DIY : Recycled Floral Crochet Flats

I love the richness that lace and crochet can bring to a wardrobe. While crochet flats have been on my list for as long time, finding ones that I loved and that fit into my itsy bitsy budget was quite another story! I stumbled upon these ones from Accessorize a while ago, but while I was doing the basket dance with them, they went out of stock and alas, I was without my beloved flats again!

Is it me or can DIY go a long way into my wish list? (Maybe I need a new wish list). Check out the transformation of these simple black flats into cool (goth-y?) crochet flats. Not to mention the tank top I never wore.

Here's what you'll need:

• A pair of plain flats
• Crochet fabric or an unloved item of clothing
• Fabric Mod Podge or fabric glue (here)
• Instant super glue (or E6000 if you have access to it)

Step 1: Cut the fabric off the tank

Step 2: Fabrc sleeves seemed to fit quite well over the top of the flats, so cut those off separately.

Step 3: Apply a layer of fabric glue on the top portion of the flats and glue the sleeve pieces flat onto them. Don't worry about a perfect fit at this point of time. 

Step 4: Try out different portions of the fabric to see what fit best on the sides of the shoes and glue them on accordingly. Finish up the back of the shoes

Step 5: Glue on any stray pieces onto gaps left on the shoes. Leave to dry for a few hours.

Step 6: With small scissors, trim off any excess fabric and protruding threads. Apply a line of instant glue to the fabric edges.

And there you have your pretty crochet flats - so versatile! 

DIY: The Great Gatsby Inspired Pearly Heels

My close ones love to point out the much evident fact that I have a serious love for The Shiny and The Unique (Hmmm.. all that glitter is gold?). I just respond that it is one of the good things about being Indian - we are a very bling-friendly community. One can rock some serious flash at the slightest chance without too many raised eyebrows. There are just so many occasions to bring out your sparkle love - own wedding, close family weddings, distant family weddings, related family weddings, gazillion festivals, get-togethers, the list is just too long!

As you know, I've been going bonkers over pearls (among-st other things) lately - pretty much pearl-encrusted anything. So when I saw a pair of heels that I hadn't used for so long probably on their way to donation or disposal, it was a match made in heaven. The end result - cool pearl-dipped shoes (all my favorite words) with a vintage Gatsby feel to them.

Here's what you'll need:

• A pair of shoes
• Self-adhesive scrap-booking pearl sticker rows of various sizes. (Used here- 6mm, 4 mm, 3mm, 2mm)
• Instant drying super glue
• Gold spray paint

Step 1: Spray paint the shoes antique gold to get the vintage look. I painted the soles as well, for consistency.

Step 2: Start by attaching the adhesive strips from the bottom-sides of the shoe, adding a drop of super-glue intermittently to ensure a longer life. I also added in the rhinestone stickers from time-to-time for a teeny bit of shine.

Step 3: Continue adding rows of random-sized stickers until about half the sides are done.

Step 4: Add in pearls to the front of the shoe, following its shape.

Step 5: Cover up the remaining area as much as possible, ending at the back of the shoe and the heel. I've adding a dripping-pearl effect at the heel (Nope, no such thing as too much pearl)

Step 6: And they're done! You can walk the extra mile and do a pearly clutch too (seen in background). 

-Cheers! 

DIY: Ankle Strap Shoes

There's something about ankle strap shoes that is so elegant and classy. A pair of good ankle strap shoes are pretty much enough to go from casual to party usually!

Unfortunately, the ones in the Indian market that fall in *my* budget usually appear like this:

Monster shoes

Okay, maybe not entirely like that :)

Nevertheless, the drool-worthy are priced like this:

Jimmy Choo, $2095

I also usually go for shoes that have a low to medium heel (save extra special occasions!), which are hard to come by as it is.

Here's what you do to get them for *almost* free!

What you need:

• A pair of unwanted shoes, preferably pumps
• Craft knife
• A pair of scissors
• Glue (I used Fevicol)
• Gold glitter dots (optional)
• Unwanted/lone earrings (optional)
• An old eyeliner/lipliner
• Jewelry making jump rings, as required.
• 2 Lobster clasps

I used a pair of small-heeled shoes that made up a previous not-too-successful DIY project:

As you can see, the shoe is a little misshapen at the edges and basically looked strange on :)

Step 1: Take your show and using the craft knife, start by cutting the sides of the shoe off. Make sure you cut the two sides as single length-wise pieces.

Step 2: Now take the eye liner and mark where you want the front strap to come on the shoe using two parallel straight lines 1 inch apart. Also mark the length and width of the back support of the shoe. This will hold up the ankle strap. Cut the leather of the shoe according to the marked lines. 

At this point, your shoe will probably look like this:

Don't worry about the unfinished edges - we'll get to them later!

Cut both the shoes identical to each other.

Step 3: Take the side cut-outs and measure around the diameter of your ankle. Cut out 2 strips of the measured length, also about an inch wide.

Step 4: Due to the low back of my shoe, the ankle strap was sitting a lot lower on my leg than I would have liked. This is where the old earrings come into picture. You can use chains, Swarovski stones or anything that catches your fancy to improvise on the ankle strap height!

Put in a jump ring through the back support of the shoes and attach the earring to the jump ring. 

Step 5: Attach the other side of the earring to one side of the ankle strap with a jump ring. On the other side of the ankle strap, attach the lobster clasp with a jump ring.

Check to see if the ankle strap closes perfectly over your ankles :)

Step 6: On the unfinished edges, run a line of glue or Fevicol and drop pinch-fulls of gold glitter all along the way!

Leave to dry overnight.

The final output looks like this:

Enjoy your new ankle strap shoes :)