This might be my new favorite DIY of all time because of the sentimentality behind it and because it memorializes THEE original PINK SHOES that I believe were a turning point in my life.  Don’t believe me?  Read the story!

But I think that little baby shoes can be significant in any moms life.  They remind us of those early days, the excitement of putting those adorable little sandals, tennis shoes, moccasins, and slippers on our babies feet for the first time.  They’re what we ooooo and ahhhh over at our baby showers and we can hardly resist paying way more money than we should on tempting, novelty footwear for our new ones.

Anyone that has saved some of those cute shoes from those first few years of their child’s life can do this DIY.  And when we look at them hanging in their rooms, in a hallway, in an entryway–wherever you choose to hang them they’ll remind us of simpler days and those first steps that our children took as we loaned them some of our confidence and courage to step out on their own.

Here’s what you need:

• A DEEP shadow box.  I found mine at Michael’s.  They aren’t the cheapest DIY accessory but if you wait a bit you can probably find one on sale.  The one I found was 40% off, making it around $18.  Take the thickest pair of shoes you’ll be putting in the box with you to make sure you can fit them in there without them looking smushed.
• Adorable paper and sticker ephemera to decorate the box with.
• Velcro and glue dots.
• Background paper for your shadow box.
• SHOES! I picked three pairs–one from the first three years of Georgia’s life.

Step One:

Lay your shoes out on the background paper.  Once they are in the positions that you want them to be attach Velcro to the bottoms of them and affix them to the paper.  Press hard to make sure they are securely in place.

Here they are….the originals.  My Pink Shoes.

I put both sides of the Velcro onto the bottom of a shoe, removed the paper backing and just stuck it to the paper where I wanted it. It honestly holds very well.  I’m holding my sheet of scrap book paper up below and the shoes are securely in place.  I even wiggled it a few times to make sure.

Step Two:

From here it’s really about decorating the inside of the box the way you want to.  My biggest challenge was that Georgia doesn’t have one drop of pink in her room so I needed to figure out a way to incorporate this display into her room in a way that made sense.  I experimented with different letters, stickers, arrangements, and so on.  I decided on little bunting flags, a few embellishments that matched her room, and a bit of glitter ribbon.

Step Three:

I stuck three large chunks of Velcro and glue dots all over the back of the box backing that my scrap-book paper with the shoes would adhere to.  And then carefully, I took my ‘pink shoes’ display and laid it on top of all the glue and Velcro.

Step Four:

Hang it up!  And step back and admire your work and let all those memories of those pudgy little feet walking in those shoes for the first time come flooding back.

Post by Maggie Terryn : Mom Colored Glasses