It is really not that difficult. I purchased 5000 small flat back pearls on ebay, as well as 1440 each of clear swarovski crystals in 12ss, 16ss and 20s along with several other handfuls of flatback pearls with crystals. The glue that is used is called E-6000. The glue dries very fast so you have to work on a small area at a time. The glue has wonderful reviews and seems to have a flexible consistency that will not allow the stones to pop off. I started with the larger embellishments first and made sure I had the exact same number for each shoe and decorated them to be as identical as possible. After the larger decorate stones were complete I filled in with the pearls and swarovski Crystals. I have quite a few crystals and pearls left over, which I plan to use on my OOT bags to embellish and add initials to each. If you have any other questions I will be glad to assist if possible.