Fabulous Flip Flops

With flip flop season at our doorstep, Studio 5 Contributor, Kiersten Blanchard shows how you can have a fun and unique pair for every outfit without breaking the bank.

Needed:

Flip Flops – I found mine at Michaels for $1. They are available in a variety of colors and sizes.

Embellishments – some options are ribbon, silk flowers, feather boa, buttons, sequins, and beads

Adhesive – I found a hot glue gun worked well with the plastic straps on the flip flops. After applying the glue and embellishments, let it sit for a day for best adhesion. You can also use gorilla glue, as it provides a strong bond with a rubber base.

Matches or lighter – This is one of my favorite crafting secrets: Use a match or lighter to seal the ends of your ribbon that might fray. This works on 100% polyester ribbon because it simply melts the raw edge fibers together. Don’t overdo it…just a little heat will melt the edge and the ribbon will still maintain its shape.

Velcro – You can buy Velcro dots and make embellishments interchangeable on your flip flops. I did this with silk flowers.

Bonus Idea: Buy extra ribbon or embellishments to create matching headbands. This is especially cute for little girls!

Interchangeable Flip Flop Instructions

1. Buy some flip flops. I used Mossimo brand flip flops with leather straps I purchased at Target. Find a basic color so that a wider variety of interchangeable straps will match. The straps should be about ¾” wide or less, so that the Velcro will cover the strap and your ribbon won’t need to be wider than a standard 7/8″.

2. Buy Velcro, ribbon and other embellishments. Velcro is generally available in 3 colors: white, black and beige. (I bought mine at Michael’s and used a 40% off coupon.) Velcro comes with a sticky back, a heat bond back, or sew-on back. For ease, I used the sticky back. After 24 hours the sticky back bond is very strong. I bought several different ribbons in 7/8″ width. Grosgrains worked best. Once you’ve found your ribbon, find matching embellishments. You will want them to be large enough to cover up the seam where the straps of the flip flop meet in the middle. Options include large buttons, silk flowers, and bows.

3. Measure, cut and apply the Velcro to the flip flop straps. Carefully measure and apply the loop side of the Velcro to the straps.

4. Create your interchangeable strap pieces. Take a ribbon and fold it in half, right sides together. Make sure both sides will be long enough to cover the flip flop straps. By hand, or with a machine, sew from the folded corner to the other side at around a 45-degree angle. (See Picture A) The exact angle will depend on your choice of flip flop. Test it by opening the ribbon and laying it across the straps to make sure if fits. Trim the seam. Attach an embellishment to cover the seam where the two sides of the strap come together. If sewing this step is easiest now…If gluing, you can wait until the Velcro has been applied. Apply the Velcro in two separate pieces to the wrong side of the ribbon. With the first piece, secure the sewn seam down to the ribbon. (See Picture B) Trim the ends to fit exactly the flip flop straps. Seal the ends of the ribbon using a match or lighter. Repeat all steps with the same materials for the other flip flop in the pair. Remember to change flip flops as the measurements will likely be different for the left and right feet.

5. Enjoy! Now you have the ability to match any outfit without buying a new pair of shoes!

If you love the idea of interchangeable flip flops, but don’t want to create them yourself, you can visit the source of my idea at www.switchflops.com.