Planting (Bead) Seeds

Who would have thought when the gladiator craze hit three years ago that it would still be growing strong in '09? With a fresh take on what is fast becoming a summer classic, Antik Batik has upped the ante by adding a bold pop of color and texture. Rejuvinate last season's It sandals sitting in your closet for round two simply by adding some seed beads. The candy colored shades punch up neutrals and liven basic blacks, which make accessorizing for a hot day easy breezy!


What You'll Need:
Gladiator sandals
Seed beads (variety of colors)
Superglue
Sharpie

Take your sharpie and section your sandal straps where the different color beads will meet. You may want to note which color goes where so you don't wind up getting too much of one color in a certain area (if you have OCD like me). Covering only one color section at a time, spread a thin layer of super glue over the sandal strap and pour the seed beads onto the wet glue.

Shake off the excess beads. To make sure the beads are secure spread another layer of either superglue or clear nail polish over the top. Using all your colors, make a circular pattern up the middle sandal strap then haphazardly drop beads around it. I impulsively grabbed these chunkier gladiators on a grocery excursion to Walmart, but I think the design is better suited on sandals with lots of thin straps.

xx,CC