DIY Ruby Red Slippers for a Wizard of Oz Dorothy Costume

DIY Ruby Slippers for Dorothy Costume 

This halloween we are all dressing up as characters from the Wizard of Oz 1939 film. Freya (6 months) will be the Cowardly Lion, Violet (19 months) will be Dorothy, my husband will be the Scarecrow, and I will be Glinda. (Coming soon, my post on making my Glinda costume)

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Freya's lion costume was picked up second hand from a thrift store for $3.00. My husband will be using items we already have for his, and Violet already has a gingham blue dress and socks to be Dorothy. However, we did not have glittery red ruby slippers in a toddler size. (She actually has some red ruby ones from when she was a baby, but they only fit Freya now, much to Violet's chagrin.)

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So, I took a pair of flats we inherited from some hand me downs and bought fabric paint a tub of fine red glitter. 



Total Project Cost: $7.18
Glitter: $4.99
Fabric Glue: $3.99
Plus a 20% Joanne's coupon for the total purchase



Materials: 
Shoes
Glitter
Glue
Sand Paper (found in garage)
Clear Spray Sealer (found in garage)

Steps:

1. Sand shoes and clean them

2. Coat with fabric glue


3. Douse generously with glitter 


4. Wait for shoes to dry, then repeat the fabric glue and dousing with glitter until you are happy with the results

5. Spray with sealant to prevent complete glitter melt down (Violet still trails glitter, but these are for one time use, you can get a specialty glitter sealant if you want to completely prevent glitter loss, this will dull your sparkle factor)


6. For my project, the flats were maryjanes. Violet's feet were already being squished by the strap so I just cut it out, but I had originally intended to either paint it with fabric paint or encase it in red ribbon. 


Other options/Project Variations: Sequins instead of glitter (more accurate to the film), or sewing sequins on instead of using glue, painting the shoes first red (was not necessary for us as the glitter completely covered the shoes)

Tips: 
1. Use FINE glitter. Per my research, thicker, cheaper glitter will not stick on the shoe as well. 
2. Be patient, wait between coats. I took 24 hour breaks between coats. 


I read a couple different blogs for inspiration that were all quite lovely. I'd like to pay tribute to them here and recommend you check them out. 

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