Yes! Do the shoe rack idea. I thought of this also and I have one but it has mostly synthetic material. I was thinking I could use it as a base though and drape the material over it. You will be my hero if you get that accomplished before I do.
The metal I used is the thick stuff that comes in rolls and is difficult to bend by hand. We use it around here for H posts at the end of the fence lines. That's why all the shapes are so irregular is because I had such a difficult time bending the stuff. I did the first coat pretty sloppy and then two second coats after that. They are brittle in some places and that allowed for drainage holes that I did not have to drill. It was my first batch with this technique so I still have a bit of a learning curve doing this type. I put plastic bags in the centers to keep shape while curing.
Here is my first with the crochet.
