DIY: Boot Shapers

As soon as I saw this post on Pinterest, I knew, I had to make them.

Thus began my adventure of drinking 20 bottles of water for 5 pairs of boots.

The project cost me about $11.00 per pair of shapers

Lessons learned:
-Con: The fur was too long and made a HUGE mess when I cut it. I recommend getting a different length of fur
-Con: Not only was the fur messy, but because of the length when I cut it the fur got REALLY SHORT. The whole bottle was not uniform.
-Pro: You do NOT need 3 yards of fur. I will most likely make a fur vest with the extra.
-Pro: Because of how long the fur was, when I did not cut enough and there was bottle showing, I just grabbed some extra fur and glued it over... I sort of like that messy fur look.
-Tip: Recommend laying down a tarp or something to catch the clippings.
-Tip: If you are making shapers for more than one pair of boots, get different color tassels so that you can keep track of the shapers.


All in all, it doesn't look like the tutorial, but they are mine and now my boots don't fall over  :)

Materials:
-SmartWater bottles (two 33.8 fl. oz. bottles per each boot shaper)
-serrated knife
-scissors
-duct tape
-hot glue gun
-faux fur (bought 3 yards only needed about 1. $58.60/3=$20/yard)
-ribbon (only used about 1/2 of the spool. $4.00/2=$2.00)
-lighter
-tassels

Cost:
$30.00    SmartWater
$20.00    Fur
$2.00      Ribbon
$0.00      Tassels
$52.00/5 pairs of boots = $10.40/ boot



Directions:

*Make sure the bottles are completely dry. I let them sit in my closet till I had accumulated all the bottles needed. I got antsy and decided to use my hair dryer to dry them more quickly.... be patient. The high heat warped the bottles a little; I caught it in time so it wasn't that disastrous.

1.  Cut the tops off. I tried using scissors like in the tutorial but I found that the serrated knife worked a lot easier and faster
2. Cut 4 slits. Tutorial says to cut 4... CUT 4. I got a little scissor happy and cut more on the first pair. It is WAYYYY easier to manipulate the height with 4 slits.
3. Repeat steps 1-2 on a second bottle and push together to get the height needed for the boot.
4. Duct tape it closed.

*repeat 1-4 so you have a pair of shapers the same size*

 5. Cut Ribbon the a little longer than length you want the loop to be and sear the ends with a lighter. Measure out duct tape (so it can go around the bottle like picture 6). Cut a slit in the middle of the tape and push the ends of the ribbon and tassel through. Make the loop of the ribbon as big or as small as you'd like. Make sure to press the ends of the ribbon and tassel to the tape so it doesn't move.
6. Tape it to one end of the bottle. I taped the ends where the ribbon/tassel were hanging off with extra tape.
7. Measure the fur a little longer than the length and height of the bottle
8. Hot glue one end of the fur. Put the glue as close to the edge as possible

 9. Place the bottle on the fabric and press down.
*Bonus: add more glue on the inside fabric if you want
10. Roll
11. If you look closely, I tried to get the hot glue on the fur and on the bottle (so it overlapped). Roll until both ends are glued to the bottle and hold for a minute
12. Hopefully you have a little extra hanging over. Cut the excess or leave it.

13. Glue the edge of the fur to the bottom of the bottle; be sure to not glue the ribbon and tassel
14. Glue the edge of the fur to the bottom of the bottle again (this is why you need to have a little extra initially)
15. Measure a circle using the bottle as a template and cut 4 (2 for each shaper)
16. In two circles cut a hole in the center, thread the ribbon and tassel through and then glue it to the bottle.
17. Glue the circles without the holes to the bottom of the shaper.
18. Cut a slit in the middle with scissors, thread the ribbon/tassel through, hot glue 1/2 of the sircle down, let cool, glue the second half.

* repeat 5-18 for matching pair*

Bonus here is a shot of my mess, I used my hands to make a big pile then vacuumed it up!

pardon my hobbit feet, you needed a scale

Fin

Let me know if you have any questions!

DIY Tassel

To make tassels I followed two tutorials. After I made two following this first tutorial I decided I should just buy them. Luckily before I bought them I ran into this second tutorial. The second tutorial was so much easier. I made four pairs of tassels, following the second tutorial, in the time it took me to make one pair.

Total Cost per Tassel: $0.00 (I had everything on hand!)



Apologies if the pictures are not to scale and my hair on the ground (I shed like a dog lol)

Materials:

-embroidery floss
-scissors
-cardboard
-tape

Cost:

$0.00     Embroidery Floss

$0.00     Tassel Template
$0.00     Tape

$0.00     

Directions:  

Tassel 1

1. Measure string, double of how long you want your tassel to be
2. I cut 15 strings (so when it was folded in 1/2 it would be 30) I lined them up to make sure they were even. Cut any excess string
3. Tie a little bit of string around the center and double knot it
4. Measure out an inch or so of string to wrap around. Fold the 15 strings in half and begin wrapping around tassel. Make sure to leave the ends poking out so you can knot it.
5. Fin

Tassel 2

1. Find or cut a piece of cardboard you want to use as the tassel template. Make sure it's the size of the tassel you want when the cardboard is folded in half. Duct tape the sides so it doesn't fling open.
2. Cut string long enough to cover the length of the template, and tape it to the top. I used masking tape simply because it would not leave my string sticky. Begin to wrap the string (leaving the end piece at the bottom) around the template. I wrapped it 15 times.
3. Remove the string from under the tape. Tie a double knot.
4. Cut the bottom
5. Cut another piece of string, maybe 2-3 inches and begin to wrap around the tip of the tassel. Leave a little extra hanging out so that you can tie it at the end. If you look closely you can see my knot. It kind of gets lost.
6. Fin

Let me know if you have any questions!