[Doris R]

I have a ton (well, maybe only a half-ton) of used, dead pointe shoes from my daughter. I would love to do something creative with them, and aside from small rocks am not a painter. I was wondering if using a photocopy-to-fabric transfer medium might work. Anyone tried anything like this? Any other ideas? I really hate to just throw them out!

[Wxchic]

OK, I'm 39, have kids from 22 to 5...What are dead pointe shoes??

[Doris R]

wxchic, on Aug 20 2005, 07:19 PM, said:

OK, I'm 39, have kids from 22 to 5...What are dead pointe shoes??
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sorry Theresa, (and any others who may not know). I've had a daughter in ballet for 23 years now, so I sometimes lapse and forget that everyone may not know.
Pointe shoes are the pretty pink satin instruments of torture that girls wear to dance en pointe (on their toes). They really are beautiful, even when they are "dead" which means they no longer give any support -- turn mushy -- or develop soft spots.

So...any ideas?

[Diane]

How about filling them with pot pourri and then covering with a pretty netting so it doesn't fall out but you still get the release of scent? You could then give them as pretty scented gifts or just use them yourself!??

[nelly]

Diane, on Aug 22 2005, 11:23 AM, said:

How about filling them with pot pourri and then covering with a pretty netting so it doesn't fall out but you still get the release of scent?  You could then give them as pretty scented gifts or just use them yourself!??
<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thats a really cool idea diane!!! i'm sure i have some ballet slippers at home somewhere...hmm!

[mom2one+two]

What about getting a large crystal vase and arranging them, toe side up, as a bouquet? You can even add some dried flowers to the mix and artfully drape the ribbons through the whole thing.

My daughter has just started ballet, so let me know what you end up doing. I imagine we'll have our own dead pointes in the years to come.

[Betsy]

I remember seeing the prettiest poster of point shoes all lined up, hanging by ribbons off pegs. A very wide poster, not tall, panoramic like. The shoes looked so pretty just hanging there, with a light pink wall behind them, and the light all perfect. I always wanted those shoes just because they are so pretty!

(aka, I have no suggestions, but I know what you're talking about!)

[Shai]

I know exactly what poster you are talking about, Betsy! I love that poster, as well.

[butterfly]

Doris

These are all good ideas for long term.

Before you put a project together - how about photographing them all different ways. In a pile different angles, etc.... They could then be used for your scrapbooking using cookie cutters or different artsy looks.
You could use your designs for your pages and also - for making cards!!!
Congrats - Thank You - Bravo -Recital Night - Performance Night
I too have a daughter that danced and the cards could come in handy...
also embelishing ballet pictures with accent shoes.

A really cool one would be the brand new shoes on top of the pile of old ones.
I think this would be a very cool page - especially if you had your daughter in it.

Or if you want to stick to the shoes.....them alone....a picture says a thousand words.

You can put a cool caption across or around them

Butterfly

[Ro]

What about altering them with paper and ModPodge and then hanging them up for decorations in their room? Might be kind of fun... LOL

[Doris R]

Thanks guys for the ideas. Butterfly, I really like your ideas for the photos. And Diane, I've thought about the potpourri too, using tulle to keep it in the shoe. I think I'll try a pair and I'll let you all know how they come out.

I'm still thinking about trying the transfer medium too....

[Katzkidz1dog]

I was thinking along the same lines as Ro, to alter them. You could use one as kind of a picture frame. Take a photo of your daughter at the age she was when she wore a particular pair of pointe shoes, and using only a full body shot of her, making sure that "she" will fit inside the shoe. Embellish with pink ribbon, tulle, etc., somehow. Make a pretty tag that states the age, year or whatever, when the photo was taken/shoes were worn.

[jemmia]

would probably decorate with little jewels etc and give them as little gifts to relations as a memento of your daughters accomplishments

[scrapsoflife]

My first thought was to seal them inside and make them into bud-vases either using armature wire for a stand or creating a clay base for it to stand correctly.

Then I thought it would be fun to deconstruct them and piece the tops together to use as 'fabric' for stuffed animals, etc. Any scruffiness would just add to the charm. The soles I'd also piece together over a backing fabric and use to cover journals, etc.

The ones in better aesthetic shape could just be sealed and used as decorations, perhaps for beginning ballerinas.

Hmmm... what about using a few set into each other (to form a column) and then fitting it with lamp workings?

rambles from an 'altered' mind lol

[Rue]

I took an old pair of pointe shoes, and got two of those really tiny pots, then put it into the box of the shoe with some potting soil, and got this vine plant thing that had little flowers that bloomed off of it (I live by a forrest, I just went out there one day and found a plant) Then i put them into the pot, and hung the shoes by their ribbons by a window. And the little vine thing just started growing, it looks really cute.
For Christmas this year, I also took a pair, and took sharpies to them, and made them look all Christmasy and hung the pair as my Christmas stocking, instead of my usual one. I don't know if you're a Christmas person, But it's what I did.
Also, one of my friends took her shoes apart, and used the Satin and ribbons and shank from the shoe in her scrap book, I don't know how she took it apart exactly, so I can't help you there, but she arranged them really cool like.
Another Idea might be, If your Daughter has kids in the future, to keep some just plain like, and maybe if they get into dance, give them as a gift to her kids.

These are just some random ones I thought of, there are also great ideas, just google it.

[Smiles]

Rue, Welcome to Scrap Girls! We'd love it if you would introduce yourself in the new members thread so we can welcome you properly!

[Becster]

Wonderful ideas!

[ladyscrapalot]

My daughter typed up different words that described her or was meaningful to her. She printed them out, cut them out and modPodge them on her shoe. One year the girls in her class decorated them and sold them to raise money. I would think you could modPodge just about anything, even a small layout, with pictures of your daughter in her dance costumes. OOOO I like that idea, maybe I'll try it.

[ladyscrapalot]

Soooo what do you end up doing with the Pointe shoes??????

[Amanda OutsideTheBox]

ladyscrapalot, on 22 August 2012 - 07:41 PM, said:

Soooo what do you end up doing with the Pointe shoes??????

Yes, I would love to know as well! with pics!