DIY baby sandals by yours truly!!

We had plans to go to our neighborhood farmers market today but the weather in Providence has been wacky lately and the heavy thunderstorms left us housebound. Of course today Aurora decided to take the longest naps ever so I actually had time to do something not internet related! I stumbled upon a How To for fancy lady sandals using a pair of cheap flip flops and scraps of fabric. While I'm not sure I dig the style for grown ups it gave me a great idea! Old Navy has little baby flip flops like these:

My only issue with these is that I feel like the plastic bit that goes between the toes is a little too thick for such teensy tootsies and I already don't dig shoes on babies so feeling like they'd be uncomfortable to boot killed them for me. That being said, I thought they were so adorable that several times I considered going back on that decision. Once I saw this DIY flip flop trick I knew this would be the perfect use for it!

So I made this double handy by getting the flip flops on sale (not a huge deal since they're only $3.50 normal priced) and using an old onesie that Aura had outgrown. Genius, if I do say so myself. I can give a step by step but I think even minimally crafty people will get the basic idea, so I'll keep it simple. The first step was to cup off the plastic straps and pull them off along with the little plugs on the bottom that keep them in. Then you take four strips of fabric (I knew I'd need two longish and two shorter ones... but you can always adjust and trim later) for each sandal. Two get threaded through the middle hole and knotted underneath (the knot will tuck into the hole created by the original plastic stopper) Then the other ends and one end of the longer pieces  get threaded through each side and knotted. I put her foot in for this step so I could make sure the tops fit perfectly before tying the knot. So now they looked like this:

Makes sense so far right?
So after that all it took was a little trimming, a finish V cut to prevent fraying and a little bow added to the tops just because and those original cute but boring flip flops turned into these:

So there you have it, a cheap pair of flip flops, some scraps of cloth and about 20 minutes and you have awesome one of a kind sandals for your wee one! Best part is there's no sewing required unless you are super  picky about rough edges (I like them) or you are using a very delicate fabric that you need to layer. I left the straps in the back long enough to tie either behind or in front of the ankle but that's personal preference. I haven't gotten a picture of them on her yet but I'll attempt to rectify that soon as well as try to dig up the link for the adult version.
I've got to say, I'm feeling pretty proud of myself right about now...