Whip It Up Wednesday: Shabby Chic Shoe Revamp

Mmm, I love op-shopping! It's been a long time since I've had a chance to go, but last time I did I found these super comfy Sandler heels for $2.50! It's rare for me to find shoes in my size, my feet are pretty gigantor ;)

They were pretty "Granny" but in a not-cool kinda way. So I decided to go with the Granny vibe, but make them unique! This is what I ended up with:

Do you like them? Here's how to make your own:

What You Need:

* A pair of old shoes!

* Natural coloured linen

* Old lace curtain (also from the op-shop!) or doilies in cream

* Outdoor Mod Podge (you can use other types, but this is a bit better for weather proofing)

What To Do:

Lie one of your shoes face down on your fabric and generously guestimate how much fabric you'll need to cover your shoe. It'll end up being a rough quarter circle (see the 1st picture). Cut this out, then wrap it around your shoe and mark the middle of the foot opening with an air-erasable pen (like in the 2nd picture)

Cut along the line that you just marked. Now, you can start Mod Podging! I found it easiest to start with the top front of the shoe. Mod Podge your fabric to your shoe, being sure to pull it quite taut and push it into any groves, like between the sole and the body of the shoe. This makes sure you don't get wrinkles in the fabric when it dries, and ensures that it's attached well!

When the body of your shoe is covered in fabric (I'll explain the heel in a minute) you want to finish the opening. Snip from the centre line to the edge of the opening wherever you have a curve, so that when you glue the fabric flaps to the inside of the shoe, it sits flat. Here's where I snipped mine:

Glue the flaps to the inside of your shoe.

Next I grabbed my very sharp (but I wish it was even sharper!) scalpel and cut between the sole and body of the shoe, and removed as much excess fabric as I could, but leaving enough to wrap around the heel.

To do the back of the shoe and heel, simply trim your fabric so that you've got enough to have just a slight overlap down the centre back of your shoe, from the very top to the bottom of the heel. If you use thin fabric, you could even fold the edges under to give a nice neat "seam". Do the inside of the heel in the same way.

Repeat for the other shoe, then we can embellish them!

I used some old lace curtain fabric I found at the op-shop, and cut semi-circles of the pattern out. I then Mod Podged these in the same pattern on both of my shoes.

Finally, I gave the shoes a nice thick top coat of Mod Podge to seal everything. Messy!

Let them dry.

Now you can go for a stroll to show off your fancy new feet!

Whip It Up Wednesday: Pretty Bowl Baubles

A few months ago now I made this pretty doily bowl, but until now haven't found anything I liked to put inside it!  Everything in the shops is too dark or "heavy" for the my delicate little doily bowl, so I finally got around to making some baubles of my own! 

Please excuse the daggy picture of my face in the background XD

I made five different baubles, so today you get five ideas in one post!

Bauble #1: Buttons!

Easy really! Grab your jar of buttons, a hot glue gun and a Styrofoam ball and get gluing!

It can get a bit tricky getting the ball covered without any huge gaps, but having a good variety of different sized buttons definitely helps! Also, I didn't do it but I'd recommend painting your Styrofoam ball in the same colour as your buttons before you start - that way gaps are less noticeable!

Bauble #2: Fabric strips!

This one's a bit messy but looks great! You'll need some fabric scraps and your Mod Podge!

I cut my fabric into thin strips long enough to go around the entire edge of my bauble, then glued them on in a "spoke" pattern until the entire bauble was covered. Finally, I gave it a top coat of Matt style Mod Podge and let it dry.

Bauble #3: Fabric and Lace!

First, cover your bauble in fabric as before - I used a plain coloured fabric for this layer. When that's dry, use the same technique to add a lace fabric layer in a coordinating colour. Mmm, texture and layers!

Bauble #4: Tissue Paper!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy! Tear your tissue paper up into little pieces, give your Styrofoam ball a light coat of Mod Podge and then roll it in the tissue paper! Roll it around in your hand to smooth down the surface, and give it a top coat of Mod Podge if you like.

Bauble #5: Beads!

At first I tried using Mod Podge for this, but it didn't work. Re-enter the trusty hot glue gun!

Pop a heap of seed beads (and bugle beads if you like) in a bowl. Doing a patch at a time, add hot glue to a section of your Styrofoam ball and then push it into the beads before the glue dries. Use your fingers to push beads into the glue securely, and even up the surface.

There you go! Five easy ideas for making your own baubles that cost next to nothing, are in the colours that suit your decor and have lots of different textures and layers!

New Things in the Store!

I've just added a couple of new pretties to the Hazel & Honeysuckle MadeIt store! 

Cute, huh?

Is the pink heart on green floral cotton and felt the one for you? Perhaps the adorable "Buzzy Bee" on grey felt is more your style? These beauties can be added to a brooch backing, hair clip or elastic headband - you choose!

 

I've also re-listed these gorgeous fabric and wooden bead necklaces, I have two of these myself and just LOVE them! I always get strangers commenting on them when I wear them out!

Do you like the Asian-style fabric or the fun flowery brown fabric best?

Remember, I do ship internationally and I love doing custom orders, 

especially for you my favourite bloggy friends! <3

Whip It Up Wednesday: Trinket Box

OK, so it's Whip It Up Thursday - sorry! I thought I'd well and truly be back in action by now but it seems not! I have a stack of half finished projects that I'll share with you as I wrap them up :)

Today's project is my Fabric Decoupaged Trinket Box

What You Need:

* A trinket box to decoupage ;) 

I bought a glass topped jewellery box from the craft store, but you could find something
at a thrift store to give new life to if you wanted!

* An assortment of fabric scraps

* Mod Podge

I think matt finish works best with fabric

* Coordinating ribbon

The width of the ribbon should be the same as the edges of the box - the pictures
later in this tutorial will help explain what I mean by this!

What To Do:

Before you cut any strips of fabric, plan out which fabric you're using for each compartment in your trinket box - you can see most of my "plan" in the What You Need image above.

For each compartment, cut one strip of fabric that will cover the two side edges and the back of the compartment, then cut two smaller rectangles for the top and bottom edges.

Using matt finish Mod Podge, glue all of your fabric strips into place. I found it easier to stick down the back first, then smooth from the middle out to the edges. Try to push the fabric into the back corners for a neat finish. Once stuck in place, brush on a top coat of Mod Podge, and clean up any excess Mod Podge as you go.

Now we get onto our ribbon. I cut strips of ribbon for all of my inside edges, so 5 short and 2 long strips. Mod Podge these into place, and give them a top coat as well.

I was happy with my trinket box at this stage, so I stopped decorating here. You could also run ribbon around the outside edge, and could paint or otherwise decorate the outside of the trinket box - I'm hoping to get a Silhouette for my birthday in July, so if I do I plan to make a vinyl stencil for the glass on the lid. For now I like the raw look, it matches with the other bits and pieces in my messy, student house.

Now you just need to fill it with things that you like! I like tea :)

Have a wonderful week beautiful people!

Whip It Up Wednesday: Fabric Covered Boxes

Remember the Flute Board Boxes I made a while back? Well, I covered them in fabric ...

And promptly decided I didn't like it. At ALL! Waaaay too bright, what were we thinking?! I can even say "we" because I took the OH and made him help me choose the fabric!

Anyway, I finally got around to remedying the situation!

Aaaahhh, that's more like it! Now let me show you what I did!

What You Need:

* Flute Board Boxes ;)

* Covering fabric

* Lining fabric or interfacing

* Stapler

* Scissors

* Mod Podge

* Optional - stencil & paint

What To Do:

We bought the material for the outside of these boxes especially for this, but other than that I only wanted to use things I had on hand. Because it was night time. And getting other stuff meant waiting. And I'm impatient.

So, I actually used two layers of interfacing and one of fabric. I used a dark layer of interfacing first, as the duct tape from the boxes showed through if I only used the white interfacing and fabric. It'll depend on your boxes, fabric and choice of lining what you do.

So, I cut a piece of dark interfacing about 1 inch larger on all sides than the front of the box.

Staple that layer to the front of your box. Pull it nice, flat and taut and staple around the edges. Trim off the excess interfacing at the corners.

Cut a piece of white interfacing the same size as the front of your box and staple it on.

Cut a piece of your outer fabric about the same size as the dark interfacing - 1 inch larger all around than the front of your box. Staple it on, but be sure to only put staples around the edges and on the inside of your box, not on the front where you'll see them!

To make my boxes slide in and out of the bookshelf without the edges of the fabric catching and pulling, I used Mod Podge to seal the edges. I used a paint roller because... I had a roller and I wanted to play with it :P It was fun!!

While that dries, prepare your stencil for painting. Or do what I did, and con the OH into cutting it out for you ;) (Hey, he said he was awesome with the scalpel so I let him prove himself! And yes, he did a good job!)

I found a shape I liked online - it was actually an embroidery photo - turned it into a silhouette, blew it up, printed it on thick cardboard and "let" my man cut out the shape. Thicker card or plastic would work much better, as this got soggy and was hard to hold into place while I painted.

Tape your stencil into place, and use a roller to paint over it.

Let it all dry and you're done! Now you have some lovely padded, fabric covered boxes!