Replace shoelaces with elastic to transform lace-up shoes into slip-ons
It's summer and the shoes are going on and coming off now more than ever. Michelle T.'s thrifty hack makes the whole process easier for everyone:
Ever get tired of tying your kid's shoelaces? Or does your kid get frustrated when he can't tie them himself? I switched out my son's regular laces for elastic! Fabric stores carry the basic black or white "flat" elastic, but I found colored elastic that's usually sold for hair ties. I was able to get rust orange for my son's brown shoes (they came with orange laces). Just lace them up as usual, then double knot the bow! Your kid will be able to slip shoes on by himself. (Just remember to teach him to hold the shoe tongue up when sliding on the shoe.)
I love this! So much easier than the curly elastic laces, which I find can often be too tight.
What a GREAT idea! I think I am actually feeling nostalgic for the days when I had little ones that needed help with their shoes... Oh wait - the feeling has passed. Thank goodness!
Posted by: Kaycee | 16 June 2009 at 09:31 PM
Many triathletes use elastic laces to make transitions faster. I use laces from Yankz (http://yankz.com/). I can't see any reason they can't be used for kids shoes since you can cut them to any length!
Posted by: Steven Klosinski | 17 June 2009 at 08:46 AM
This is a wonderful idea! I'll definitely be trying it.
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Posted by: Kaitlin | 17 June 2009 at 11:58 AM
I'm pregnant right now and I know that in a couple of months I won't be able to bend to be able to lace my shoes up so this is a great idea for me, too!
Posted by: Jenoside | 17 June 2009 at 12:34 PM
Awesome idea! Thanks so much for sharing this! There are some times that a store has the cutest shoes, but I pass them over because they have to be laced up. Now I'll keep this in mind so that I can get the cute shoes and not have to deal with tying them all the time!
Thanks so much for sharing this!
Posted by: Ashley | 18 June 2009 at 06:50 AM
I do this with my daughter's tap shoes. The ribbon laces won't stay tied so I cut a length and with a few stitches, had slip on taps.
Posted by: Kelly | 18 June 2009 at 06:56 PM
That is kind of amazing!
Posted by: jasmine | 19 June 2009 at 07:04 PM
LOVE it!! I'm definitely doing this. Great hack :)
Posted by: Jeanne | 21 June 2009 at 11:18 AM