Break out those old boring booties, ya’ll; it’s time for a super simple restyle.

Back in my early days of blogging, I remember a DIY project on another blog (sadly whose URL I cannot recall) in which the blogger transformed a pair of basic black platforms by covering the entire wedge base in brass thumbtacks. I ran out and bought a pack of thumbtacks immediately, only to have them sit in my supply stash for more than a year before finding the perfect pair of shoes to “stud”.

I bought these N.Y.L.A. ruffled leather booties on Hautelook last year for ridiculously cheap — like around $20, I think — and haven’t worn them once since they arrived. They’re really cute, but a little… boring basic. {I don’t know what it is with me and black shoes/handbags; we just don’t jive.} They’ve been hiding in a dark corner of my closet for over a year now.

Until this weekend, when I was searching for some crafty-majig or another and came across those thumbtacks of yore…

Using the center seam as a guide, I started pushing the tacks into the wedge in a [semi] neat row. {Sidenote: if you’re a raging perfectionist like yours truly, you can remove the tacks and reposition them as you go to get the straightest line.}

I repeated a row on each side, and once I was satisfied with the placement, I gave them a little tap-tap-tap with my tiny crafting hammer to get them as flat as possible.

I kinda love how they turned out! Now if I could just get some cool weather to take them for a spin…