Quick Fix for Worn-Out Sparkle Shoes

I bought 2 cans of this Krylon glitter spray a few weeks back, simply because I saw it and wanted it. I figured there HAD to be a use for it somewhere in my foreseeable future. I was really excited to come up a very practical way to justify my purchase.

These sparkle shoes have been super popular with little girls for a while now, I bought this pair used, but they originally came from Target. Sparkle shoes like these are still available at Baby Gap, Target, etc. Available now in the updated style for Summer. It stinks that the glitter wears off pretty easily, especially if you have a girl who likes to drag her toes along the cement. As cute as these may have been at one point, little sister can forget about inheriting them as hand-me-downs.

Here's the fix! 
   1. Tape off the toes using duct tape, masking, or blue painters tape. All I had on hand was duct tape, and it didn't seem to hurt the shoes in any way, but I would always test a small area first and use the blue painters tape if available. If it does happen to hurt coming off, simply refer to step number 4. 
   2. Coat the toe area with a contrasting colored spray paint, since it may be hard to find an exact match and the caped toe look has been super popular this year anyway! If the wear is not as extensive, skip this step and go directly to the next.
   3. Spray on a thin layer of glitter over the toe area. I let these dry and continued to apply a total of 3 coats of the clear glitter. If the wear on your shoes is not as extensive, you may get by with only using the glitter and can skip the whole taping and spray painting step. 
   4. Allow spray to dry completely, then very carefully peal back the tape. If the tape peels off any of the shoe's finish, or if your line did not turn out that clean looking, try spraying another layer or two of the glitter over the whole shoe to smooth out imperfections.

I was so happy with how these turned out, I'm convinced I can now update the look of any and every worn out shoe in my house. If it can be spray painted, it can be passed down to the next sibling! Yay!

Lima Bean Wreath

I have seen so many of these super cute wreaths pop up on Pinterest. I had also seen the idea to use a piece of pipe insulator foam to form a wreath base. So, here was my endeavor to make one of my own! I think it turned out pretty cute, but in no way perfect... there are several things I would do differently next time.

I bought this 4 pack of pipe covers which cost 2.97, the lima beans cost 2.88 - I had black duct tape and a glue gun already, as well as a left over can of spray paint. I only used one pipe and half the Bag of lima beans. My husband and I put the kids to bed at night and usually sit to relax for a couple hours with a movie or show. Many nights, you will find him sitting on the couch while I sit on the floor working away on my projects! This project was completed within the time frame of one, hour long episode of Alcatraz :)

I wrapped tape around the two ends to secure them together. Works pretty well! The only thing is... it was hard for me to get it to stay in a perfect circle, it is slightly deformed for my taste! All I did was glue the beans on in random order. The part I would be more careful of in the future, was strings of glue being left behind. Only if I will be painting it again, the spray paint clings to the glue strings and looks a little messy. I have seen these wreathes left unpainted, just the natural color which looks cute too!

Hang with a bow and we're done! I will be VERY interested to see how well this holds up, if the beans fall off or crumble, or if the birds eat it! I am thinking the spray paint will hinder them. I am just very happy to have something new up, since before this, I still had a Christmas wreath up!

*Update: This wreath survived all Summer long and into the Fall! It did start to dry out and crumble just a bit, but I kept gluing it back together to prolong it's life :) Maybe next time I'll use a little more glue and a little more spray paint plus some kind of clear sealer. The pipe insulator does not hold it's shape very well. I would use an actual foam wreath form or add a piece of wire inside the pipe for stability. 

Teal and Yellow Obsession

I Love these colors together! After seeing picture after picture of things like this on Pinterest...

I got myself some yellow spray paint and started painting everything in sight! These were once boring old brown lamps...

I spray painted the bases, then bought these plain shades at Target. I embellished them with rolled flowers. I used the tutorial for rolled flowers from this site: mysparkle.blogspot.com

I love all the little pops of yellow!