There are some shudder-worthy posts in the early pages of this here blog; but there are also a few hidden gems buried deep in the archives.
I have a big list of DIY inspirations I’m hoping to find time for when things slow down at the shop this summer. In the meantime, I thought I’d knock the dust off of my top five DIY posts from way back when, and give them a second shot at glory!
Here they are, in no particular order:
I dropped about 10 bucks on these LC Lauren Conrad woven leather ballet flats at Kohl’s last season. A ten-spot well spent; I wore them nearly every day for weeks after scooping them off the clearance rack. After a while, the cute little leather bows that made me fall in love-at-first-sight started showing wear and tear, long before the shoes themselves wore out. Which is weird, because they’re perched safely on top of my feet… but I seem to remember many of my Sam & Libby’s meeting the same untimely fate (hashtag 90′s kid problems).
My friend, Anne, is the queen of bringing haggard shoes back to life, so I thought to myself, “what would WobiSobi do?” She’d cover those scuffs with a concealing coat of glitter, that’s what she’d do.
I started by giving both bows a quick wipe-down with a wet paper towel to remove any dirt or dust that may interfere with adhesion. Once they were clean (and dry) I taped off the toes with blue painters tape.
Then, using the same glitter glue technique I used to make my Kate Spade-inspired glitter pouch, I made a thick glitter “paint” with Mod Podge and stippled it onto the bows.
I did a coat, then let it dry… did a coat, let it dry… until I reached the coverage I wanted. You could take a shortcut by sprinkling glitter on top of the glue mixture and sealing it with top coat of Mod Podge. In my mind, the coat-by-coat way is better because it’s easier to control the thickness and texture of the glitter, but to each her DIY-own.
They turned out pretty cute and festive — perfect for running around during the holiday season. I’m happy I bought a little more time with these beloved flats of mine, and if this post can help save just one other weary pair of favorite footwear from the trash bin, my work here is done. ;-)
Break out those old boring booties, ya’ll; it’s time for a super simple restyle.
Back in my early days of blogging, I remember a DIY project on another blog (sadly whose URL I cannot recall) in which the blogger transformed a pair of basic black platforms by covering the entire wedge base in brass thumbtacks. I ran out and bought a pack of thumbtacks immediately, only to have them sit in my supply stash for more than a year before finding the perfect pair of shoes to “stud”.
I bought these N.Y.L.A. ruffled leather booties on Hautelook last year for ridiculously cheap — like around $20, I think — and haven’t worn them once since they arrived. They’re really cute, but a little… boring basic. {I don’t know what it is with me and black shoes/handbags; we just don’t jive.} They’ve been hiding in a dark corner of my closet for over a year now.
Until this weekend, when I was searching for some crafty-majig or another and came across those thumbtacks of yore…
Using the center seam as a guide, I started pushing the tacks into the wedge in a [semi] neat row. {Sidenote: if you’re a raging perfectionist like yours truly, you can remove the tacks and reposition them as you go to get the straightest line.}
I repeated a row on each side, and once I was satisfied with the placement, I gave them a little tap-tap-tap with my tiny crafting hammer to get them as flat as possible.
I kinda love how they turned out! Now if I could just get some cool weather to take them for a spin…
Another fun project that Anne and I tackled during our crafting night, inspired by a recent fruit + veggie stamping post by A Beautiful Mess. I picked up a 3-pack of natural canvas tote bags a while ago to design some cute carry-alls. They were a bit smaller than I’d hoped, but they’re perfect as a lunch bag or for carrying my planner and a couple of notebooks back and forth from the shop.
For some reason, my artichoke didn’t look a thing like Elsie’s, but I really like the way the pattern turned out!
