Project journal time! Need some inspiration? Walk with me through my process of decorating classic heels.

I found this pair of Etienne Aigner classic pumps for 25 cents. They fit me and were in great condition, and for that price, what's to lose? 

But after I had them for a while, I decided they were just a tad too sleek and modern for my style.

However, since I had only paid a quarter for them, I was tempted by that nice smooth toe to do something with them to make them more my style.

 

Incidentally, I also like ruffles on shoes but don't have any that style. So I did a little shopping and bought a few trims to experiment with.

 

Here's what I used to decorate them:

glue gun

stretchy 1 in. sequin trim

tape

2 kinds of ribbon

needle and thread

also bandaids (not shown)

 

The ribbon I matched to the shoe color and bought a wide organza ribbon and a narrower satin ribbon  to add depth.

 

I had been intending to use just the ribbon, but when I saw this stretchy sequin trim at Walmart on sale, I snapped it up.

 

To experiment, I ruffled a little bit of the ribbon to see how it would look as just the ruffle. I liked it, but thought it didn't look like it had enough trim and would look just like…well…a ribbon on a shoe.

 

So I tried the sequin trim next, using pieces of tape to keep it in place while I decided how I liked it. Round?

 

Doing it in a V shape looked really cute!

 

Then with the ruffle on top?

I like that!

 

So the next step was to cut the sequin trim and glue each end just inside the shoe under the toe…

 

…stretching down the center to make the V shape and glueing it in place with a dot of hot glue.

 

To make the ruffle, I held the 2 ribbons together and rolled up the end.

 

Then secured it with a few stitches…

 

…and started weaving the needle through the center of the 2 layers of ribbon.

 

After a bit, pull the thread through and pull tight – and there's a ruffle!

 

I kept ruffling and holding it up to the shoe until it was as long as I wanted.

 

 

Then I cut the ribbon, leaving a 2 in. end, which I rolled up as at the beginning and stitched together.

 

The complete ruffle:

 

The next step was to arrange it how I wanted on the shoe, and glue it in place.

 

That's more my style! I love feminine shoes.

 

Here's the difference:

Of course then I repeated the process for the other shoe.

One word of experience, however! I found that it is painful to try to put a foot in a shoe with sequins on the inside. Painful. But there is a remedy – and that is nice thick bandaids. I put bandaids on the inside top of my shoe over each end of the sequin trim, and that took care of the pain although it's still slightly bulky. But next time I'll use braid or lace or something soft!

 

Overall, I was very pleased with the result. The sequins add some glitz, fitting right against the shoe toe, and the ruffle blends right in.

And for 25 cents + a little, who can complain? Creativity sparks under those conditions. 🙂