Spirit Flip Flops

We’ve got spirit, yes we do!

We’ve got spirit, how about you?!

 It’s almost spring and it’s time to break out our beloved flip flops! Kick those basic flops up a notch by making Spirit Flip Flops! Super cute and super easy to make! It is completely customizable! The best part, you end up with an original, one-of-a-kind pair of spring and summer shoes for around a total cost of $10.00! I love our son’s high school colors: red and black! Bright, striking and a fun color combination! So go pick up those $1.00 flip flops from Michaels or the dollar store. Or heck, buy the Old Navy flops that go on sale for around $2.50! Stock up because these are so cute you will want to make more than one pair! Before you head out, check out your current ribbon stock, save money by using materials you have left over from other projects!

For baseball season last year,  I made a pair of these Spirit flip flops to wear to our son’s baseball games. The other moms loved them and so did all the teenage girls who showed up to watch the boys play ball. They were my favorite go-to flip flops last spring all the way through the summer!

Sunday is our oldest son’s, Steve Jr’s, girlfriend’s, Shianne’s, birthday. Say that three times fast, lol! I’m not sure that was even grammatically correct? Anyhow, she is a sweetheart and we adore her. She is also a triple threat: she plays volleyball, basketball and softball. We are loving that she is way busier than him which is saying a lot since our son plays football and baseball while also being part of the basketball team’s film crew. So there time together is rare but special and we appreciate that he is dating an athlete. Our son and his girlfriend work hard to elevate their own games to help their teams. We love that about both of them. I decided to make her a pair of these cute Spirit Flip Flops for her birthday, she is so full of school spirit that I think she will appreciate them! 

Save money! Go through your ribbon stash! After raiding your leftover ribbon and if you find you need more ribbon, be creative. Choose different textures, styles and sizes. A completely sheer one inch ribbon looks very cute! Choose between 7-8 different ribbons. Don’t go any larger than a one inch or smaller than a 1/4 inch width ribbon for max effect. Have fun, you get to choose the color scheme!

Supplies I Used to Make These Spirit Flops: 

• 7/8” x 9 ft – mini white polka dot on black ribbon ($1.99 Walmart)

• 7/8” x 9 ft – red and white zebra print ($1.99 Walmart)

• 3/16” x 6 yd – black eyelet ribbon (.47 cents Walmart)

• 1/4″ x 10 yd – red ribbon (.47 cents Walmart)

• 3/8” x 15 ft – “GO TEAM” white ribbon ($1.00 Hobby Lobby)

• 3/8” x 15 ft – red with black dots ribbon ($1.00 Hobby Lobby)

• 3/8” x 15 ft – white with black dots ribbon ($1.00 Hobby Lobby)

• 1 pair of black flip flops ($1.00 Michaels)

• scissors

Directions: 

First, cut your ribbon…all of them. Anything less than 3/4″ wide, cut them into strips that are 6 inches in length. Anything that is 3/4″ up to one-inch wide, cut them into strips that are 7 inches in length. The wider ribbon needs to be longer to account for the larger knot. Keeping the strips these lengths helps to keep the finished, knotted ribbon roughly the same length. Hope that makes sense.

Lay your cut strip piles in the order that you want to tie them onto your flip flops. Try to balance the widths, colors and textures. Also keep in mind that the ribbons on the ends will be next to each other. Hope that also makes sense.

So here’s the super duper hard part…ok, lol, it’s not hard at all. Starting on one end of the strips of ribbon, take one ribbon and tie it tightly around the plastic piece of the flip flop. Tie a double knot. Pay attention to the design of the flip flop. The plastic pieces do flip over so you do end up tying knots upside down kind of.

You always want your double knots on the top of the plastic parts. You don’t want your feet against the knots or it will be pretty painful to walk in! Keep the ribbon tightly against each other and double knot each ribbon. Go all the way around the plastic pieces.

Try to keep the side that rests against the top of your foot free of major wrinkles in the ribbon. Following your laid out pattern, continue knotting the ribbon all the away around the plastic part. Tadah! That’s it and your done with one flop. Repeat with the second flop.

With the ribbon I purchased for this project, I almost have enough left over to make an entire second pair of Spirit Flip Flops. I need to purchase one more spool of both the 7/8” ribbons and another pair of flip flops. That means it will have cost less than $15.00 for two pairs of Spirit Flip Flops! So I guess I’ll make me a new pair for this upcoming baseball season! 

Check out Walmart, Michael’s, Hobby Lobby or your favorite craft store for unique ribbon. Last year I added ribbon that had little baseballs on it. You can find awesome ribbon with almost every sport to personalize your Spirit Flip Flops! Always check websites and newspapers for money saving coupons before you head to the craft store! I bought the red ribbon with black dots, white ribbon with black dots and the “GO TEAM” ribbon for only $1.00 each at Hobby Lobby (they were on sale)! The 7/8” ribbons I purchased at Walmart for $1.99 a spool and the 1/4″ ribbon was only .47 cents! So shop around! I hope you get a chance to make a pair, they really are super cute and you will get lots of compliments! 

This would be a great team building project for cheerleaders, brownies or girl scouts! It is fairly inexpensive and it will build up their fine motor skills! Inexpensive, creative, customizable and fun! Just a win-win craft project!