The world of crystalisation is taking over! I must admit, when ever the girlie piece of my heart sees a gorgeous pair of shoes with a crystalised heel it makes me go 'aaahhh'!
I looked around at some different websites and companies that I follow on twitter to investigate how much a pair of these gorgeous heels would cost me. Unfortunately for me, my purse was never going to stretch to, in some cases, £100 plus so I decided that I would have to take it upon myself to make some.
Don't get me wrong, I understand why people are charging what they are for them, it is very time consuming and they certainly put in the hours to make such wonderful creations but it just wasn't in my price range.
This is my "How to crystalise shoes / heels" blog post. May I just add at this point literally ANYONE can do it, it is not difficult, you just need the following:-
- A pair of shoes / heels to crystalise
- Rhinestone crystals in your preferred sizes & colours
- Gem-Tac adhesive glue
- A disposal wooden cuticle stick or something similar (I used a jewel setter but you don't have to go to that expense)
- Plate to lay your crystals out on
- Patience!
I started off by treating myself to a pair of platform black shoes from a high street store and ordered multi-coloured crystals in lots of different sizes from a
seller on eBay. I had 8mm, 6mm, 5mm, 4mm, 3mm, 2mm, & 1mm as I found they were really handy to fill in the small spaces that would otherwise be the black of the shoe.
Crystalisation process
Start with the biggest size crystals, in my case this was the 8mm. I began with individually sticking these crystals onto the shoe at random places by hand. (In my case it was buttons as I used these as well as crystals but you don't have to). I then also stuck the 8mm crystals on the same way as the buttons.
After the biggest ones are on, it is literally a case of putting some glue onto the shoe, a small area at a time, and sticking random sized crystals onto the glue. It is important that you do only cover small areas of the shoe at a time, especially if you are new to crystalising, as the glue can dry and become tacky very quickly.
Layout some of each size crystal onto a plate. I found that it helped to try and keep each size together so that you can easily identify what you need once you get in the flow of it! :0)
Dab a bit of glue onto the pointed end of the stick / jewel setter and pick up individual crystals at a time. You will find that when you dab the crystal onto the glue on the shoe, it shall come off the end of the stick and stay set on the shoe. It is best to be as random as possible when picking up colours and sizes to help with the effect. Obviously when a gap is appearing that fill fit a smaller crystal, just pop one in the space.
Continue this method over the entire area of the shoe you wish to crystalise (I did the platform of the shoe and the heel of the shoe) until your work is complete.
Here are some photos of the various stages my shoes went through:
I hope that you have found this blog post helpful. If you decide to make your own shoes, please feel free to comment below with links to your photos, I would love to see them.
Remember, I chose to use multicoloured crystals but you can use any colour scheme you wish. Maybe just pinks and purples, or blacks and silvers, it really is down to personal preference.
These shoes are guaranteed to get people commenting and asking you where you got them from, and you will have the pleasure of saying they are unique and that you made them yourself! Hehe. My friend saw mine and liked them so much that she had me make her a pair too!
Feel free to comment on this blog with any questions you have.
Thanks for reading! :0)
Robin Sparkles xxx
