Wedding Shoes!

Today's blog post comes from one of my best friends Kim. We used to work together and would have knitting/Lost watching parties in our cubicles during lunch. I'm so excited to have her as my first guest blogger!! (Kim is getting married in May and was telling me about these awesome shoes, so I asked her to write about them for me)

The closer to the Big Day I get, the more I realize how every little detail really matters.  I realized I needed wedding shoes ASAP for for my first dress fitting in a few days, so I immediately got to work searching on Google and Pinterest for the perfect pair.  I realized quickly that I needed shoes that sparkled - I particularly liked the look of a sparkly heal.  After some price comparisons, I started to realize this may not be that realistic - at prices ranging from $300 - $1,000 for what I was looking for I was starting to lean towards something much simpler. 

  

I purchased a pair of shoes off Amazon that were white satin to match my dress and had a low heal.  I got them, and loved them, but I couldn't get over their lack of sparkle.  After some research on types of glue and some inspiration from a coworker's custom made shoes, I headed to Michaels for E6000 glue, beading tweezers, and Swarovski crystals in multiple sizes.

 400 stones, 6 hours, and a few terrible headaches later, one shoe is complete, and it is PERFECT!!

 Some tips to make life a little easier:

1) From my research, E6000 glue is definitely the best glue for the job, but the fumes can actually be harmful (hence the headaches).  Make sure you work in a well ventilated room with open windows, and a mask if you have one handy.

2) You need crystals in multiple sizes (I used 3) to get a close fit and add some texture to the shoe.  The smaller crystals work best around the edges to get an even line.

3) Spread the glue using a toothpick or something similar (I used the thin set of tweezers and cleaned them after).  Spread the glue in a THIN layer in small areas.  The glue is very thick and can harden quickly.  If you spread the layer too thick the glue will come around the edges of the crystals and can become a big mess.

4) Be patient!  It can take a lot of time and I definitely made a lot of mistakes I needed to fix, but the finished product was well worth it!