Thursday 30 April 2015

How I embraced my inner Missy Elliott blinging up these Adidas toddler trainers


     As a teenager and while dancing around my room at university (rather than studying) one of my biggest musical heroes was Missy Elliott. She worked hard, she wasn't afraid of success and most importantly you got the impression she didn't let anybody walk all over her - my kind of role model. Now, while I might be more Primarni than Armani I do love a bit of bling and this project harked back to my youth where I saw Missy perform live at the Hammersmith Apollo, London. Missy had recently injured her foot and spent the majority of the show riding around the stage on a mobility scooter entirely covered in crystals (I’m not joking). She also shamelessly promoted her trainer range with Adidas like a true business woman.
The finished toddler shoes looking awesome

     As I’ve stated I’m not big on expensive clothes – I go for quantity over quality every time – and trainers never excited me so as a skint student I didn’t indulge in buying any. However, when a friend of mine who remembers how much I once loved Missy recently gave my little one a pair of super fly dinky Adidas pink trainers I was instantly inspired to engage in some serious bling action.
     I already had the gems and tweezers leftover from my wedding shoes, where I’d taken a £12 pair of Primark’s finest purple satin shoes and covered the soles with gems. You wouldn’t believe how many people complimented me on my wedding shoes asking where they were from, I got some very shocked faces when I told them my thrifty secret! So all that was left to get was the superglue and then, making sure all the windows were wide open, I got to work.
My wedding shoes after a walk on the beach
     Because the shoes were white and pink I reflected this with clear and pink flat back crystals. The gems were only cheap from Hobbycraft a couple of years ago, and it’s easy to find similar ones online, but it was necessary to use the special tweezers otherwise placing the gems on would have been too difficult. I simply covered a small area at a time with glue and then carefully placed the crystals on, checking they didn’t slip off and also that they tessellated properly. I was very careful not to get any glue on me, the table or anything else.
Special tweezers and some gems

superglue

I used bigger gems round the back in a single row

     I tried to leave all of the logos etc free so it was obvious they were genuine Adidias, even if they weren’t genuine Missy Elliott shoes! Talking of which, once complete I tweeted the shoes tagging Missy and she ‘favorited’ them – one of the musical heroes of my youth liked my little craft project, happy days!
'Adituff' is still visible at the front on purpose

Missy 'favorited' my tweet!

Photos on Twitter

     I should point out that the diminutive model loved them too, running down the road admiring her twinkling toes in the sunshine had her giggling with joy. I will be honest, not all of the gems have survived after a couple of rough and tumble strolls around town and the park but it doesn’t matter, they still look great and children aren’t in their shoes for very long before they grow out of them so they’ll survive long enough to enjoy plenty more sparkly walks.







All blog content and photos are Copyright of Charisse Sayers Proofreader & Copywriter www.charisse-sayers.com I welcome all feedback and would love to know your thoughts so please get in touch, comment, share, like and generally get involved – you can also find me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!

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