Sunday, June 30, 2013

How to: Fix Ripped or Too Big of Sandals

SO here's the scoop, I'm getting ready to go on vacation. We're staying at Mandalay Bay in Vegas baby! Do you know what they have at Mandalay Bay in Vegas baby?! They have the best stinking pool on the strip, complete with a lazy river and sandy beach. Now.... it's going to be around 115 degrees F the whole time we are there and I do not need my feetsies burning on the insanely hot sandy beach no matter how tough I would look.  I am in need of a pair of sandals on my feet at all times but they can't be regular flip flops because I don't want to carry them on that Lazy River, so..... I took to the interwebz. I found these babies:


But some of the reviews said the back strap was too big and that right there would just do me no good.  On the same page I saw how most of them said they fell apart at the overlapping part of the strap (this is because they were glued and can come apart quite easily).  I also saw another person's comment on how she fixed her with some sewing supplies.  While I don't have time to go to the store, get the supplies, and figure out what the heck she did on my own it did give me another idea....  I just so happen to have an overwhelming large supply of brads at the moment.

So I got my shoes and sure enough one was definitely too long on the back and the other could use a bit of help. So I took out the rivets that were already installed and peeled apart very slowly where the bits of strap overlapped.

Sorry for the fuzziness in that one (Note to self: Use Macro setting even when late night blogging!).  See where it overlaps?  Next, I placed my feet in them and wrapped the piece around the back to where I wanted them to fit.   I marked the spot with a fine tipped marker so I would be able to remember where I wanted them.  I then used just the tip of my Exacto knife to make a slice for a big brad to go through the first main whole and a small hole for a mini brad at the second hole.  Yet another note: Make sure to slice vertically and not too far so that the brads can lay horizontally with the strap instead of peeking out above or below.  Next, you can apply some sort of glue, I used a low temp glue gun, but I'm sure an E6000 or something that can withstand getting wet would be great as well.  Place the big brad and little brad in each shoe and.... voila!
See the stinking brad sticking over the top? Ah well, my feetsies shall be most happy! (I hope).  After you are finished placing the brads in you can seal them with a clear nail polish or find a matching polish (which I will do today) and they should look good as new! 

I will update later to let you know how they stood up in the sand and water.  While it may be another week until I post again, just know that my future posts will be covering the Smash Portfolio Bundle I bought specifically for my Vegas trip and lots of pictures and tips from my vacation! Until next time, my friends!

Casey

2 comments:

  1. love your solution for this problem!
    please tell me where to get these brads.... online or some place special?
    are they metal or plastic? are these the kind that are used for scrapbooking?
    help!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Susan, the ones that I used are just metal brads that would typically be used for cards and scrapbooking. I got these particular sizes in a kit from Oriental Trading, though I have seen some pretty awesome brad sets on Amazon and Scrapbooking.com.

      Delete