
Last year’s shoes aren’t necessarily yesterday’s news—you can make them look new again and have a little fun while you’re at it. Spend some time online or window-shopping to research what new styles are trending, then look to see if you can find an online tutorial to walk you through DIYing that trend onto your old pair. Our trendy pick for this season? It’s all about the tassel. Watch the video below to freshen up last year’s heels or boots.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
- Scissors
- Pen
- Ruler
- Good tacky fabric glue (Your basic glue won’t work.)
- Faux leather (Make sure the faux leather inside is similar to the outside.)
- Lace-up heels or boots with a zipper
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Lay out the fabric with the good side down.
2. Use your ruler and pen to mark a length of 2 ¾ and a width of 3 ¾, depending on what size you want your tassels to be.
3. Draw another line about a half of an inch in to mark where you will cut your fringe up to.
4. Cut the square out.
5. Cut a small piece out of the remaining fabric to use to thread the leather lace through.
6. Now cut the fringe. You can measure out little lines or just eyeball it like the video. Be sure to hold the fabric furthest away from the scissors at one end and start cutting at the opposite end so you get a good grab on the fabric and don’t cut your fingers.
7. Glue your tab to the fringed fabric a little less than half the way in, then glue it again and fold over to make a looped tab.
8. Put a strip of glue on the end of the fabric, using the pen mark as your guide.
9. Roll it up tightly and wait for the glue to dry.
10. Repeat these same steps for multiple tassels.
11. Thread your tassels through lace-up heels or loop them through the zipper on your boots.
Don’t trust yourself with glue? Shop our favorite tassel trends below.

Melody Rose Rowan is the CEO + hostess with the mostess at @CuteStays. When she isn’t blogging about style and interior design for her blog MustacheMelrose.com, Melody can be found renovating @MaxineTheAirstream with her husband, Scott, or playing with her two rescue dog-sons, Jake and Finn. Say hi at @mustachemelrose!