Wednesday, February 6, 2013

There's no place like home...

This past fall my sisters began the daunting task of cleaning out the crawl space in our family home affectionally known as "the Hole." Many treasures were uncovered including my childhood Mary Jane shoes. Albeit they are not quite Dorothy's Ruby Red Slippers but they do remind me of home! 

Vintage Clarks made in England circa 1975



I remember these shoes fondly! As you can see they were well loved and well worn. You'll notice in the picture above the buckles have corroded and the straps have been chewed ~mice!?!

 They almost went in the trash but later that week I found them sitting on a bookshelf and decided to see if I could get them restored back to their original condition. I brought them to Westboro Shoe Rebuilders~ they have been repairing shoes in Ottawa for years to see if they could work some magic like Glinda and cast a spell on these slippers...


Close your eyes and tap your heels together three times. And think to yourself, "there's no place like home".

(from "The Wizard of Oz")

There still a little big for Elsa but soon she'll be clicking her heels like Dorothy.


Linking up to Young Heart.

Until we thrift again...
AJ

12 comments:

  1. Wow. I am blown away with what they did. I really don't even think of having shoes repaired these days....I am stunned. Just fabulous. This was such a sweet post. I love the pictures of you in the shoes...and now Elsa :)
    Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen! I too would never think of repairing shoes but these had sentimental value so I splurged and paid $25 to get them repaired.

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  2. I was skeptical and ready to toss those shoes with the Nirvana art projects, but I must say it was a great restoration. You should send this post to Clarkes!

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    1. I think the shoe maker wasn't convinced he could repair them either! It took a lot of leather conditioner!!

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  3. Lily says, "Elsa looks so big and grown up!"

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  4. I can't believe it was only $25 to have the shoes restored, money well spent! They're sweet, love the pictures of a little you!

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    1. Thanks Jill! I agree $25 isn't that bad especially since the soles where in fantastic condition.

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  5. So cute! My mom had a similar pair, albeit from the 40s and robin's egg blue. I had them mounted in a shadow box for her 60th along with a photo of her wearing them at 3-4 years old.

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    1. Your mom must of loved seeing her childhood shoes in a shadow box! That's a great idea.

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  6. Great job on the shoe repair! It is so sad that people don't repair shoes more often. Same with watches. This post made me happy :-)

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  7. Are they magic steps/magic key ones? I had red patent ones and remember them fondly
    God bless

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