Elizabeth Banks

I came across Bryan’s project Kickin’ Mitts on instructables.com and thought it was a wacky but awesome idea. I was thrilled when he agreed to blog about this off-the-wall up-cycling idea. If you want to know how to make a shoe into an oven mitt, or are really just curious how one decides to attempt such a project, read below from Bryan! XX- EB

 

I created the Kickin' Mitt for a project in a Visual Thinking class while working on my Masters of Engineering in Technical Entrepreneurship at Lehigh University. The assignment was to come up with 5 upcycling ideas (turning something “valueless” into something of value) and present them to the class. At the end of my presentation, the class would choose which project I’d pursue. One of the ideas I presented was to use shoes as practice gloves you punch when boxing (punch mitts), and one of my classmates said, “how about an oven mitt?” 

I took off with the oven mitt idea with advice from friends on aesthetics, fabric, and how to sew it together. I made this video to prove that the Kickin' Mitt actually worked as an oven mitt. I didn't want it to be just an ornament; I wanted a functioning oven mitt:

Even though I received comments from professors and friends saying "I can't get over putting my hand in a shoe," I have gotten lots of great feedback on the design. Also, this was an awesome assignment. This project taught me a great deal about publicity and pushed me out of my existing skill set and comfort zone, which I would not have done otherwise.

Rate your pain with Louis CK!

If you want to try it, gather these materials:

Then GO HERE for the instructions.

Would you ever use a Kickin’ Mitt?
Tell me in the comments.