Christmas Shoes!

Hi, everyone! Anyone who knows me in real life, knows that I love to craft... especially budget crafting! I always end up making things inspired by more expensive counterparts. This idea actually stemmed from Halloween... I wanted some Halloween shoes, but definitely did not want to shell out $80 (at least) for a pair. After watching many YouTube videos and looking at the material my handy dandy Cricut could cut, I decided to make my own Halloween shoes! Those were a little... rough, but I did learn a lot. So, when Christmas came around, I was able to properly create some beautiful shoes!

These were perhaps some of the easiest shoes I've ever made, but I will say - they can be time consuming. Unfortunately, I never film myself doing crafts, so I will try to talk you through this. Let's get started!

Materials

• Cricut Iron On Material (for the shoes on the left, I used Everyday Iron On Buffalo Plaid. For the shoes on the right, I used Iron On Black Glitter for the String and Holographic Iron On for all the lights.)

• A Cricut to cut the material

• Shoes of any kind (it's best to have the cheap fabric like knock-off vans (on the right). The knock-off converse (on the left) were much harder to work with. I got both pairs for $15 at Target)

• Ribbon for the shoelaces

• An Iron (I actually bought a really mini iron. You can do this with a normal household iron, but the smaller it is, the more you'll be able to truly maneuver what you need)

• Fabric glue (I glue the pieces that start to come up as I wear the shoes. I find it keeps them together longer than going back over with an iron)

• A belt to prevent burning fingers

Steps

1. Find a design you like that you can easily incorporate into you Cricut Design Space. I simply looked up "stringed lights" and "Christmas silhouettes". For both, I truly just guessed on the size. For the lights, I did print a sample and see how it looked before then printing in bulk. For these shoes, I didn't have enough black to do lights all around, so I had them cut off. For my coworkers' shoes, I was able to do lights all around. Again, it's just your person preference for how you decide to go.

2. Once you print and cut the design on the Cricut, you're ready to iron them on.

3. Turn your iron to the heat that is recommended by the product you're using. My mini iron only has one setting, but I found it worked just fine.

4. Here's the best advice I can give: stuff the shoe with a belt or scarf! It'll keep the fabric up and prevent it from becoming stiff with the iron. It'll also make it MUCH easier to iron the vinyl on. Lastly, the belt is a great way to avoid burning your fingers while still maintaining a proper hold on the product. I used my brother's karate belt for this.

5. Begin ironing on. I found that not planning where things went led to the best results. I just put things where they fit for the collage of symbols. For the lights, I did all the string first and then added the color bulbs in a pattern.

6. Finally, add the shoelaces! I just took the ribbon and measure the length of the shoelace and then thread it through like normal.

It really is that simple! Time consuming, for sure, but I'd rather spend an hour or two rather than $80. When making my coworkers' shoes, I found that going over the finished product with an iron a day later also prevented peeling. When mine peel, I just use the fabric glue to fix it :)

Here's the finished product:

This can be done for any holiday or occasion! I'd love to see what you all come up with!