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How to Make Foot Thongs & Sandals

Make sandals with any color ribbon to match every outfit.
ribbon rolls image by TekinT from Fotolia.com

Making foot thongs and sandals at home allows you to customize your footwear to match any outfit for any occasion. You can make a casual pair of sandals from old flip-flops for a stroll through the park or a decadent pair of barefoot jewelry foot thongs for a day at the beach.

Make sandals with any color ribbon to match every outfit.
ribbon rolls image by TekinT from Fotolia.com

Things You'll Need:

  • Jewelry Stretch Cord
  • Large Decorative Beads
  • White Craft Glue
  • Clamps
  • Large Seed Beads
  • Hot Glue Gun
  • Glue Sticks
  • Cotton Fabric Or 2-Inch-Wide Ribbon
  • 3-Inch-Wide Ribbon
  • Flip-Flops
  • Small Seed Beads

Sandals

Cut off the tops of the straps on an old (or new) pair of flip-flops. Remove the strap pieces that come out of the sides of the shoe. Cut the piece between the toes so that it is level with the shoe and glue it into place.

Cut two 2-inch-wide pieces of fabric. You can use a cotton fabric, 2-inch-wide ribbon, or any old t-shirts destined for the garbage. Cut each piece long enough to extend from the bottom of the shoe up around your ankle to tie in a bow.

Tie a knot at the very end of each piece of fabric and thread one through the hole in the right side of the shoe and one through the left. Apply a dab of white craft glue to the knots in the ribbons to help them adhere to the shoe. Tug on them lightly to make sure the knots will not let them come through the shoe.

Make 1-inch-deep slits into the sides of the flip flops, approximately 1 inch away from the top of the shoes.

Lay a square of fabric on a flat surface and trace a 3-by-8 inch rectangle. Cut out the rectangle and use it as a template to cut out another. Alternatively, cut two pieces of 3-inch-wide ribbon to a length of 8 inches.

Force one 3-inch-wide end of the fabric or ribbon into one of the slits made into the shoe. Use a ruler or dull butter knife to force in the fabric. Insert the end of the other piece of fabric into the other side of the shoe. Place your foot on the shoe and wrap the ends of the ribbon over top of your foot and insert them into the side slits.

Use a hot glue gun to apply glue inside the slit along each piece of fabric. Clamp the shoe together to hold the fabric and shoe together while the glue dries for one to two hours.

Jewelry Foot Thongs

Unroll a spool of jewelry stretch cord, measure a 48-inch long piece and cut at that point. Fold the stretch cord in half and make another cut to make two 24-inch-long pieces of stretch cord.

String approximately 50 seed beads onto one piece of stretch cord. Fold the cord in half to make sure there is an even amount on each side of the fold. This makes the toe loop of the foot thong.

Grasp the ends of the stretch cord together and string on one or two large beads onto both end pieces of the 24-inch stretch cord. Slide the beads up to keep the small beads in place. Slide on a large decorative bead and then one or two more large beads. Keep a firm grasp near the ends to make sure none of the beads slide off.

Spread the ends of the stretch cord apart and slide on 100 to 110 more small beads onto each end of the cord.

Tie the two ends of the stretch cord together in a knot twice and cut off all but half an inch of the cord. Carefully thread the quarter inches back into the beads to hide them.

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