DIY: Boot Trees

While I think Olivia and Emma truly have the market cornered on functional DIY projects, and Aimee might be the queen of hysterical ones (or this one), I decided to put together a tutorial that LITERALLY ANYONE could follow for some inexpensive boots trees. I have actually been meaning to do this for ages -- it came up in conversation last week and then I spotted the supplies out shopping Saturday so I decided to go for it.

Cruce gets pretty judgemental about my DIY projects ;)

Step 1: Buy a pool noodle. Bonus points if it matches everything else you own. You can find pool noodles at the dollar store, but I splurged and paid $4 for this one from Menard's. #treatyoself

Step 2: Find a measuring tape and exacto knife (scissors or some other kind of cutting implement could also work, I just raided DH's tool shed and this seemed like the easiest way to do it).

Step 3: Decide how many boot trees you want. I was hoping for three pairs, but my pool noodle was a bit too short for that, so I went with two. This part involves MATH (I'm so sorry). My pool noodle was 58" long, so I went with four 14.5" pieces.

Unnecessary step: realize you have wayyyyyy too many pairs of boots. Figure out that two pairs have broken zippers, so shove them in a back corner of the tack room to take to the repair shop when you have time (aka, never).

Decide your show boots can keep the real boot trees, so put them back in their boot bag.

Prioritize that your old show boots (new schooling boots) should have pool noodle boot trees.

Decide these random synthetic field boots don't need trees, and shove them in a back corner of your tack shed with the broken zipper boots.

Decide the fauxbarrys deserve boot trees too. Realize you should probably give them some TLC, cause they look a little gross (and they looked even worse after they got dunked on a trail ride yesterday lol)

Step 4: Measure and cut! Not responsible for any damage to your digits if you're not careful with the knife.

 

Try not to cut off your fingers.

Step 5: Voila! DIY (cheap) boot trees. If you really want to class them up, you could probably cover them in patterned fabric or something. I'm just cheap and lazy, so this works for me!

 

So there you have it! Literally the easiest DIY ever. Normally I would advise adult beverages while you craft, but I didn't want to cut a finger off. So drink at your own risk ;)