Repurposing: Your Turn - "The Results Edition"

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