.

Hi, there. I know, it's been a while. A year or three. But I've got the urge to start blogging again. I've really missed it, mostly because I like the idea of documenting what I'm doing. I don't keep a diary or a sketchbook so this is the closest thing I've got to remembering what I've been up to. I've got a terrible memory (which I seriously attribute to the consumption of too many Diet Cokes. It's the devil's nectar, people) and I'm pretty lazy so I'm hoping this will hold me accountable. And keep me off the streets.

I used this very easy chevron pattern found here...http://www.quilterscache.com/C/ChevronBlock.html.  I picked up the 4" foam from JoAnn's and a wooden board and legs purchased at Lowe's as the base.

 Over the summer, I decided to recover my homemade ottoman with a chevron pattern. I found this insanely easy pattern online (please don't let the cheesy outdated website fool you) and whipped this bad boy up. Maybe it's just me, but I'm still happy when I see it. Especially now that we've moved a couch into the room and it makes for a pretty awesome footstool. So I got it in my head that I could quilt. Me. Quilt. Haha, I'm so delusional.

Image from that dangerous temptress of a store that goes by the name http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/index.jsp. Has anyone hit their sales lately? I went on Black Friday, and as a buddy of mine said "I absolutely lost all sense of reason." 50% off sale items? Then, yes, I do need a feather and shell encrusted clutch in the shape of a hedgehog.

 Being the quilting expert that I am, I decided that I could quilt the incredible Navajo-meets-Chevron pattern as seen on the above anthro rug. Without a pattern. Or any idea how to make it happen. And with 1" squares. Oh, and I forgot to mention that I was planning on covering another ottoman. One that just happens to be 80" in length. Yeah. So I got this far...

And I just had to stop. Because I was becoming homocidal. I was working with linen because it's so stinking pretty but not a great quilting fabric. The weave in linen is big and tends to unravel easily. And I'm the worst at math so, as you can see, my edges just weren't matching up. I did more seam ripping and cursing than I did sewing. Finally a voice of reason (ahem, hubs) told me that maybe I should reconsider.

And so I have. What I love so much about the chevron pattern is the optical illusion effect. A tumbling blocks pattern has an even stronger effect so I've decided to give it a shot. I actually am going to sketch this one out as the pattern is difficult for my little brain. And I'm going to dedicate some of my blog posts to the making of it to hopefully hold myself accountable. Wish me luck!

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