31 Days off Your Duff {Day 4} - Shoe Rack out of Crown Moulding

Let's Get Some Shoes

Shoes.... oh, I don't even know how to describe my feelings for shoes. When I'm shopping for shoes, I can't help but smile. My whole life seems problem-free. As I'm perusing the aisles and inspecting one pair after another, I can feel the anticipation and excitement in me building and rising... until my eyes finally fall upon that perfect pair of gorgeous feet art shoes. I scroll through the boxes or ask for them in the cute little size 5.5 or 6, slip/tie/buckle them on, and.... wow. Yep; definitely art.

At that point, it nearly never matters what the price tag says. When I find a pair of shoes I love, I HAVE to have them. Weak, I know, but I'm allowed one weakness, right? Oh crap, BBC's Sherlock was my one weakness.

Okay, I'm allowed two weaknesses.

It used to be that once I got my shoes home, I had nowhere to put them but on the floor. And the floor is no place for shoes! So finally, one day when I was on a crafty kick I decided to make this chic shoe holder I had once seen online. As it was a long time ago, I don't remember the original source I happened upon (it was just a simple picture, nothing more, as if the person hadn't done something extraordinary), and these racks now exist all over the internet. Thus, I'm left silently thanking my mystery inspiration.

Buying the Supplies

Unfortunately, as all of my things are packed away into boxes right now, I can't show you proper pictures of my paint or close-up pictures of my finished product; I'm just left with a quick picture or two I had sent to a friend. It's an extremely simple concept though, so don't worry.

First, I went to my local building supply store and bought some crown moulding. If I remember correctly, it came in 20 foot increments, so I got it cut into three pieces; 6', 6', and 8'.

Then, I bought a bottle of Martha Stewart's craft paint - again, it's packed away, and I don't rememebr - in some kind of blue with a pearl finish, and a foam brush.


Making the Racks

Hooray! I was ready, and so excited. At home, I laid down some bags, poured some paint into a used coffee cup lid and got to work.

Look how resourceful I am

I painted the two smaller mouldings in slightly less than one bottle of paint (see the squeezed-out bottle in that picture?), with 2-3 coats each. Once they were dry, my boyfriend drilled them into the wall, and they were ready!

This picture doesn't do justice to my beautiful shoes.

Some of those shoes had trouble staying on, so I had the brilliant idea of putting down a line of hot glue (I'm sure that idea is not the first of its kind, but I was impressed when I thought of it). That gave my more difficult shoes something extra to grip while they hung up there.

Of course, this only works with high-heeled shoes, but I have some yet-to-be-implemented ideas for the others.

Have you done anything special for your shoes? If not, then get off your duff and honour them! Or, just go buy more shoes.

And then sit right back down and watch BBC Sherlock.