Pointe Shoes

Thanks for all the inquiries for good homes for these shoes, but I was able to place all that I was giving away, so unfortunately I have no more to give. Thanks!
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I think I've mentioned on here that I used to dance.  Well I kept every pair of pointe shoes.  They've sat all together in a huge basket in my mom's living room for the last decade.  I quit ballet due to hip injuries when I was 16, actually it was ten years ago next month.

If you want the whole scoop on that: MY BALLET STORY

So I'm sure most people are wondering why I would hoard a lot of old, sweaty, worn, trashed, in some cases blood stained shoes.

Well I think pointe shoes are special to all little girls, and of course getting my first pair was a day I looked forward to as a little girl for a long time.  So they're magical, but I'm old now so what's the deal?

But I actually did a really good job of documenting my years of ballet in the shoes.  Each pair I wrote the date I last wore them, and in some cases, the ballets I danced wearing them.

This pair was from a ballet called Legend of Timpanogos, it's a Native American love story, so we'd dye the shoes to look like darker skin.

Or this pair I had written "first shoes sewn by me".  There's actually a lot that went into pointe shoes before I ever wore them, darning the toe so they wouldn't shred, hacking the heel off the shank, pouring superglue in the toe to prolong the wear, squashing the box wider, burning the ends of the ribbons, and sewing on the elastic and ribbons.  I guess my mom had sewn them all until this pair.

So I finally got the garbage bag of shoes out to decide what I was going to do with them.  They are important to me, but to be realistic, I haven't looked at them pretty much for the last 10 years, and I don't have room to store them all for memories sake to look at them in another decade.  

I've been trying to think of some cool idea to use them rather than just throw them in the trash.

Here are a few of the ideas I found:

someone made a weird art sculpture {photo source}

you can actually buy frilly pointe shoe art here

But ballet isn't my life anymore, so I don't see a pair of artistic pointe shoes on a pedestal anywhere in my house working or fitting really.  But this poster is the only idea I've really had, other than storing them in a box in the garage.

{ poster source}

I've thought about building a crate and filling it with my most important pairs, then just putting it in a bookcase or something like a weird accessory.  Even though my decor obviously doesn't have a dance theme or anything, it's a part of my life, and something interesting to display.  But I don't know, if you have any ideas what I could do with these I'd appreciate the brainstorm!

Some mom's of dancers had pointe shoe wreaths, but I'm not really a wreath person.  But a cool idea.

So at this point I went through them all and decided which ones were really important to me, as I can't imagine thinking of anything where I could use all of these.

As I was sorting, I found the last pair I ever wore,  to perform for the last time--George Balanchine's Serenade.  It was my favorite ballet I've ever danced.
You can watch the opening moments here, from Pacific Northwest Ballet.  (even if you think ballet is lame, this music is beautiful...I think)
Or more clips from throughout ballet here if you care (from a Portugal ballet company)

Anyway, I put them on, and even remembered how to tie the ribbons.

Then I stood up and, like an idiot, went on pointe a little and immediately my arches and calves started cramping, so I took them right off before I hurt myself.  

My little guy had been diving into the pile as I was sorting, and when I put them on, I think he realized they were shoes for the first time and he busted out laughing.  I think the square toes seemed really funny to him.

This is the correct way to store them, with the ribbons nicely wound around the shank.  I was faithful in keeping my first few pairs nice because I was 12 and they were so precious, I even stored them in a satin bag.  Then as you go, the magic wears off, and I'd tie them to my backpack so the sweat could dry to wear them the next day.  Man we stunk up the carpool a lot, our poor moms that would have to drive us and our stinky feet home.

Anyway, I ended up "saving" the pairs that had specific performances/ ballets written on them, and my first ten pairs, and my last pair. 

So I have a box to keep, which is still a lot more than I probably should, and a box that worst case scenario will go in the trash unless I can think of something cool to do with them.  Too bad I can't think of a way to make money off them.  

Any artists out there that need a box of used pointe shoes for a cool sculpture?  I'd much rather see them immortalized as a piece of art rather than decompose in the land fill, but I'm a sentimental pack rat who needs to get a grip, and even though I still have all of them in my kitchen, a baby step is still progress.

So feed me your ideas, if they were clothes I could just make a quilt.