Now, this one just makes me laugh. Have you seen the flip flops that come with a velcro strip on the strap - they cost about $35.00. Then you buy the decorative velcro strap to adhere to the flip flop - they cost about $15.00 per set. I love the concept but they are way too pricey for me - bottom line, I am too cheap to pay that much for something I can make myself. And here is how I did it:
I started out with a pair of flip flops I bought from my niece's cheerleading program at school. I had scraps of denim and velcro on hand so I was ready to begin. You need a pair of flip flops that has a nice sized strap so that the velcro has something to adhere to.
The velcro I had on hand is the type that has the sticky stuff on the back. I found that I still needed to hot glue this strip on to the flip flop strap as all the pulling on and off that you are going to do will need that extra glue to keep the velcro on the flip flop.
At this point, I took some black acrylic paint and painted the green area that the velcro did not cover. As you will see at the bottom of this post, I also made a set of straps with zebra ribbon and the ribbon was smaller than the green strap. This way, the green will not show since I have painted it black.
I cut four strips of denim, slightly wider than the strap of the flip flop and longer, as I decided to gather the denim I was going to use for my straps. I did this on the sewing machine. You can do this step by hand or not gather it at all (I did not gather the zebra ribbon later on). After I gathered the material, I stuck the other half of the velcro on the back. Again, I sewed them together as the heavy denim needed extra help in staying on the velcro.
Now, I made some flowers. I cut out 8 circles about 3" each, and one smaller circle, about 1".
I hot glued two circles together with just a dab of glue, glueing the wrong sides together. This gave me 4 two-sided circles with which to make one flower.
I folded the circle in half, added a dab of glue to make it stay together, then folded it once more into fourths, glueing to make it stay together.
You can see a drop of glue right in the middle of the flower - I pinched this area together to make it close somewhat
This is what is looks like from the back
After you make the second flower, it is time to assemble all the parts. I put the decorated straps on the flip flop and tacked them together with a very small drop of hot glue. Be careful not to glue the top layer of velcro to the bottom layer - the whole point is that you want to be able to take off one decorative strap and use another. Then, I placed the flower where I wanted it, and again, just used a small dab of glue to fix it in place. At that point, I took the entire strap/flower off the flip flop, turned it over and glued the heck out of it. (The top one is the zebra ribbon one I will talk about in a minute - but you get the idea)
And the fronts:
Now aren't these too cute?
One basic pair of flip flops, as many different looks as you want to make - for very little money!
I did actually spend money on a spool of zebra ribbon (used a coupon at Hobby Lobby) and made the second set of straps. I did not gather the ribbon for these, and the glue on the back of the velcro worked well to keep it snug and secure. I made the flower a bit differently - I used the sewing machine to gather along the edge of the ribbon.
When I had a long piece ready, I started to glue it to a 3" cardstock circle. I made two circles of ribbon and then glued a red glass piece to the center.
These are the glass beads that you are supposed to use in your flower vases - $1.00 will get you a whole bag of them at the dollar store. Naturally, I have hundreds of all colors hanging around my house... The next steps are the same - just glue your straps and flower together and have fun. I will be making some sets using gaudy baubles or silk flowers come summer time, I am sure.
Hope you have as much fun making these as I did. Now, I just have to wait for summer to get here so I can enjoy the heck out of these.
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