Rhinestone Encrusted Pumps

These are an updated version of a post I did back in January. I encrusted the heels of a pair of pumps in rhinestone for a New Years Eve party that we went to. They were such a hit that night that I decided to cover the entire shoe with rhinestones. My husband and I were going to Indianapolis for Superbowl weekend in February and one of the events we went to while we were there was the NFL Players Party. I had a long sleeved lace mini dress that I planned on wearing which also had a high neckline so I couldn’t wear any jewelry with it. I figured the only way to accessorize was going to be my shoes so I set out to finish these before we left, which gave me a little over a month. I have to say, if I were you I would think I was a crazy person for sitting down and gluing rhinestones on one at a time to cover two entire shoes… but trust me when I say it really was not that bad. My biggest piece of advice if you’re going to attempt this craft, don’t plan on finishing them in a few days. Give yourself a long amount of time to complete them because then you only have to work on them when you feel like it. Work on it for an hour while you’re watching your evening tv or have some extra time on the weekend… You’ll be surprised at how fast they come together! When all was said and done these shoes used just under 10,000 rhinestones and just about the whole month to complete but they were worth every second! 

You can get a few pictures of how to get things started by checking out the post I did while encrusted the heels, you can also get all the info about the shoes I used. You really don’t need much to make these (other than lots of patience) but the supplies you’ll absolutely need are 3mm crystal rhinestones, beeswax, a chopstick or q-tip and E600 glue.

While working on the shoes, I discovered that coating the tip of a chopstick with beeswax and then using the tip to pick up the rhinestones worked much easier than a q-tip so I would suggest doing it that way. Another word of advice, special order the rhinestones from your craft  store. I did this for two reasons: 1. I knew I needed way more packs of rhinestones than they have in the store at one time and they only get one shipment in a week and 2. They were 40% off and I had another 30% coupon off sale items so I really got them for a steal. 

I had already done the heels so I started with the platforms, working from the front side of the shoe to the back. After that work around the toe, that’s the trickiest area because of the curves and the fact that my shoes did have a crease where the shoe ended and the platform began.

Continue until the whole shoe is covered and repeat on the other shoe. I keep mine in the separate plastic bags that came with the shoes in their box so they don’t rub against one another. I wore these all night at the NFL party and have worn them out a few times sense and can honestly say that not a single rhinestone has budged from the shoes!

Category : Crafts, Fashion & Accessories
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