Brass-Fitted Boots Mark III

This is the third version of my brass-fitted boots.  You can find the two earlier versions below.

In this new version, I took a pair of steel-toed boots and decided to take what I'd learned from previous versions and apply it.  First, I needed new fixtures; the hooks at the top still worked fine, but the loops had proven insufficient, often coming lose due to their design.  I bought a big bag of picture hangers that in this case were made where the metal tab doesn't just loop around the ring but is a complete mirror top and bottom: no more coming lose around the ring and having to be crimped back into place crudely with pliers.  This new batch, though, required filing to make the holes large enough to handle the bolts, so I did so.  The decorative brads I put into the top hooks also had much longer prongs this time, so they won't be popping out as they did in my very first design.

I've gotten much better at working with liquid brass, though I have to do occasional touch-ups.  I did not go with brass tips for these, though I may in the future if I find ones I like.  I DID find a pair of metal plates meant to be used in customizable bracelets; I used brads and split rings to fasten them to the base of my laces; I'd been looking for plates of this sort for some time.  I'm not entirely happy yet with my method of fastening them in place; the brads aren't holding very well and I am thinking I need to find an alternative of some sort; I may look at specialty nuts and bolts.  I originally tried to file or hammer out the holes in the plates to make them larger, but my files are too big and hammering didn't work; I may need to get a set of smaller files. 

UPDATE: I kept having issues with the plates staying on with just brads, so I've gone to something sturdier, using actual nuts, bolts, split washers, and a couple of decorative gears.  New alterations at the bottom of the graphic.