shoestring; shoes on a string

I am not a shoe enthusiast. I do not collect shoes. I dislike shopping for shoes. I barely tolerated flip flops until college - prior to that I was a wearer of socks. Shoe tolerance has always been iffy.

The recent influx of additional flops into my life caused me great distress. Crafting angst occasionally sneaks up on me and Something. Must. Be. Done. As was the case with the soulless flops (ok, they had souls, just very worn ones that didn't do well with thorns or gravel), I needed to get the flops up from the furry corners of the house and into some sense of organization. Closet space is precious, over-the-door solutions sometimes prevent closing doors that need to be closed... dilemma.

Maybe putting nails all along the hallway, with a flop on each nail would work. It's barn wood in the hallway and nails wouldn't be noticed. Actually, it's so dark that they wouldn't be easy to see - and empty nails could snag if you brush against them. No luck. More agonizing. But the idea of getting flops off the floor wouldn't leave me. Even keeping them in pairs - I've never been one to have a pile of unmatched shoes...

At some point around 2009 I had a hanging toilet paper storage system all figured out; I've been too lazy to do anything about it since the move. Add flops. Somehow it could work.

Ingredients:
1 nail
ball of yarn - lengths will vary per set of flops
1 pencil per set of flops

So I hammered a nail into the wall behind the living room/kitchen door and stared at it. Some dark green yarn that didn't have a designated project was located. A super long chain of crocheted shoe-string was created. The Vibrams are just hooked on the nail at the top.

Crochet skills (if you can even call making a chain a 'skill') are not even required for this project. I just didn't like how thin the yarn was. Starting with a small loop at the top - to go over the nail - I tied a long loop (maybe 6 inches long) just below the nail. After hooking a pair of flops through the loop and securing them with a pencil, I moved down another 8-10 inches and tied another long loop. Added another pair of flops and kept going...

If the loop was much longer than necessary, I doubled the loop back on itself.

If the loop was too short or just right, I'd just slip the yarn through the straps and secure with a pencil.

To make the project super-exciting, jumbo colored pencils - the color swirl kind! - were used to secure the flops. Creative shoe storage has never really been an intentional part of my life - but if flip flop storage can be vertical, out of the way but convenient enough to use frequently... and looks weird but not hideous... I'm all over it.