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!