DIY: Cherry Delight

I make no secret of the fact that I am a lover of all things cute. All manner of things whimsical in nature. If it’s glittery or in the shape of some sort of food (case in point here), I literally can’t keep myself from purchasing it. So, I was uber excited when the effervescent Sarah from the blog AskSarah emailed me – another fab Aussie blogger who loves to sew and embraces her entrepreneurial spirit? Yes please! She was embarking on a DIY to make whipped cream with a cherry on top shoes and offered to do a guest post (Yes, you heard me. Whipped cream with a cherry on top shoes. I shall wait for you to start breathing again).

I absolutely love to sew and love the feeling of creating something from nothing. Although and I’m pretty comfortable behind the wheel of my Bernina, I’ve never really been a crafter. Glue guns sort of frighten me. Decoupage makes me nervous that I’ll stick things to other things and they’ll never come unstuck (and if one of those somethings is vintage, I’ll cry). But, I marvel at those who have a knack for it…and was so excited to see how Sarah brought these beauties from a whimsy to a reality.

Within just a few months of following her blog, I came to realize that no project was too ambitious for this gal, and I had no doubt that the Whipped Cream Cherry Shoes of Dreams would very quickly become a reality. And Sarah did not disappoint!

Want to hear how she made these babies? Read on…

DIY Whipped Cream With A Cherry On Top Shoes!

By Sarah of AskSarah

A huge hello to you, Kara’s readers, and a huge thank you to Kara for letting me share this DIY with you!

No doubt, you are in awe when it comes to Kara’s wardrobe! Yeah, me too! But her shoes, Lordy, those shoes. I mean Every. Single. Pair. But those shoes from Shoe Bakery? Oh my! They had me feeling distinctly jelly. But then I got thinking…..

What if I could get some flats, with whipped cream and a cherry on top? I looked online for a pair and couldn’t find quite what I was looking for. I have sewn about 85% of my wardrobe because that’s the best way of getting exactly what I want. So naturally, as I thought about the shoes, I thought – Could I DIY them?

As it turns out, I could! It took some research but they only took a few minutes to make in the end. Are you excited yet? It is really easy but this is one of those projects that is less about technical skill and more about materials. It certainly helps to have some skill with piping icing onto cupcakes but there are plenty of YouTubes that can show you that. When I was researching this project, very few DIY’ers were keen to give away the details of which products they use. And even though there were people who did share, the products they used were not available in Australia. I called the Selleys hotline (they make most of the caulking type products in Australia) and explained what I was after. Yes, I sounded silly and they thought I was a little odd but you really need a product that will adhere well, hold the shape and hopefully will last! So if you can’t get what I used where you are, call your local manufacturer of caulk and sealant products and have a chat. It’s also worth noting that because I attached a piping tip, the product was oozing out all over (not just where it should) and that means working quickly! This stuff starts to skin (or set) quickly and I managed a practice swirl and two pairs of shoes before the dispenser got all gummed up.

You’ll need:

Shoes with a fabric or suede texture
Selleys 3 in 1 Ezi Press in white
Disposable star piping tip
Faux cherries
Painters tape
Gloves

Where to find materials:

Shoes – I was advised that a fabric or suede textured shoe is best for creating a bond. Some plastics will not bond at all. Stores like Target, Big W and Kmart often have shoes at bargain prices, but your own wardrobe or a thrift store could be good place to start.

Selleys 3 in 1 Ezi Press in White – This is the perfect choice because it adheres well, holds shape and it waterproof. It’s also in a spray can which works well for piping. Most products like this are used with a caulking gun and that’s almost impossible to use and pipe at the same time. You’ll find this in the hardware store for around $10.

Disposable star tip – Mine came from a box of Multix disposable piping bags that I use for cooking (they are in the baking isle of most supermarkets). You can buy proper metal piping tips in cooking supply stores but you’ll be throwing it out after this project. Well, I hear you can peel the product off once it’s set, but you can never use it for food. If you buy the piping bags, you can practice your technique on some cupcakes first! Just wash and dry your piping tip well before starting this project.

Faux cherries – I found mine on eBay, but my local $2 shop had some faux fruit recently, so that’s worth a look. I think I got a bag of 10 cherries for about $1.80 but some were less than perfect on arrival, so buy with that in mind.

Painters tape, gloves etc – The 3 in 1 is a pain to remove, so cover your surfaces and wear gloves. You’ll need some tape to affix your piping tip to the 3 in 1.

The Setup

I removed the nozzle that came with the 3 in 1 and put my icing tip in place. Of course it had a much bigger opening than the can of 3 in 1 so I taped it down securely. The grey plastic on the 3 in 1 has a max/min notation on it, the tape will cover this, so make sure you know which way to turn it before you cover it. I covered my work area in a black plastic party tablecloth to protect the kitchen bench and taped it down. I grabbed a snap lock bag to practice on and set out my shoes and cherries. Make sure you check the cherries for flaws before you start!

I put on my gloves – don’t skip this part, you’ll regret it! TIP – The can says to remove this product with methylated spirits, but my photographer got a smear on their hand (no gloves) and found non acetone nail polish remover took it off fine.

There’s a little tab on the edge of the grey plastic that you need to remove before you can turn it, I flicked it off with a butter knife.

Now to the piping! I just squeezed the can as directed and did a test swirl on the snap lock bag. It was fine, so I moved on to the shoes. You need to work quite quickly! Pipe one shoe, press in the cherry and get to the next one. Make your swirl just a little smaller than you want it to be because it will widen out as you push the cherry down. Don’t worry if when you pull away from the swirl the product keeps coming up rather than pinching off like frosting would, just gently push it down with a cherry. It would be nice if everything worked out exactly the same and even but like frosting (or piped whipped cream) there will be variation. Just do the best you can and remember that some variation is more realistic!

I allowed the shoes to cure for a full four days, indoors at room temperature. Don’t be tempted to speed up drying with a hairdryer or anything! This can cause cracking. Even if they seem dry, allow at least 72 hours to cure, I’m told that full adhesive bond takes that long. But they need to set all the way through the product and it dries out at about 2mm per day, so they won’t actually fully set for about two weeks! Wait the 72 hours and use your test swirl as a guide. I wore mine (very carefully) after four days. But, let them set up and dry thoroughly. I know, it’s hard to be patient! But it’s all worth it!

Now wear those cute as a button shoes! And when you get millions of compliments (and you will!) you can proudly tell people that you made them yourself! Not only that, they were a bargain!

Time & Cost to make:

15 mins from set up to done!

Of course the ‘at least 72 hour plus’ curing time was painful! Plus there was shopping time and I had to wait for my cherries to arrive but all in all, this was lightning speed!

Out of pocket cost was about $12 for the 3 in 1 and cherries and the rest was on hand.

Now if you are like me, you immediately want to know about durability, I get that! I really researched and these should be fine in the rain, should wipe clean if dirty or dusty and (if you patiently waited) should be rock solid. But they are a DIY hack and should be treated with great care and kindness. So far everything is well and I’m sure Kara & I will edit this to let you know how things held up.

I really hope you liked this DIY and it was so lovely of Kara to let me share it with you. I had so much fun planning and researching it (even if a few hardware store people think I’m nuts!) and I’m very pleased with how these shoes turned out! I hope you’ll come by and visit me, I have a great post up where I interview Kara and give the Dressed App a test drive. Plus you might find some other fun DIYs there too. Thanks again Kara, this has definitely been fun!

Seriously, isn’t she the cutest?? I hope you marveled at this DIY as much as I did! If you haven’t read Sarah’s blog before, I highly recommend heading over there immediately. She is a self-taught DIY and sewing goddess meets chef-extraordinaire. And if that isn’t enough, she actually wrote a book! I’m completely inspired by her awesomeness, and have no doubt that if we lived anywhere near each other, the retail sector in that area would be in serious trouble… If you want to follow Sarah’s creative adventures, I hope you check out her blog, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

And because she is the awesomest, Sarah made me my very own pair of these whipped cream beauties! I practically jumped out of my skin in delight (and the postman was no doubt sick of my stalking our mailbox). I plan to take them out for a test drive this weekend – coming soon to an outfit post near you…

Going to give the Whipped Cream With a Cherry on Top Shoes DIY a try? Be sure to let us know in the comments section. We would love so see photos of how they turned out!

xoxo

If you want to know about Sarah’s amazing outfits:

Outfit Details:
Jeans: Judy Blue (similar)
Cardigan: Target (similar)
Cherry Hairpin: ebay (similar)
Cherry Top: Me Made and not blogged, but I should have a tutorial/pattern up before summer!
Cakes & Jellies Dress: Me Made, not blogged, copied from RTW
Crinoline: Op shop, thrifted (similar)
Pom Pom Bolero: Me Made, blogged
Cherry Bowling Bag: Me Made, blogged