Edward Scissorhands

A few years back my youngest son, Brandon, made this costume for Halloween. He won a couple of contests that year!

Brandon - thrift store junkie like myself - found about everything needed to make his costume at the thrift stores. He started with a black leather jacket that was too large. He got out the sewing machine and fixed that problem. The black leather pants were almost too tight but he managed to squeeze into them, (what's a little discomfort when you have an awesome costume!) He refashioned several belts into the jacket adornments.

Brandon doesn't settle for average so he amped it up one more notch with the scissorhands. He cut out individual scissor shapes from very thin plywood, painted them and attached them to black leather gloves. The really cool thing is though, that he attached all the scissors to a working mechanism so that he could actually move them (together or individually) with his fingers...now that's amazing! I know I'm his mom but still...amazing!!

He did his own make-up and finished off the look with a wig. Now that's about as close as anyone can get to the real Edward!

Happy Halloween!

Butterfly - final design of a Girl and her SHOES series!

Welcome to the final post of  "a Girl and her SHOES" series. If you missed the original post, you may want to check it out here to see what inspired this series.

The butterfly is a much loved creature. We see it used in home decor, clothing, accessories, paper products and much more. It is admired for its beauty and grace but most of all, it is a symbol of transformation.

I thought it appropriate that my final shoe transformation
would be a tribute to the lovely butterfly.

The shoes. I loved the design on these shoes when I first spotted them at the thrift store but unfortunately they were not on the discounted ticket. So I waited until they were the

half off sticker for the day, and lucky for me, they were still there!

I cut out around the stitched area of one shoe, removed the bow and this is when I noticed that the design resembled a butterfly. I enjoy these types of happy little surprises! I lightly scuffed up the leather and rubbed it with some brown permanent ink (for stamping) to add character and age and then added the pearls for color and texture.

I didn't want to use the bow but the braided lacing was pretty cool, so I incorporated
it to act as a way to attach the handmade pearl links. I finished the piece off with
a copper chain and a handcrafted hook clasp.

I've had a lot of fun creating for "a Girl and her SHOES" series! I hope it has inspired you to be like the butterfly...willing to make a transformation and let your imagination take flight!


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Spider - part five of "a Girl and her SHOES" series

Welcome to part five of  "a Girl and her SHOES" series. If you missed the original post, you may want to check it out here to see what inspired this series.

The working title for this redo was Spider. My reasoning for the working title will become clear a little later in the post. I realize that Spider is not a very attractive name for a necklace but since it is so close to Halloween, I decided to stick with it!

The Shoes. A very unique pair of sandals that I just couldn't pass up.

The first thing I did was cut the leather straps away from the sole. I played around with the shape for awhile until I got the idea to create a copper wire frame that the straps could attach to. I cut the straps down to a reasonable size and this is what I ended up with.

 

Okay, my working title is making sense now!

I attached the straps around the frame and wired on some metallic stick pearls for that needed bit of bling. Finally, a couple of the tiny buckles (also from these sandals)

became interesting additions to the copper chain and handmade hook clasp.

 

Normally I wouldn't think of allowing a spider to crawl around - or even come close - to my neck, but I'll happily make the exception for this Spider!

Tomorrow will be the final shoe transformation in "a Girl and her SHOES" series. (At least until I find time to visit the thrift stores!) I hope you will return!

 

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Biker Chic - part four of a Girl and her SHOES series!

Welcome to part four of  "a Girl and her SHOES" series. If you missed the original post, you may want to check it out here to see what inspired this series.

Perhaps it is from growing up with three older brothers, but I have to admit...I do have a little bit of bad girl in me! A pair of leather studded boots adorned with buckles are my go-to winter shoes, so of course I would want the same in my jewelry!

Today my shoe makeovers are going Biker Chic!

 The shoes. A thrifted pair of clogs with cool studded straps and rings.

Not my size but those straps were definitely Biker Chic material!

Crystal Biker Chic

 I used the strap from one of the shoes to make Crystal Biker Chic. I cut one of the strips away from the strap so that I would have three strips. I attached a ring to the end of one of the strips and hung a couple of crystal nuggets from it. The last step was to attach a small ring to each remaining strap and add a copper chain and handmade hook clasp.

 Pearl Biker Chic

 I used the strap from the second shoe to make Pearl Biker Chic.  I cut two

of the strips away from the strap. I wired on green freshwater pearls and

finished it with a copper chain and a handmade hook clasp.

Crystals and pearls...a little bit good. Studded leather...a little bit bad. A perfect combination for any biker chick!

Confession: The closest thing I have to a bike is... well, a bicycle but I still love leather!

I have two more shoe-to-jewelry reveals to go. I hope you will return to see them.

 

Dressed Up Pearls - part three of a Girl and her SHOES series!

Welcome to part three of "a Girl and her SHOES" series. If you missed the original post, you may want to check it out here to see what inspired this series.

Wow! It's almost the end of October and the holiday season is soon to arrive. One of my favorite bonuses of the holidays has to be the parties!! I look forward to slipping on my favorite black cocktail dress and fancying up my hair. Yep, dressing up is just plain fun!

So what about the plain-jane strand of faux pearls I inherited from my Grandma?

I decided it could benefit from a little dressing up too!

The shoes. Just a fairly average pair of sandals that I picked up for next to nothing at the thrift store but I was attracted to the leather flowers and knew they had potential.

I already had the vintage faux pearl necklace. It was not perfect;
it was missing a strand but I used it anyway! I love the vintage clasp.

 

This make over could not have been any easier. I just cut the flowers off the shoes,

glued them together in a row, glued earrings (from my stash that I never wear)

at each flower center and then wired the entire piece to the pearl strands.

They can be removed at any time...nothing permanent.

Grandma wouldn't recognize her pearls - they're all dressed up and ready for the party!

I hope you will return and check out the next shoe redoux in my "a Girl and her SHOES" series!

Geometry - part two of a Girl and her SHOES series!!

Welcome to part two of  "a Girl and her SHOES" series. If you missed the original post, you may want to check it out here to see what inspired this series.

I'm calling these two designs Geometry because the leather shapes

of the shoes that I re-purposed them from reminded me of a trapezoid.

That's about all I remember from my geometry class all those many years ago!

The shoes. Very cute but not my size.

Turquoise Geometry

Turquoise  Geometry was inspired by a vintage earring that had belonged to my grandmother. I think it looks beautiful against the chocolate brown leather.

All that was needed to complete this designs was the addition of a few

rough cut turquoise nuggets, a copper chain and a handmade hook clasp.

 Golden Geometry

Golden Geometry was super fast and easy to make. I already had this beaded chain in my stash pile. It's okay but a little boring for my taste so I decided to dress it up with a leather pendant. I just attached the leather pendant to one of the oval links of the chain. It still needed a little more so I removed a few beaded links from the necklace and attached
them as dangles from the pendant. It doesn't get any easier than that!

I hope you'll return for part three of  "a Girl and her SHOES" series!

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a Girl and her SHOES!

What is it about a girl and her shoes? We want them! We need them!! We have to have them!!! But what do we do when we find that perfect pair at a garage sale or thrift store (only a dollar or two) and, darn! wrong size? Pass up a cute pair of shoes?...I think not!

My solution...make them into a necklace!

A little crazy? Maybe! And yet, I've created some designs that I would never have imagined otherwise and they are completely unique!

 This design called Autumn Leaves began with these sandals that I found at a thrift store.

I painted the suede leaves to up the luxury value

and embellished them with lustrous pearls.

 I finished the piece off with a copper chain and a handmade hook clasp.

Over the next couple of days I will be sharing more of my shoe-licious leather creations. I hope you will return and check them out!

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