Monday 25 June 2012

How to turn £20 shoes into £100 shoes!!!

Hey guys, 
So several months ago I was walking around John Lewis and saw a beautiful pair of cork neutral wedges which have Swarovski crystals on the wedge and I thought wow they are stunning and so simple. But then I looked at the £100+ Price tag and thought hold on a minute I can recreate those I am sure! 

So after a few weeks of looking for a pair of inexpensive shoes that are the same style I was finally able to make my own pair. I stumbled across a lovely pair of beige/cream cork wedges in New look for only £19.99 which are available online here and I have just seen they are in Orange too!!! Hmmm more inspiration is running through me right now!!! 

I have always had a stock of Swarovski crystals in my craft lot as I use then for decorating things and my face all the time!!! Don't worry I don't always walk around with them stuck on me! I think I love those crystals in the same way that my sister loves goggly eyes! Oh I nearly forgot to mention the wonder eBay seller I buy ALL of my crystals from.... This shop is a treasure trove! 

So I dug out a selection of crystals that I wanted to use and roughly placed them on the wedge to see if I liked the look before I got glue happy. I chose to use this selection just for reference...

  • SS10 3mm Black diamond non hot fix
  • SS16 4mm Black diamond non hot fix
  • SS12 3.2mm Clear non hot fix
  • SS6 2mm Clear non hot fix
It was very simple all I did is use the GEM-TAC Permanent adhesive which I also bought the the eBay shop and it lasts FOREVER as you only need a small amount! Pour some of the glue out on the work surface and use a cocktail stock/orange stick/kebab stick basically whatever you have thats pointy and put very small blobs on glue where you want the crystals to be but honestly you need so little glue as you don't want it the squidge outside of the crystal otherwise you'll see the sheen of it when it dries. Then I use a damp cotton bud to pick up the crystals on by one and place then on the glue and then press them with your finger. Do as many or as few as you would like and you can do patterns or randomness like I have its up to you to get creative! 

So here they are....


I still think I need to get a few more size of crystals to add more to them but I do like the way the look at the moment I think it's subtle enough to be noticed without being OTT. I plan to wear these with my Laura Ashley Beach Hut dress for a Christening that I have at the end of next month as I am going to be Godmother (very exciting) and I think they will look perfect as well as being a bit more secure than a stiletto incase I have to hold baby!!! 

Tell me what you think of my shoes, would you do this? Have you done something similar? I would love to see if you have!!! 

xoxo

P.S. I added several more crystals to the shoes as I felt they needed more to look more complete so heres the Instagram piccy I took of them before wearing them the next day!!!