Thursday, 26 July 2012

Ankle of arrival


You will need


Plain black ankle boots - hard to specify a price for this one but I'd recommend charity shops or Ebay and it would just depend on how lucky you were with finds. I chose a pair with a bit of a heel and paid £12.50 from a local charity shop

Gold beads - I plumped for a canny (I like to think) but selectively feasible option with this one, as you will need LOADS, as in 1500+ I picked up a tiny gold bead covered necklace in a sale from Miss Selfridge for £2, which I sadly can't find on the website. I'd advise some lateral thinking with this one -see if you can fine a cheap gold beaded collar you can take apart. Failing that, might I suggest three packs of 500x 2mm beads, priced at £5.55 each from Riverside Beads

Six buckled kilt straps (priced at 3.29 for a set of two from Amazon plus £2.69 postage and packing) I actually chose some shoes which already had a buckle and maybe you will to, so inevitably, prices will vary.

Gold Fimo clay, £1.99 at Cuddly Buddly

UHU All Purpose Adhesive £1.07 from here  - Perfect as it's quick-drying

Gold paint marker

Grid paper - downloadable and printable from here

Paper scissors

Long-nosed tweezers (optional)

Time

About 7 hours per shoe.



Difficulty

Medium-easy

The gluing’s a little bit fiddly in places but otherwise pretty straightforward.



Total cost

For me it would have been about £28, which is somewhat better than £815 like the originals!


To get your shoe-in…




Sketch out the three geometric-looking patterns from the original onto your graph paper, just to get an idea for the outlines. These will be your template. Once you’re done, cut them out.




Sketch the outlines in the appropriate places on your ankle boots with dots using your gold pen, so that they blend in.


Studying the originals closely for outlines and solid beaded shapes, stick your beads in place using your all purpose adhesive glue.




Glue your kilt straps along the centre of each shoe making sure they’re symmetrical.

Using your gold clay, make some tips for each of your straps and covers for each of your buckles (Note: I didn’t actually use gold clay, I used white Fimo clay, covered in gold leaf sheets and lived to regret it - I wouldn’t recommend it as it’s messy, fiddly and not worth the result) Bake in the oven as instructed (follow instructions carefully or chances are it won’t work – and I’ll be telling on you!)


Glue your buckles and point in place...




… and voilà!



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