I am totally loving on Gladiator sandals right now and recently purchased 3 different pairs to kick around in this summer. But when I realized the DIY potential in these cute little shoes, I knew I couldn’t just leave them as is.

Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

So I’ve been changing and updating my sandals into something a little more me… Since I’ve been braiding friendship bracelets like a fiend lately, it seemed to make sense to bring that into my shoe closet. And no, unfortunately, I don’t have a closet just for shoes. But maybe someday. 🙂

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

For this project you need:

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

Here are my sandals before. They’re pretty darn new but have been worn a time or two. I got them off of ebay for around $12 with shipping. You can get insane deals on shoes at eBay so check it out!

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

Get about a yard and a half of each color. I chose pink, yellow, coral, and mint to add to my black and white colors.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

Tie your thread onto a strap. Double knot it.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

Wrap the thread around the strap leaving a loop at the beginning of the thread.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

Grab the end of the thread through the loop you made and pull through. Tighten and situate to cover the strap. A knot will occur and you’ll need to twist so that rests at the top or the bottom side of the strap.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

Continue the process of changing colors sporadically for a neat, tribal effect. I would do solid colors and then two turns of black and then white for my striped areas.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

And keep on keepin’ on.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

When you get to the thong area of the show wrap the thread times, sometimes overlapping to get as far into the groove as you can.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

If you run out of length on a color it’s easy enough to fix up. Simply tape a section onto the strap…

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

And continue wrapping over the tape.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

Be warned that the embroidery floss WILL drive your cats nuts.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

When you get to the end, finish off with a bit of glue. I used Aleene’s Fabric Fusion. Trim once dry.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals Tutorial

And any place you have anything weird poking out, give it a nip with some sharp scissors to remove.

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals TutorialNow, aren’t those suckers SO cute? I love them so much!

Shoe Makeover: Friendship Gladiator Sandals TutorialBecause my colors are kind of flashy, I chose to only wrap the thong portion of the gladiator sandals. Plus, I really like the tan color of the pleather and I didn’t want to completely cover that up. Feel free to wrap as much or as little as you like on yours!