Paper Shoes & Double Waistbands

Hello Readers. I have back to school excitement to spare. I used that energy to make some fun shoes for school. I wanted them to look like notebook paper. These were easy to make, you can do it too.

 

 These tan shoes were fine. They were boring imitation leather, but fine. Do we have to settle for boring? Can we make things a little more fun here? I think we can.

 I started by filling these shoes with things to hold them open while I paint them. I used a variety of random plastic items. These shoes has elastic on the sides. You might not need to do this with your shoes.

I used basic acrylic paint to paint the shoes white. I let this dry.

 When I made these lines I used a permanent marker to mark where I wanted the lines. I painted over the marks with acrylic paint to make the lines more visible.

 These shoes are a perfect match for the shirt I made last September.

 What should I wear with this shirt and shoes? Let's refashion some jeans to go with them.These jeans were low-waist/ed. My mom tummy doesn't do well with low rise jeans. The pudge just comes out over the top shows it. How could I raise the waistband?

 I could add a second waistband above the original. That would raise the waist up a little. I cut the waistband off another pair of jeans. I tried to pick a similar shade of denim so they would match well.

 I pinned them together. Pin. Pin. Pin.

 I sewed them together. Sew. Sew. Sew. Be careful of the rivets. They will break your needle.

I removed the belt loops from the lower waistband. They were distracting, there were too many loops. My belt didn't need double loops. 

 

 My new paper shoes, my old paper shirt and my higher waisted jeans were ready for school.

Thanks for reading along, best wishes to everyone trying to start the school year in these crazy times.

 

 

New Blue Shoes

Hello Readers. Have you ever wanted to change the color of your shoes? Maybe this issue hasn't come up in your life. This was an issue for me recently.

I know what you are thinking. Those shoes are really light blue. They are a unique shade of light blue for shoes. They are really comfortable and they have great arch support.

 But they are a weird shade of light blue. They are seriously the color of a 1992 suburban bathroom.

There is a solution. It is cheap, available on Amazon, and easy to use. It is called Angelus Leather paint. (They do not know me and did not pay me to say anything about them.) There are so many colors too. I had navy paint, so I used it.

There was a little brush that came in the bottle but I didn't like it. I used a larger brush. The paint was easy to apply to the shoes but it dries very fast. I worked in little sections and tried to spread the paint evenly. I jabbed the brush in and around little nooks and crannies to cover everything. I needed to add a second coat of paint to some spots.

    

The finished look of the shoes was nice and still looked like leather. I was afraid the paint would look too thick or look plastic-ish, but it looked great. It added a little shine, like I had polished my shoes with shoe polish.

I didn't paint the inside of the shoe. I didn't know if the paint would come off on my feet over time so I just painted the outside. The inside doesn't show anyway. I like the navy color much better than the original light blue color. It went with my jeans better anyway.

    

Thanks for reading along, now go make something fun for yourself.

*Year end update- It has been 2 months since I painted these and they still look great.

For The Love Of Crocs

Hello Readers. I am going to start off by telling you how much I love Crocs. You know, the ugly plastic garden shoes. I wear them around the house like slippers. I know they are not very stylish but I love them anyway. They make other more attractive shoes as well. Below you can see my favorite summer shoes. They are from Crocs too. They seem to go with everything, shorts, summer dresses, jeans....anything. I wear them all the time.

But then this happened. The metal fastener in the back of one shoe broke off. I believe it was due to my not unbuckling the strap to take them on and off. I just pull on it and stretch it over my foot. Whatever the cause, I was crushed. I need these shoes until it gets cooler in the fall. I can't wear closed shoes in the heat. I need my sandals. Crocs doesn't offer this style anymore, so I was on my own.

I knew I could find a way to fix this shoe. My first attempt was to use a bit of wire and two buttons. It held together but was not comfortable. I also thought these buttons for jeans might work, but they were not long enough. I had to drive to town and visit the closest fabric store. (I didn't mind at all. I love the fabric store.)

That's where I found this package of rivets for making jeans. It was the longest length they made and I hoped it would work for my shoe.

I came home and got to work. It was a two piece system. They fit together and then with a squeeze they grab and hold on to each other. Forever, I hoped.

The package came with a white plastic piece to hold the rivets together while you hit it with a hammer. That didn't work so I didn't include pictures of that whole effort. These pliers worked great. I just squeezed the two parts of the rivet together and checked to see if they were holding together on their own. 

It worked perfectly. It has been 2 weeks and they are still together. As you can see, the shoe I fixed doesn't match the other exactly. It has a larger silver piece on the back. That's OK. I don't think anyone will notice. No one should be looking at the back of my foot that closely.

I am super happy with this repair. And my feet are happy too. Crocs didn't pay me to say how much I love them. I just wanted to share this on-going project I have been working on.

Now go make, or repair, something fun for yourself.

The Loose Gold Shoes

Hello Readers. I know what you are thinking. More shoes? Yes, that's right. And I saved the best for last. Or, I saved the most flashy for last. You can decide.

I have had these shoes for a long time. When I got them I thought they had so much going on between the floral design and the gold trim everywhere. I love them but they don't fit. I must have gotten them at the end of the day and my feet were a bit swollen. Now when I put them on in the morning they slide off in the back. I never wear them because of this.

I had an idea for a fix. I was going to attach a strap across the top. With all the gold on these shoes, I choose this gold elastic. A little more shine and sparkle couldn't hurt these shoes.

I gently pulled the sides apart a little and used my hot glue gun to glue one end of the elastic down in the side, as far under the sole as I could get it. I glued it well to keep it from coming off when I am wearing it.

I glued heavily under the sole where I wouldn't feel it. I glued lighter up the sides. 

Here is the finished look. The elastic is soft and comfortable. You can't see it with pants at all. I wore them at home to see if it would hold. If you try this, do a test run before you go out in public. 

Thanks for reading. Now go make something fabulous for yourself.

The Painted Shoes

Hello Readers. Today's project is another pair of shoes. What?!? Another pair? That's right baby! And they aren't even my shoes. So let's get started and I will explain what is going on..

I have a daughter and she really liked these shoes. They were off white, lacy and went with everything. Walking around campus has taken a toll on them. They are just dirty. We were not sure if they were washable. So, they just sat in the closet for a while.

It occurred to me that I could probably just paint them. They were heavy cotton and I know I can paint clothing. Why not cotton shoes?

I found some matching acrylic craft paint at the store for 50 cents. I applied it with a sponge, two coats on the really bad spots. They looked better right away. I let them dry overnight.

They came out great. They were a little rigid when they dried but my daughter wore them for a few minutes and said they softened up after walking around the house. She was very happy with them.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fabulous for yourself.

The Red Shoes

Hello Readers. I hope you are having a good day. I haven't done any shoe makeovers on this blog, so it's time for me to pretend to be a cobbler. I say pretend because I don't know much about putting shoes together. I am going to adjust these shoes a little. Let's get started.

 I was given these beautiful red shoes for my last birthday. (Thanks J.U.) The color and fabric are wonderful. They are comfortable, but they slide off a little too easily. 

They are hand made. There isn't enough "hand made" in this world if you ask me.

I found this soft deerskin cord at the fabric/craft store. It didn't cost much and it matched the shoes.

I started with my trusty hot glue gun. You can see from the picture it is well loved and well used. I glued the cord up against the heel. I glued on the bottom and up along the sides of the shoe. I tied the cord around my ankle first to see what the position would be when I wore them.

The cord comes up and back around the back of my ankle, I wrapped it around and tied it in a knot. This cord is so soft. The shoes are more comfortable and easier to wear.  I love how the cord looks as well. I have worn them a couple time already and the hot glue is holding well.

Thanks for reading, now go make something fabulous for yourself.