DIY: Glitter & Leopard Print

I have settled upon a new life mantra: All things are better covered in leopard print and pink glitter. It's true. I sprinkled some glitter on the dirty dishes in the sink and, for once, they sparkled! I'm heading to the bathroom with my gallon o' glitter next.

Well, hello there! If you are reading this here blog on Valentine's Day, I thank you! It means you are not unlike this girl. I love the decorations, the candy, the flowers (I hear people give flowers on this day...is that true? Would you mind letting my husband know?) but I think the whole idea is kinda silly. We all know it's just a big fat hairy way for Hallmark to make a couple extra bucks. But I'll take any ole excuse to get tacky and girly, thank you very much.

You don't have to say it. I know what you're thinking: daaaaang does that girl have big feets! Yes, I do. Thanks for noticing. Jerk.

 I began with these shoes. I've had these thrifted Nine West shoes in my closet for a couple of years and, while I love the wing-tipped retro look, I could never seem to find a way to make them work. The weird silly-putty tan just never appealed to me. So in my closet they sat.

The idea for covering the shoe in fabric came from this fab website: http://abeautifulmess.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Until this weekend. I took a little trip to the craft store and picked up some hot pink glitter dust, an Exacto knife, Modge Podge (for whom I should totally be an endorser) and Aleene's Tacky Glue. I painted the glue on to the shoe and covered it in some leopard print from my stash.

Silly Putty Tan, goodbye. Me-Yeow, Leopard Print!

 After the glued dried, I used an Exacto knife to cut off the excess fabric. I was really nervous about this as I thought it might be tricky, but it was a piece of cake. To prevent the fabric from fraying, I used a little brush and scrubbed some matte Modge Podge along the edge of the fabric. The extra fabric along the top was trimmed down, folded under and Modge-Podged. See, I even verbified their product name. I should so totally be an endorser!

Not all glitter is created equally. You must use glitter dust for this. Now I feel just like Edward, sparkling in the sunlight...

 Next came the glitterization of the shoes. In a small throw-away dish, I mixed a small amount of glossy Modge Podge with a ton of glitter. I painted a thick coat of said concoction onto the shoes. Once that was dry, I sealed it again with another coat of Modge Podge.

What's better than glitter shoes? Why, glitter fishnets, of course!

 And my shoes were complete! When I was making them, I actually thought I should stop after just covering them in leopard print. "Show a little restraint for once, Cassie. For the sake of all things non-tacky and civilized." Ha! Thankfully that was just a fleeting thought. Me, civilized? I don't think so.

My completed Valentine's Day look.

After completing the shoes I realized I had no other plans for my Valentine's Day outfit. So yesterday, Lauren (the cute girl you see featured in the weekly outfit posts) and I went to Goodwill after school in search of Valentine's Day attire. She spotted this leopard print skirt. What luck! And then I started noticing a ton of leopard print and I said, "Oh...maybe this is too in style right now...?" I pride myself on being very out-of-style, you see. However, as soon as I said those words, I realized my silliness: I was shopping at the place where people sent their unwanted wares! Whew! No worries, I'm wearing the most unwanted of clothing. Perfect!

Oh those bangs. Some days they just look so Squiggy (of Lenny and Squiggy fame...you Laverne and Shirley fans know what I'm talking about). And that crooked collar/bib. Oui.

The collar is one I made based off of the same idea I used for this outfit post...http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2012/02/how-to-dress-like-kindergartener.html 
I happened to have a bit of pink glitter leftover from my shoes. So I cut out some cardboard hearts, glittered them and glued them to a barrette. And, viola! Happy Valentine's Day all. Now, if you'll pardon me, hubs just walked in with a ton of chocolates and trashy magazines. Oh, forget those flowers. This man knows me too well!