Stride Rite Character Shoes & Some Fun DIY Crafts

When shopping for new sneakers, there is one thing that my kids look for. They don’t care about support. They also don’t care about the fit or the price. These are the things that parents worry about. All my kids want are the super fun sneakers that feature their favorite characters. There’s something magical about character shoes to the kids. When they put their special character sneakers on, their faces light up. Thankfully, Stride Rite carries a wide variety of character shoes that are not only fun for kids, but the shoes also feature all the things that us moms are looking for. Some of the character shoes that can be found at Stride Rite include: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Batman, Frozen, & so much more. Today, we are going to share three of our favorite character sneakers for kids & some fun DIY crafts!

Abby has been all about My Little Pony this year, so these My Little Pony Equestrian sneakers from Stride Rite have easily become one of her favorites this fall. These shoes feature four of the My Little Ponies, including her favorite Rainbow Dash. She loves that she lights up wherever she goes with her special rainbow pony sneakers! To pair with her new special fall shoes, we decided to make a little rainbow tutu. Below, I am sharing a super easy tutorial on how to make your own DIY Rainbow Tutu!

DIY Rainbow Tutu

Supplies Needed:

Elastic
Sewing Machine and/or Needle and Thread
Rolls of Rainbow Colored Tulle

Directions:

Measure the elastic around your child’s waist. Cut the elastic to fit your child’s wait. Sew the waistband using a sewing machine or use a needle and thread to make the waistband. If you don’t want to sew, you could also try with sticky back Velcro to adhere the waistband together.
Cut the tulle. If your child is good with scissors, this may be a set that they can help with as tulle is a very easy material to cut. For Abby’s tutu, we cut about eight pieces of each color. We used red, yellow, orange, green, & blue based on the pack of tulle that we bought. Each length of tulle was about 15 inches. To get this measurement, I would measure the length of the tutu the you want. Cut the tulle to double that size plus another 1-1/2 inches.
Fasten the tulle onto the elastic one piece of tulle at a time. Here are the simple steps to tie to the elastic. Fold one strip of tulle in half and hold in front of elastic. Pull the ends of the tulle up and through the loop of the tulle and pull tight. Continue until the tutu is complete.

Now this shoe & craft is for all the Star Wars fans out there…

If you have following this blog for awhile, you probably know that my son is a huge Star Wars fan! For his fifth birthday, we hosted a super fun Star Wars party & his love for Star Wars has continued all year long. When he saw the Hyperdrive Light Saber sneakers from Stride Rite, he knew that this is just the shoe he wanted for back to school. He loves that the light saber light up every time he takes a step. His big brother loved them so much that he also got a pair for his back to school sneakers after watching his brother wear them everyday for about a month! To pair with these fun Star Wars sneakers, we are sharing a fun DIY Chewbacca puppet craft.

Chewbacca Paper Bag Puppet Craft

Supplies Needed:

Paper Lunch Bag
Black & White Construction Paper
Markers

Directions:

Color the puppet brown.
Cut out three small circles and glue onto the puppet for eyes & nose.
Cut out a belt using black and white paper. Glue on to the puppet.

Now this shoe & craft is for all the Disney princess fans out there…

Since Courtney’s girls have had Disney fever thanks to their recent Disney trip, these Under the Sea princess sneakers from Stride Rite have been a huge hit this fall in her house! The shoes not only light up from the outsole, but also the tiara toe lights up as well. To go with these fun princess shoes, we are sharing a DIY tiara craft for girls! The tiara is a quick and easy craft. These tiaras are also great if you have a group of girl over that want to make a craft or need an accessory for their princess game!

DIY Pipe Cleaner Tiara Craft

Supplies:

Pipe Cleaners, Color of Choice (We went with purple to match the shoes!)

Directions:

Twist 2 pipe cleaners together.
Twist another 2 together. This makes the tiara more sturdy.
Next twist the 2 pieces (made from 4 pipe cleaners) together at the ends to make a circle.
Take more pipe cleaners & twist & bend around the base of the tiara to make the “points”.

All of the character shoes featured in this post come from Stride Rite. Stride Rite is currently partnering with Soles4Shoes to fight poverty in over 127 countries through the donation of new and used shoes. Between October 11-November 9, 2016, shoppers can take 15% off select styles when you shop online. Stride Rite will donate 1% of their net profits from these purchases to Soles4Shoes. You can also participate in Stride Rite stores by bringing in a new or used pair of shoes and dropping them int he Soles4Shoes donation bin. As a special thank you for your donation, Stride Rite will give you 20% off a new pair of shoes on the same visit.

You can find more about Stride Rite here:

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You can also sign up for their emails here & the rewards program here.