Welcome to The Cherry On Top.
Tuesdays, we do traditional scrap projects. Today's scrap are these darling paper shoes that you can use as a gift holder. In good ole Cherry fashion, this project is very quickly put together and might not cost you a penny depending on your scrap stash. I didn't purchase any extra materials.
Keep reading to find this free template I found on Pinterest and take a look at the tutorial to see how easy it is.
I'll be giving you a lot of tips through out the blog. This was my first time making these and there were a few tricky spots as well as things that could be omitted and or improved.
Go to this link to get the free template.
I cropped out the image of just the template, then I blew it up until the image just fit on the paper. I believe it was around 135%. Print out your image of the template and cut it out.
Tip: It's important that both sides of your paper are nice because they both show. As you can see from my first image, the white really shows up on the inside of the shoe. If you plan on adding some kind of insert or something decorative, then white might be ok.
Tip: I always recommend pre folding and playing with a template you've never used before. Also gauge what kind of paper weight you need. You may also want to look for wear marks at the folds. All paper is different and these marks can really stand out.
I'll explain my experience with the different paper weights so that you can choose what's best for your project. Regular printer paper gives so much more flexibility and adheres very easy. I used this much heavier, aubergine card stock and every little mistake shows up and gluing it was not easy. If you use really rigid paper like this, then you better go for the glue gun. Of course, this paper is ideal for wear and holding heavier gifts.
I traced the template onto this purple paper and cut it out. This little triangle you see below, is not needed. You can cut it off. Of course, when you do it this way, the fold lines do not show up. I simply look at my pre folded, original to see where the folds should be.
This part drove me crazy! Hehehe... These little flowers did not want to adhere with out some serious gluing. Keep reading to see the different things I did. The folding of the shoe really puts itself right in place. Choose your adhesive wisely. For my rigid shoe, I taped the sole of the shoe to the inside and when the shoe was all together nicely, I gently pulled the tape off. That worked great, but if you intend on filling the shoe, you may want to experiment to see if it is indeed necessary to glue in place.
I didn't like the white showing on this floral part of the template so I coloured it in with a black marker. This was thin paper and the marker did go through, but it's on the bottom, so you don't even notice.
For my second shoe, I gave up on those flowers. They didn't really appeal to me to begin with. I just folded them like you see in this image and taped in the inside and glued on the outside.
Look carefully at the heel of the shoe. There are two things I'm not crazy about. For one, the insert or inside sole of the shoe doesn't reach the back. It's not a big deal, but if you are a perfectionist...The second thing is the seem at the heel, on the back side. The template gives you a tab to glue from the inside and I suggest you also glue the flap that goes over that tab so you get it as flat as possible. Once again, this is me being very picky. I'd rather extend that piece a little further over so the crease shows up at the very edge of the heel rather than in the middle.
My favourite part is decorating the shoe. You could simply use one large flower like pictured below. Consider some buttons, bling or other embellishment from your stash.
I went with this flower punch and used some scraps from my shoe paper. I inked around the edges because the puncher gave my flower a very raw, white edge.
I took another flower punch and layered it up. Tip: I like lifting the petals ever so slightly for a more dimensional effect.
I used tiny glue dots for both flowers.
I added a small pearl to the centre of the black flower. Then used that same black flower for on the strap of the shoe and again, a small pearl. Tip: All the same size and colour for a cohesive look.
You can go as crazy as you like. A buckle would be adorable.
Think about what you want to put in the shoe. Some lipstick, sweet treats...I thought this would make a fun wedding or bachelorette favour.
Here's the aubergine shoe with very rigid paper. This would hold a heavier gift and could handle a bit of abuse and wear.
That imperfection on the tip top of the shoe, by me ditching the flower part is neatly covered with a larger light purple, paper flower and topped off with a touch darker paper flower. I used the same smaller flower for on the strap.
Two totally different shoes. One with sass and the other with class.
That's it for today's traditional scrap up. I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll come back for another visit.
If you are interested in our schedule, it goes as follows:
Mondays: I blog for AuSumness giving tips and tools to help with Autism.
Tuesdays: That is our traditional scrap or paper craft blog.
Thursdays: Throw Back Thursday is when we remind you of a great project or freebie from the past, that you may have missed.
Fridays: Freebie Friday is when we offer free scrap stuff either digital or traditional.
Saturdays: We show off hybrid designs. Typically, there are free templates or printables here.
Thanks you so much for giving The Cherry some of your time.
Happy crafting!