It’s finally sandal season! Fun fact about me: I used to be the crazy girl in high school who would wear flip flops in the dead of winter. (Ask my mother it’s true- she worked at my school!) Well over the years I’ve smartened up and now only wear sandals in the appropriate seasons. Contrary to my flip flop hording past, until recently, I didn’t own many open-toed shoes with the exception of my shower flip flops for the gym, and a pair of flip flops with the bottoms peeling off and paint stains on the thong. My taste for sandals has definitely matured over the years as I start to collect quality statement sandals rather than foam pairs in every color that Old Navy offers. (Don’t lie- you’ve had them too!) In this journey of maturing my taste, of course I have to add my own flair to my collection. I found a pair of classic leather gladiator sandals at Gap last week, and knew right away that these sandals would make the perfect sandals for a DIY project.
I’ve been saving this bag of turquoise beads from a broken necklace for years now waiting for the perfect project to use them on and these sandals were it. The first thing I did was hot glue the beads to the sandal to hold it in place. I knew that hot glue wasn’t going to be enough to hold them permanently, but it was good for securing the bead before sewing it on.
After the hot glue hardened, I threaded a needle (with clear thread) through the bead, and pulled the thread under the sandal while still holding the other end of the thread in the opposite hand.
I tied the thread in a knot at the end of the thread to prevent it from slipping out through the bead. Next, I looped the thread under the bead and sandal roughly five times before tying it again in a knot to hold it in place. I repeated that process for every single bead.
I’m so pleased with the end result!
This is the perfect DIY project to do with the kids on a summer morning. You can even bring them to Old Navy first to pick out their favorite color flip flop, and use all sorts of craft items to glue and/or sew on to them. The sky is the limit!
What did you wear too much of in high school?
