In the midst of larger home decor projects, sometimes it's fun to stop and do a quick craft project once in a while. This DIY leopard feather pom pom shoe project took me less than 5 minutes yesterday... so quick that I made several pairs!
When I came across these leopard feather pom pom pumps I immediately fell in love. I mean, how fun are they? However, they were pricey and the feather puff isn't removable for more versatility. I thought I could easily DIY something similar for next to nothing, especially considering I already have several pairs of leopard shoes to work with.
Supplies Needed:
Premade Feather Clips or Marabou Feather Boa (from the craft store, mine are from Hobby Lobby)
Small Plastic Alligator Clips (30mm flat black alligator clips- Hobby Lobby)
Leopard Shoe of your choice (or just a pair of plain shoes you want to jazz up!)
Mini Hot Glue Gun- low temp
I bought these premade feather clips from Hobby Lobby. My daughter used to wear these in her hair all the time when she was little, so buying them was a bit nostalgic! Before beginning, inspect the way the feather is glued onto the clip, almost in a rainbow arc type fashion (it's not laying flat). Gently pull off the metal clip, it is too large and bulky to use for this project.
My feather clips had some longer pieces that shot out farther than I wanted them too, so I trimmed those longer pieces to give a more uniform pom pom shape.
When working with the plastic alligator clip, you'll want the curved, smaller side to be the top (that you attach the feather to), and the smooth, flat side to be the bottom.
Use a small drop of hot glue on each end of the feather section and attach it to the curved side of the alligator clip. In the same way that it was attached to the metal clip, glue one end of the feather section to one end of the clip, then the other end of feathers to other end of clip. It's best to hold the clip open while you're applying the glue and attaching the feather so you don't accidentally glue the clip closed. I recommend a low temp glue gun for this project, you're going to be in close contact when pressing the feather to the clip and you want to avoid a burn for sure.
Then, just slide your clip over the toe of your shoe and presto! Cute, sassy new shoes! Just FYI in case you're wondering, the clip is so small and flat that I could not feel it when wearing the shoes at all.
And because I couldn't stop with one good thing, I made another color! I knew I wanted a pink pair of feather clips too, but they didn't have the premade clips in that color. So, I bought a long marabou feather boa in the color I wanted. I cut about a 4" section for each pom pom. I made this one a bit differently just because the make-up of the feathers were a little different than the black ones. When working with the boa, I glued the two end together to form a circle, then glued that point onto one end of the alligator clip. Then, I found the opposite side of the circle, squeezed it in a bit towards the other side, and glued that point to the other end of the alligator clip. I couldn't really photograph that...too many feathers in the way... but I hope that makes sense! Just play with your piece a little and make it into the best shape you can.
The best part about this project is that I can switch these to any of my shoes! Leopard wedges? Why yes!
And, I can mix and match according to what I'm wearing, fancy or casual. These would be so fun to make if you have a little girl to share them with, too!
The inspiration designer shoes were originally $140, and I made mine for less than $5 since I already had the shoes! What do you think? Would you wear feather poms on your toes? ;)
If by chance you don't own a pair of leopard shoes (why not???), I rounded some up for you to consider. And by the way, if you think these shoes are darling too but aren't sure about DIYing your own pair, the originals are currently 1/2 price!!
Adorable! I have lots of leopard shoes I could put these feathery beauties on. Thanks for the tutorial!
ReplyDeleteMy daughter would love these. She just bought a pair of pink pom clips and wore them with leopard flats.
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