According to the all knowing Wikipedia, Flip-flops, thongs, or jandals (Japanese sandals) are “an open type of outdoor footwear, consisting of a flat sole held loosely on the foot by a Y-shaped strap, like a thin thong, that passes between the first (big) and second toes and around either side of the foot.” Of course, almost everyone has had a pair of these plastic sandals at least once in their life. Today, however, we see them blinged out with fancy stones, leather and metallic accents to allow you to take them from the beach to the club in style.

While out on my many thrift-shopping outings, I spied some brand new flip-flops that I thought I would turn into custom fashion pieces in a simple and creative way. Let me show you how.

Get yourself a pair or two of inexpensive flip-flops. The white ones I got were $2.99, and the blue ones were far less at $0.79!! As a homeowner, I swear by Liquid Nails adhesive and thought it would be good to put it to the test adhering acrylic jewels to the plain sandals. A small tube is under $4.00, and you can use it for many other projects as well. I got a pack of 300 jewels in multiple colors at the big box store in my neighborhood for around $4.50.

First off, I laid out all the jewels on my worktable and sorted them by color to keep it less confusing and focus my creative juices! Next, I determined which ones would work with the colors of the flip-flops.

I laid them out in a pattern for each pair on the worktable to ensure that it would look good once I glued them on.

This type of glue is like a silicone gel so it is thick and easy to see. For the center stone of each one, I held the jewel on with a clothespin to allow it to settle in place overnight before I started gluing the rest on the next morning. The glue dries clear and is waterproof, so it will be perfect for the pool or beach with no worries.

For the blue flip-flops, I decided to do in a sort of patriotic theme with blue stars, red hearts, and clear crystals complementing the blue y-strap. For the white flip-flops, I went with a more sophisticated palette of gold and clear crystal so as not to clash with the fabric on the sole of the sandal. As you can see, I was able to make two pairs of custom blinged out flip-flops for under $10! I know just who I am giving these to and, best of all, no one else will have anything like them!

At the Goodwill Retail Store & Donation Center, you can truly let yourself go wild creatively speaking. A craft project like this is a great family activity now that the kids are out of school and teaches a great lesson in reducing, reusing and recycling. Let’s see what Amazing fashion projects you and your family can come up with this summer and send me some pictures; I’d love to see them!

askbjorn@goodwillsew.com

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