Copying Kate

I was doing a little shopping this weekend when I spotted these absolutely adorable flats in the window of Kate Spade. If you want the real thing they'll set you back $250, but I'm a bit on the short side (5'3'') and prefer to wear heels, so I began plotting how I could get the shoes, plus a heel, minus the hefty price tag.

I started with these basic tan pumps that I bought for $14.99 (originally $49.99) at Ross.

Then I headed over to Michaels for the following supplies, which cost about $20 

• small wood rectangles
• assorted clear jewels
• glue
• gold leaf
• wire

I painted the wood pieces and waited for them to dry.

Then I glued the wood to the shoes and secured them down with wire until the glue had dried thoroughly.

I used a spare piece of wood to plan my jewel-layout. I did the above design on the right shoe, and a mirror-image of the same design on the left shoe.

Et voila! I'm quite pleased with them. I was worried they'd fall apart right away and I'd be leaving a trail of bling behind me everywhere I went, but so far everything has stayed put! Now we'll have to see how they hold up after an evening of dancing out on the town with my husband:) That will be the real test!