Friday was the Summer Solstice and to celebrate we have a DIY project that’s perfect for summer weddings! Pretty “foot jewelry” is all the rage for beach weddings. It’s the perfect way to feel the sand between your toes but not be completely barefoot. It can be expensive – a quick search on Etsy found a price range from $20 to over $200! I made my own for about $5 using supplies from a craft store and being wise with coupons. These took me a couple hours to make, and I think they came out really well!
(Before we start, I just want to apologize for my feet. I know some people are grossed out by feet. If you’re grossed out by feet, this may not the tutorial for you. Consider this your fair warning.)
Supplies:
- Craft beads, any color you want! I chose gold.
- Fancier craft beads as accents. I chose something that reminded me of the beach.
- A thick, sturdy thread. Make sure the holes of the beads are wide enough for the thread to go through twice.
- A jewelry clasp (not pictured above)
- Scissors
- Needle
Step 1: Measure the string to your foot. (If you are making these for someone else, ask for their shoe size and then adjust the string length accordingly, using your own foot as a guide.) You are going to need the string to wrap around your second toe, run the length of the top of your foot, and wrap around your ankle. You don’t want it to be super tight, but you also don’t want it to be so loose it slips right off your toe.
Step 2: Tie the needle to one end of the string. Start stringing gold beads for the part that wraps around your toe. This will be the very middle of your length of string. When you’ve strung enough beads to cover the loop that goes over your toe (comfortably), tie the string in a knot. Cut off the needle.
Step 3: Re-tie the needle at the very end of the string, this time to both ends of the string together. Now you are ready to bead the portion that lays on top of your foot. My goal was to have three shell beads on top of the foot, so with some trial and error I spaced the gold and shell beads so they looked even. Once I reached my ankle, I cut the needle and tied a knot to secure the beads in place.
Step 4: Now you’re ready to bead the portions that go around the sides of your ankle. Again I used a mix of gold and shell beads in a pattern I thought looked nice.
Step 5: Once you get to a comfortable length around your ankle, attach the jewelry clasp. I used a barrel clasp because it seemed easier than trying to fiddle with a claw clasp behind my foot, but either would work fine.
TA-DA! You are the new proud owner of lovely foot jewelry!
If you enjoyed this tutorial, please hover over the below image and pin it to Pinterest!
