Just call me Miss Fix-It!

Being a farmer's daughter, I learned at an early age that my dad is handy. I guess being farmer lends itself to being able to fix about anything. He needs to be a welder, a mechanic and a candlestick maker.

Dad, aka Papaw, and G-man

OK, I got carried away on that last one, but you get my drift. He's resourceful and since he got a cell phone a couple of years ago, he is much more accessible in an emergency!

So, he's the one I turn to when the problem is as simple as gluing the head back on a favorite figurine (he's a master with the epoxy) or as devastating as dealing with my air conditioner when it went out on the hottest day of the summer (sorry for the tears, Dad).

I like to think that I've become more self-sufficient over the years because I've watched how he works to solve problems. Now I can't weld, but I can fill my own water softener, change the air filter in my car, and even hang pictures on my wall.

Like these...

Well, that last one is a lie. I bribed one of my brothers-in-law to hang the pictures.

I had to put my handiness to the test last night. One of the jewel strands on my favorite pair of black Vera Wang flats (from Kohl's) broke during my oldest nephew's First Communion mass a couple of weekends ago.

As my Goode friend over at Goodeness Gracious would say, I heart these flats.

When I saw that it broke, my first instinct was to give the shoe to my dad and demand he fix it. But I took a closer look and decided I could put it back together again. My diagnosis was that one of the jeweled pieces simply slipped out of its bracket.

First, I pulled out my trusty pliers. BTW, I got these pliers in a 12-pack at Menard's during the day after Thanksgiving sales!

I pinched, pulled and bullied the bracket but couldn't get it to stay.

Next, I grabbed the super glue from my trusty toolbox.

I learned a valuable lesson at this point. Super glue hardens, even if it's unopened, when it sits in a toolbox for more than 2 years! This just made me more determined to fix this shoe. I just had to think outside the box. I had to be crafty.

I pulled out my Diamond Glaze - an adhesive that I used a couple of years ago (no, it wasn't hardened) to make these cute photo keychains. A couple of drops of adhesive and about 30 seconds of holding it together with my trusty pliers and ta-da the shoe was good as new.

I know my dad is SO proud of me!

Or at least glad that he didn't have to fix it!