As I start to share more stories, I thought I should go into how the whole "custom shoe thing" came to be.
When my daughter was three, my sister bought her a game lame princess dress (Belle of course) from the Disney Store when we were visiting her. The dress was lovely, but I did not really like the Belle logo on the front, I simply wanted it to look "princessey" ... so, as I have always been a crafty sort of person, I bought some sequins and rhinestones and covered the front of the dress (as well as adding a ton of sparkle to the trim and hem.)
Knowing it would be cold in the evening (we live in Northern VA) my mom made her a purple cape to wear the costume, which, though it was very regal, I did have those extra sequins and rhinestones... and I did want the whole thing to match... (in other words I found that I just liked adding the sparkle and wanted to do more.)
The shoes... well, I found a perfect pair of gold glitter shoes at our local Target. They sparkled and were so much better than the plastic things they sold at the Disney store.. comfort wise. I had seen far too many little girls coming around trick or treating and while they had to deal with a coat over their costume, the bulkyness and all, and hold onto a plastic pumpkin, many with a flashlight necklace on them to boot.. all while clunking and sliding along in their plastic shoes slipping off their feet, with the short heel so many had never worn before.. well.. I did not want that.
Now the Target shoes were fantastic, and my little girl thought so too.. so she ended up wearing them - alot- before Halloween. And as any mom knows, heck, let them wear them as the kiddos will outgrow them in a blink of the eye.
Well, of course, the glitter of the shoes started wearing off... so... a few days before Halloween.. I did have the extra rhinestones.. what the heck. I ran to the store to buy some gold glitter to first cover them with glitter, then thought it would be lovely to add (to my joy) the rhinestones. So, the glitters were all pretty, but not what I wanted... but if I mixed some... then yes, I would have whatever it was that I was looking for.
The day of Halloween my father, mother, sister and her son (who was 1/2 year older than my daughter) came over for our neighborhood Halloween parade and then of course, trick or treating.
In the late afternoon, with the sun dropping and turning the light golden, my little blonde daughter was glittery, gleaming, and quite a little show stopper. Oh, and did I mention the belle crown she wore.. was well.. yes.. covered with sequins and rhinestones of course.. had to.. at that point I was looking for anything to attach rhinestones to.
Now, covering things with rhinestones may be a norm and quite the teen habit now, but this was 1998, and no, Paris Hilton was not showing up yet with her Swarvoski crystal covered phone yet.. and there were no crystal covered anything really in stores.
Anyway, as the light faded away, and it was time for a short round of hitting the neighborhood homes, there was something about those shoes.. in the light of the street lamps and porches.. that literally made each step she took a brilliant one, one that light danced off the rhinestones.. it was amazing.
(For those that have rhinestones on their shoes... accent or otherwise, please take a moment to look at them in the evening.... the effect is really something.
While my daughter went on her treat gathering way, the neighborhood moms kept commenting on her shoes.. "where did you get them""I want a pair for my daughter" and so on.
My hubby, after the 20th mom asked, made the side comment to me that I should sell them.
Hmmmm.....
(more to follow...)
