Blingity-bling bling!!

I have 4 boys. 4. Boys. No cute clothes will ever adorn my children, since they don't make "cute" boy stuff. They make functional clothes, that have either skulls or dinosaurs on them. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I love functional clothes! I prefer them to ones that are just for show. Stains in clothes just means to me that those clothes were lived in. Like the random commercial that just happened to just play says, "The bigger the mess, the bigger the adventure." I agree. Plus I, myself am not a very "girly" girl. I wear clothes that fall into my 3 B's wardrobe rule-black, blue and baggy. I also grew up saying that all I ever wanted was boys. A fact that my fabulous friend Alicia reminds me of every time I call her with crazy stories of how my offspring are attempting to send me to the loony bin. I can't do girl hair, and I am terrified to think what my girls would look like if Alan tried to do their hair-and this is reason enough for me to never really have wanted any. That is until I saw those little tiny ruby slipper girl shoes in the store.....

 I wanted them SO badly! I pretty much wanted a girl-just so that I could buy those! If they made them for adults, I might even be convinced to buy a shoe that is not a sandal, Converse, or snow boot for myself. Like I said, I am all about functionality and comfort!

Then I met a sultry little temptress by the name of Pinterest. She has the ability to convince you that ANYTHING is possible. You can be Martha Stewart if you are so inclined, all you need to do is purchase some glitter and craft glue, and Presto!! I'm positive that she is a "she" because she is so organized, and knows everything. Plus-you can spend hours with her, and even if you didn't accomplish anything-it feels like time well spent.

I was gawking at the little ruby slippers at Walmart the other day, grieving over the fact that I will never have an opportunity to have those in MY house, when I had a thought. It was kind of crazy, but I wondered if it was possible.....I would have to talk to Pinterest and see.....

Side story-I have always wanted to own red Converse. Like real red. When I couldn't find any my size, my mom was kind enough to buy me the maroon ones. Close, but I still wanted red. See where I am going? Oh yeah. This is what Pinterest had for me.....

http://cottonandcurls.blogspot.com/2011/03/how-to-make-sparklyglitter-shoes.html

GENIUS!!

I am convinced within myself that if Dorothy Gale had been given the choice between the Ruby Slippers or a sassy, sparkly pair of comfy Converse shoes to make her long journey along the yellow brick road, she would have picked the Converse. Hands down. Have you ever walked any kind of distance in heels? Please! I can't even wear flats for 3 hours of church.

So this is what I did......

I took a pair of my old Converse (and by "old" I mean "already owned or not bought for this project), and got all my supplies ready. Well, most of them. I did have to get up a few times and search for stuff when I realized that I needed it.

Modge Podge (MP)
few various sizes of paint brushes (just depends how big or small you are comfortable with. 1/2 in to 1 in woked best for me. Then I used a smaller one to get it around the lace holes.)
glitter of my choice
masking tape
Acrylic sealer spray
X-acto knife
Tacky Glue

Ok, ok-I should tell you that I read a few "glitter your shoes" websites, and I kind of took what I wanted from them all to get the general idea of how to do it, then I completely "Tammy-ized" it. Simply put, I pretty much ignored most of what they did, and did it my own way, with what I had. Pretty typical of me.

Step 1) Taped off the part of the shoe that I didn't want blinged out.

Step 2) I mixed some Modge Podge & glitter, and started working in sections to paint the glue on the fabric part of the shoe. I make my own MP by the way (hence the Macadamia Nut bottle). It saves you serious money!!

Step 3) I got completely impatient (again typical me) and where I had painted the MP-I dumped glitter all over it and gently pushed it down into the glue. When I finished both shoes, I put them in front of the fan to help along the drying time. (Drying between coats can take a while, so if you do this-you can follow my example and take in a movie or two. Forget doing anything productive-you are already making fabulous shoes, why push it? Also, a refreshing drink is an absolute must!!)

Step 4) I added a few layers of MP to completely seal the glitter and made sure there were no unsparkly holes. I found it very hard to let the shoes dry between each coat, but thankfully Captain America kept me company. =) The fan did a great job of cutting this time down also. Then I let them dry over night.

Step 5) When I got up, I took the tape off the dry shoes, and used my X-acto knife to define the edges, and scrape away stray glitter.

Step 6) I got a Sharpie and colored in all the lace holes, and colored in the toe of the shoe all black because that is what I had decided I wanted.

Step 7) I completely sprayed them down with the acrylic sealer I have, which seals the MP, and makes them glossy and waterproof. It says to do this in a well ventilated area. I didn't do this. It is too cold outside for the sealer to cure, so I just put them on our freezer to dry. We almost died. J/k. It smelled really bad, and eventually I had to turn on the fan to blow the smell away form us, and open a window. This is one area where following the directions pays.

Step 8) Not unlike most women, I have a way of changing my mind. Constantly. I decided that I didn't like the black tip, so I taped off the toe area, took Tacky Glue and smeared it all over the part I wanted red. Then I dumped glitter all over the toe area and pushed it into the glue.

Step 9) When it was dried, I MP'd it to seal the glitter. Then I sprayed the sealer on again!

Step 10) I laced up these bad boys, and enjoyed my new fancy shoes!!

What do you think??