Why make your own glue? ... Yeah, I don't have a link for that. [Edit: don't ever make your own glue. See information at the end of this post.]
While perusing the pinterest, I found this glue. Now, when I found the pin it said "cheaper and better than Mod Podge," to which I responded, "hell yes, I'm that cheap." If you haven't been introduced to Mod Podge (yeah, I see that link in there that says why you shouldn't make your own Mod Podge. I don't want to talk about it), it's only the glue that holds together the universe of craft. Do it yourself-ers use it for absolutely everything.
I started following the directions and quickly realized there's no measurements besides the 3:1 ratio of flour to sugar.
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| At least this was right... |
I just decided to add a decent amount of water to make it the consistancy that I wanted.
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| This doesn't taste good. Not that I know that from experience. |
And then I heated it, but it just made it burn. I'm not entirely sure what that step is for. I added an accidentally large amount of vinegar, and then I was done. My lumpy $0 glue.
After I finished I read that note about this not being better than Mod Podge and decided to ignore it. As far as I know, this glue worked perfectly fine (I'll explain later). If you have a really tight budget, or you don't want to make a trip to the craft store, make this glue. Don't make it if you want to seal something or if what your making must be really durable.
On to bigger and better things: glitter pumps.
How to make your own glitter pumps:
Materials:
1 pair of pumps or other type of shoe (preferably a color similar to your glitter)
a large paint brush
Mod podge (preferred)
Glitter
Newspaper to catch the glitter on
a bowl
a wire brush (optional)
I got a $20 pair of "Comfort Plus" heels. I really wanted to go to a thrift store and find some old 90's heels, but my mother (who was shopping with me) cringed at the thought of wearing previously worn shoes. She doesn't understand college budgets.
First I used the wire brush to scuff the patent leather so the glue would stick better.
Then I applied the glue to one section and let it dry for a couple of minutes.
I poured the glitter on the glue and shook off the excess. I let it dry for half a day and continued the process section by section.
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| After the whole shoe was covered in glitter. |
I let the shoes dry for a day, and then I applied Mod Podge on top of the glitter to make sure I didn't leave a trail of glitter behind me.
This is what it looked like after it dried:
And now I've made the perfect footwear for any middle school dance. I'm actually wearing these for a wedding I'm the maid of honor for, hence why I really wanted to make sure the glitter didn't come off. There's nothing more embarrassing than ruining a wedding ceremony by scattering chunks of glitter everywhere.
Oh, and my homemade glue? I used it on one shoe, but not the other. In the middle of the whole process, one of my friends offered to give me her left over Mod Podge from another shoe project. I gladly accepted, and now I have no idea which shoe has homemade glue and which does not. It's a good thing I got the Mod Podge though, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to seal the glitter on there. The homemade glue was pretty chunky, and I can't imagine it would have dried nicely.
I'm pretty stinking proud of these shoes. I'll let you know if my homemade glue backfires, and I'm suddenly wearing two different shoes. If you try it out, be sure to send me some pictures (swissmissseamstress@gmail.com)!
Edit: Don't ever make your own glue:
It made it through 4 hours of pictures, but at the ceremony I looked down and my shoes were peeling. Only the part with the homemade glue though. The mod podge held up great. I was able to just press it back on until the reception where I changed shoes anyway.
My mother is basking in the glory of I-told-you-so, but I'm glad I tried it so in case anyone else is as dumb as me, they'll read this and be warned.
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