a big teach mama flop: fancy summer flip-flops

They look great, don’t they?

So cute! So summery! So perfect for little feet!

We thought so, until one by one, the flips we took an afternoon to beautify started falling apart, one by one. Boo-hoo, boo-hoo.

Like our last biggie teach mama flop, our fancy summer flip-flops were another. Big. Flop.

Here’s the skinny:

• Fancy Summer Flip-Flops: We love shoes over here–okay, Maddy, Cora, and I do. Owen doesn’t give a hoot what he wears on his body or feet, but the girls and I love ourselves a little something fancy once in a while or every day.

I’ve had ‘flowery flips’ on the brain for quite some time, and one recent rainy afternoon, I thought we’d give it a try. I grabbed the few loose flowers I brought back from my parents’ house last time we were visiting, and I brought out the hot glue (the big problem!), some pipe cleaners, and some beads.

Very simply, I cut the flowers from the stems, added a leaf, and secured to first Cora’s little flip-flops, then Maddy’s.

Cora’s flips are in the works. . .

. . . and how cute are they?

Maddy’s flips are almost there. . .

Owen worked his little fingers hard to put a few beads on a pipe cleaner in order to add some zing to his flops, and then I hot-glued it to secure them. But all for naught.

Within minutes of prancing and dancing and hopping around in their new, fancy summer flip-flops, the flowers and beaded-pipe cleaners fell off.

And I tried to poke holes in the glue and thread a string through and tie them on that way, but it was hard, and I got distracted.

And then super naughty-puppy Brady then grabbed Maddy’s flower from my hand. And we all chased him around our back yard for what seemed to be hours.

And when we finally recovered the soggy, dirty, dog-slobbery mess of a purple flower, we were tired and sweaty and frustrated, so we tabled the whole thing.

And I haven’t been inspired to come back to it since.

So that’s that–another big teach mama flip-flop flop for your reading pleasure. Believe me, there are many; I just don’t have the time to share them all. . . . but I should.

Any other ideas as to how I can make this work, please feel free to link back or comment to share your expertise. Crafty I am not.