These lovely shoes arrived at the office today - hello! We'll be using them in a photo shoot to close our holiday magazine. Naturally, all of the girls tried them on and declared them the most perfect party shoes, the timeless kind you'll wear forever and ever.

But, ick! They're $328, at jcrew.com. At that price, you'd have to wear them forever and ever.

And then I got thinking ... I could totally make these for a smidge of that price.

Follow me here: Start with these Van Eli satin pumps, $89.95 at Nordstrom. Snip off the middle loop, leaving a quarter inch or so of fabric at the base...

...then you can attach a brooch to the little strips of fabric left in the center. Try either of these:

left// Liz Claiborne crystal pin, $22 at Dillard's.
right// Rhinestone pin, $7.80 at Forever 21.

The genius part about this plan is that you can swap out pins anytime. Possibilities for days!