DIY Glitter Flats

Once again, Pinterest and blogs got the best of me and I was inspired to do a fun DIY project!  

After my closet clean-out this week, I decided to try to glitterizing some old flats in an attempt to give some old shoes new life.  I searched "DIY glitter shoes" on Pinterest and found a bunch of pins linking to this project.  I also remembered that my friend Andi did a super cute glitter DIY to some shoes.  (You can see here post here.)

The perfect pair of shoes for this project was a pair of well-loved Target flats.  Due to lots of wear and the material of the shoes they were a little worn in spots and had pretty much been retired to the old shoe box in the sky (otherwise known as the top shelf of my closet).  

Worn, but still in decent shape!

Before shot!

I stopped into JoAnne Fabrics (the new one by my house is much more like a Michaels than a fabric store) and sought out some glitter.  Since the flats were black and this was my first attempt at this project I knew I wanted to go for something dark.  I also wanted to get a super fine glitter (following a few recommendations I found online).  

3 materials

I ended up getting this super pretty glitter in "onyx."  It's very dark, but with  blueish sliver glow about it.  It's a lovely alternative to just plain black!

Onyx glitter

The easiest "recipe" for this project was to combine glitter with Mod Podge and paint it on one layer at a time.  I mixed this on a plate and used a sponge brush that I found in my craft box.  I already had the Mod Podge, so the total cost was $2.99 for the jar of glitter.

Layer #1 on the first shoe!

As you can see, the Mod Podge has a milky finish before it dries.  I waited about 20 minutes between applications and did a total of 3 layers of glitter.  I had to remix my Mod Podge glitter each time and I actually ended up making my mixture a lot heavier on the glitter after the first coat.  

Finished and ready to dry!

I left them to dry (and went to a friend's house to enjoy conversation and wine) and came home to find my lovely dried glittery goodness flats!  

All dry and sparkly!

Please excuse my super white feet!

I used a little leftover mixture on a spare black headband!

I'm thinking about glitterizing some sandals next!  

Have you done any DIY projects lately?

Memo Board Makeover

This is one of those posts I never really got around to writing.  I took the pictures and then kinda forgot about doing the post.  As I was going through my camera recently I found these and decided to go on and show you how did a little makeover a clearance memo board!

This is how the board started out.  I actually really like this vintage-y postcard print, but it wasn't quite what I wanted for my kitchen.  It was on clearance at Hobby Lobby for a little over $10.  I really liked the size and the frame, so I decided to go on and make it work for what I was wanting.

A few months earlier I had picked up a set of yellow napkins on clearance at Target.  I have a similar print in placemats and even a pillow in red, so I grabbed the napkins thinking I could use them somehow.  (I'm not really a cloth napkin kinda person.)

I started out by removing the back of the board.  (This was one thing I paid attention to when looking for boards at Hobby Lobby.)  I wanted to keep the original fabric and just cover it with the yellow in case I change my mind later.  

Since the black print showed through the yellow and white pattern, I found some plastic packaging (I think I snagged it from my TV box in the storage room) and added that as a layer between the two fabrics.  I simply used a regular stapler to staple them at the very edge of the original board.  I had to stay pretty close to the edge because the lip of the frame didn't have much overhang.  I was also a bit of a challenge to get it stretched out and even, but after a few attempts, I got it to look pretty good!  

And here's the final product...  It's not 100% perfect, but it really did end up being what I wanted.  I'd looked at a few other memo boards on Esty and other sites and they were all $20+.  In all, I spent about $14 and still have 3 napkins to use for other products if I wish.  

Finally, here's the board on my kitchen wall!  One of these days I'll make / decorate some cute pins, but it's just perfect for this space!  I don't really like a lot of clutter on the fridge, so this board is a great alternative for posting a few little notes.  

Another DIY!

I've been trying to get a few items for my apartment for when I move just for a fun, cheap refresh.  Since my goal is saving money to buy a house, I've been trying to be as budget-friendly as possible in getting new items.  I've been looking at memo boards on Etsy, in stores, and online and wasn't really finding much below $30 or so.  I'm going to have a blank wall in my new kitchen that I thought would be a nice place to a cute board and would be convenient for a small command center as I come and go.

I'd looked at this memo board at Hobby Lobby a few times, but wasn't completely convinced of the print.  I like the vintage-y scribbles, but I just didn't think it was the look I was going for in my kitchen.  But, during my last HL visit I found this board on the clearance aisle marked down from $29.99 to $10.20.  It suddenly became much more appealing, but I still wasn't totally sold on the fabric.  If you look closely the black frame also had some white spots showing through where the paint had chipped off.  I debated, but for just over $10 I decided to grab it (since it was the only one left) and make it work!

When I got home I pulled out these yellow napkins that I snagged on clearance at Target a couple months back.  I don't really entertain or use cloth napkins at all, but I loved this pattern (it compliments some placemats and pillows I have that are also from Target) and decided to go on and get them since the 4 were less than $3.  I measured the board and found that one of the napkins was the perfect size to use the fabric to recover the board!  I'd been wanting to go with yellow accents in my kitchen and this is the perfect starting point!

I wanted to preserve the existing fabric on the board in case I change my mind down the line, so I found some thin packaging foam downstairs from when I bought my TV.  I cut it to fit around the existing board and just stapled it on to add a little extra cushion and so that the black print wouldn't be visible through the fabric.

From there, I repeated the process of cutting the napkin and stapling it to the board.  The frame overlaps so I had about 1/3 of an inch to work with to where my staples would still be hidden.  It took a few tries and it's not completely perfect and straight, but it's pretty darn close!

The final step was to touch up the black paint.  I was able to do this pretty easily with about 3 drops of black paint and a little sponge brush.

And then, voila!  A cute new memo board for my kitchen!  The total cost was less than $14 and I still have 3 more of the napkins to decorate with!  (I'm contemplating finding a way to sew them into a throw pillow or 2!)