For my latest costume endeavor, I set out to make Dorothy shoes after quickly discovering that most prefabricated glittery shoes were either gold or silver. I hit up a couple of thrift stores first. For some silly reason, I thought I needed to start off with a red pair of shoes, but in reality, they could have been any color since I’d planned to completely cover them in glitter.
Thanks to the six metal pins in my left ankle that foot is slightly bigger than the other; so I had to humanely stretch the left shoe with something other than my foot. Of all the methods I’d read about, I liked the “plastic bag of water, placed in the shoe, then in the freezer” method the best. Not only does water expand, but it also molds itself into the proper shape. Apparently, my downfall was once I’d taken it out of the freezer, I’d let the water melt too much, staining the shoe. Not really a problem in the long run since glitter would cover it.
Painter’s tape covered the bottom and heels of the shoes since those parts didn’t need to be glued and glittered.
I’d set everything out on the balcony before I began. Unlike every other video I’d watched, I sprayed on adhesive rather than painting on a thick glue.
The plastic bowl captured most of the fallen glitter and the spoon helped re-sprinkle the shoes. Almost too late, I remembered to stuff the shoes with newspaper. Although not a perfect solution, stuffed shoes helped minimize the amount of loose glitter entering the shoe.
By the time I finished glueing, glittering and shellacking those shoes, my flip-flops were glued onto my feet! Another good reason NOT to use spray adhesive. At least the glitter stuck to the shoes with glossy acrylic finish to hold it in place.
A bag of these little gems were on sale. I never understood what drives a sale at a crafts store, but I’m not complaining about saving money. I hot glued them on for some additional flair.
They looked so beautiful, I feared they’d hurt my feet. That’s the women’s fashion industry at play. Anything that’s sexy for women has to hurt or cause discomfort. Yet, the only challenge to wearing those Dorothy shoes was tracking loose glitter everywhere.
Once I had them on, I was free to follow the yellow brick road!