Welcome to the "Results Edition" of Repurposing: Your Turn. On Monday I lobbed out a reader challenge into cyberspace for help with a repurposing project (Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about? Catch up at http://melissa-randomthoughtsfrommelissa.blogspot.com/2012/04/repurposing-your-turn.html). I had some awesome suggestions from readers. One reader (wink to Genny) suggested I get some vintage shoes. Genny knows how much I like shoes. Another reader (and my sister from another mother, Lizzi) suggested wooden spools.
This evening, after taking in your suggestions and letting the plan stew in my brain for a few days (my brain is a DANGEROUS place for ideas to stew), I came up with my plan of attack. I drove to Hobby Lobby to obtain a couple of supplies and I was ready to go.
Using my trusty glue gun (I've had her since college, 1999 I believe) I glued some scrap ribbon to the craft spools obtained at Hobby Lobby. The spools were the only thing I had to purchase for this project. I'm not sure if that means I'm super resourceful or if that means I spend WAY too much time at Hobby Lobby and bring too much of the store home with me. I personally think it's the latter, but I digress...
After the ribbon was glued on, I measured a dowel rod and cut it to the right length. The dowel will serve as the stand for the spool and shoe form.
I then got out some letter charms and created a message for each shoe form. I found these cute charms in the scrap booking section of...you guessed it...Hobby Lobby last week. I had picked these up for another project. I can get more tomorrow.
Using blue ribbon I had on hand, I tied the charms to the shoe forms. The ribbon also gives the forms an "artistic" interpretation of a shoe strap (like a Mary Jane).
I then attached the spool to the shoe form by running the dowel up through the hole in the shoe form. Since the dowel rod acts as a pin, the original antique is unmodified (just the way I like them).
Ta-Da! This is your first glimpse of the completed project! It looks like a shoe (once again, winks to Genny)!
Here is the "shoe" back in its spot as a bookend. Is this cute or what? But what is the message on these bookends?
The left side says "READ"...
while the right side says "ME"!
Read me! I think that is a great message for a bookend to have. Here is a picture of the finished project. I could not be more pleased with how these antique shoe forms have been upcycled into bookends. Its the exact touch I was looking for.
Once again, I thank my readers who submitted suggestions. You guys were a big help. I hope you have enjoyed this project as much as I have. If you decide to take on an upcycling project yourself, please send me some pictures so I can feature them in my blog.
Until Tomorrow - Melissa
What a fun project! I just found out we have Hobby Lobby in Fl....I may need to take a ride and check it out!
ReplyDeleteHobby Lobby is the best craft store EVER! I'm there a couple times a week. Just a heads up, before you go, make sure to check out their website. They typically have a 40% an item coupon on their website. It's a great way to save some extra green if the item you need is not on sale. Happy shopping!
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