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The Big Day (and leading up to it)!

Wedding Shoes

Supplies: 

1. Pair of shoes 

2. Swarovski HotFix Crystals with heat activated glue (I used this, but any brand should work the same)

4. Fabric Glue

5. Single Heat Tool 

6. Mini iron 

Directions:

1. Find discount shoes (Hello Dillard's Clearance Center!)

2. Order crystals in bulk 

3. Pencil in a design on the shoes 

4. Start in the center of the shoe and work outwards

5. Lightly coat small area with fabric glue

6. Place crystals in the area

7. Let dry 

8. Use hot tool or mini iron to heat the adhesive for crystals to set 

9. Let Dry 

10. Once the section is dried, check for loose crystals. 

11. Using a smaller heating tool, heat the loose crystal again. Once the glue is creating a glossy color, use your finger to hold it in place. (You may wish to use a finger protector because the crystals do get hot.)

12. Using the steps above work in sections all over the shoe until completed. 

 

**Side note: I bought two pairs of these shoes because the other pair went horribly wrong. As you can see on the left, I started without a pattern and began to randomly place crystals on the heel without giving too much thought to placement. 



I began the project thinking that I could only use a single heating tool to get the desired effect. Turns out that it was a complete waste of time doing it that way. The crystals did not set properly and the single heating tool burned my hands numerous times because the head of the tool would glide across the top of the crystals. 



Thank God that I found a duplicate pair at the same clearance center. In all, I spent $30 on both pairs of shoes, which is why I advocate for trying this with a comfortable discount pair of shoes in case you have to start again. 

Bridal Doll 

Supplies: 

  1. Pipe cleaner

  2. Tulle

  3. Doll head

  4. Doll hair 

  5. Beads 

  6. Sequins

  7. Lace

 

Doll Base:

  1. Use pipe cleaners to form a base. Create a circle, then attach half pieces to the circle to make the dress form.

  2. Stuff the base with tulle for reinforcement.

  3. Attach a layer of plain lace or cloth on the dress form. This should cover the bodice and the skirt.

  4. Attach doll head with glue to the bodice area.

  5. Make sleeves by using small strips of cloth. Attach sleeves to bodice.

  6. Glue doll hands into sleeves.

  7. Sew the lace onto bodice and skirt.

  8. Embellish with beads. 

Doll Hair and Veil

  1. Cut out small piece of lace.

  2. Place doll hair on lace and sew. *Just like real wig making.

  3. Glue the piece of lace to top of doll’s head.

  4. Cut out two strips of tulle. One small and one larger.

  5. Place the smaller (blusher) in front of the doll’s head.

  6. Sew blusher into place.

  7. Place the larger veil in the back of the doll’s head.

  8. Sew veil into place.

  9. Sew beads onto wig of the doll.

  10. Cut veils and hair to your liking. 

For my “Something Old,”  I asked my mother if I could have her old wedding veil. She told me that it was balled up in her closet and had turned kind of yellowish, but I was welcome to take it. I dug it out of the closet to find out that she was correct. The veil was a yellow color, wrinkled, and well, kind of a lost cause.

 

Yet, I really wanted to wear something of my mother’s on my wedding day and there is no way I could squeeze myself into her gown.  I knew there had to be some way to get the yellow out of the veil, but nothing was really showing up online. I decided that going to an antique store was the best route.

 

While there, I sought out a person that sold old lace, so I could ask them what they did to remove yellow from fabrics. Well, the lady I talked to convinced me to buy some sort of bath crystal type thing, which I was a bit skeptical about.

 

On another note, while I was at the antique store, I saw a wedding dress probably from the 80’s that had a really nice lace pattern to it. I bought it with the idea that I would deconstruct the dress and salvage the embellishments. Let’s say it was a great investment of $50.

 

I took the dress and the crystals home and started to work. The crystals worked surprisingly well as you can see from the pictures. Once dry, I rounded the bottom of the veil to remove frayed edges. Then I got to work adding the lace to the bottom.

 

This is something that I worked on for months. The pictures do not actually show how much beading and crystal work that I did on the veil. Do not tell my husband this, but I was actually working on the veil the morning of the wedding with my sister, Star.

 

I hope that if I have a daughter or even daughter-in-law, they may want to wear it too. Cheers!

Wedding Veil Heirloom 

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