Friday, December 21, 2012

Beaded Stilettos



Do you know SkyMall? It's a catalog that's found on airplanes. I remember a comedian once saying the catalogs were full of things you never knew you needed until you saw them there. In some ways Pinterest is like that for me. Take stilettos for instance.. The only stilettos I knew about before Pinterest had to do with shoes. 

Did you know these are stilettos too?
I didn't. I saw them at Pinterest and immediately repinned them onto my Tutorials board. These are the lovelies that I discovered there.
This set was made by the Empress of the Universe over at her blog, (what a cool blog name.. I'm totally jealous!). When I saw them at Pinterest the pretty beads caught my eye so I clicked through and read about them. 
They're handy little tools that can be used in a lot of areas of crafting and sewing. From guiding fabric near the presser foot on the machine, to turning narrow hems up at the iron, and even something to manipulate objects around wet glue or paint. 

I looked for the turkey lacers for awhile after discovering the stilettos at Pinterest, but didn't find them anywhere. Then, a couple of weeks ago I ran into Bed Bath & Beyond and remembered that was where the Empress mentioned finding hers.

I found the same ones she did. They were $.99.. A craft project for a buck! (That's Mr. ShowMe's favorite kind! heheh) 
 I bent the angled ends into loops with my jewelry making tools.

 Then went through my bead stash and pulled out beads with holes big enough for the lacers. 


 What a great way to use up some of those pretty onsies lampwork glass beads! It was so much fun trying the different beads on the lacers and figuring out which ones went together! Once I got that part worked out I decided on which glue to use.  


Then put a bit of glue between the bottom two beads and at the bottom of the last one. 
I took the Empress' tip and clamped the looped ends in clothes pins and set them up like that to dry overnight.

And voila!

I named them from left to right, Her Majesty, Heavy Metal, Circus Circus, He Loves Me, Woody, and She Swims With The Fishes. They were a blast to make and I've already used them countless times. Oh yeah, and I found the perfect place to store them... this little Florida souvenir toothpick holder that I picked up at the flea market for $1.
Has Pinterest helped you discovered something that you never knew you needed and then just couldn't do without?

I'd love to hear about it!

Thanks for stopping by :) 

12 comments:

  1. Oh, how lovely! Great stilettos... don't they come in handy for all sorts of projects?

    Thanks for linking to my tutorial and letting me know so I could visit!

    Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

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  2. Ooooh! So pretty! <3 Pinterest. It is totally like those magazines.

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  3. OH I am SO glad you spotted these on pinterest! What a handy little tool, and
    then the bonus, to make them yourself!!! Love love love. Its really such a
    great and simple idea. I am always grabbing at something to use while sewing
    to push prod pull at piece I am working on! And its usually a pin that
    gets bent. I did actually use a hat pin of my mom's but the end popped off, sigh.
    Was just a gaudy pearl, but still ya know?
    Thanks for sharing, your now officially my new favorite blog..

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  4. These are really cute. Love anything with 'bling'. Hmmm, getting ready for our holiday trip to the city to spend time with friends over the holidays. These little 'bling blings' will be perfect to work on to give to my friends. Thanks. Hope your holidays have been enjoyable.

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  5. This is the first I've heard of them, but now I NEED them. I am glad we now have a Bed, Bath and Beyond!
    Blessings,
    Lorilee

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  6. Never heard of this kind of stiletto either! Turkey lacing pins, you say? Now you're forcing me to go to BB&B. I've only been in that store one time - looks like trip #2 is in order cuz I can see where pretty pins ARE a necessity!

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  7. Beautiful and serviceable. Love that!!

    Thank you for partying with the Wildly Original Crowd.
    <3 Christina at I Gotta Create!

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  8. These are really cool! I love all of them but my two favorites are Circus Circus and She Swims with Fish. I can think of all kinds of ways to use these with my furniture painting business. Thanx so much for sharing! Shelly

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  9. I love these! I found some Turkey lacers online, a package of 10 of them 10 bucks with free shipping. Can't wait to make these!

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  10. Great cake testers too!

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  11. I bought the skewers at a dollar/discount store, you get a lot in one package.

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