This shoe make over was a multi step process, in fact it took me around a month of doing part of it then forgetting the rest to actually complete them!
Worth it thought because they are pretty damn cute!
This is how they started out life:
They were cast offs from my Mum who bought them but decided they didn’t fit very well. I’m not so big on snake skin pattens or brown so I thought I could use them to experiment with new ideas. They were completed in 3 steps: 1. Painting 2. Glitter Soles 3. Decoration.You need:
First thing to do is paint the entire shoe. I decided to try out puff paint that I had left over from window decorations.
It worked really well but took several coats.
Having such a sheer colour was actually good because it was easy to get the colour I wanted. The snake skin pattern still showed through in a really interesting way too so I didn’t keep going to make it opaque. I used 3 coats and left it to dry overnight between each. Next up the glitter soles. These techniques have been all over the internet recently and Wookie Wife did a fantastic version of it over on her blog with bright blue glitter that looks amazing! Anyway the basic idea is the same thing I did with the red glitter sneakers except that I was out of PVA so I used fabric glue. Add the glitter to a container and add a good helping of glue. The more glitter you use the longer it will take to dry but the less coats you have to do. Mix it all into a paste. Paint the paste all over the soles of your shoes! You can tape off the edges if you want but it’s fairly easy to stay in the lines. When it’s dry it looks like this… You can do the entire sole if you want but I figured it was a bit of a waste of glitter and I wanted to keep as much grip on the toes as possible because they are slightly too big for me already. Obviously you need to do the other shoe too XD Now this step is important. Both the fabric glue and the pink puff pant dry with a slightly sticky texture, if you don’t seal them in somehow they will pick up every speck of dirt on the streets and the finish will become darker and dull. To get in before the dirt does just lightly dust them with some translucent make up finishing powder. I used a make up brush that I was planning on washing that night anyway. Because it’s translucent it doesn’t dull the finish at all but it protects them from having dirt stick there. Now they’re pretty cute but they needed something else. I decided to use up some thick ribbon that came on a present. A couple of bows and some hot glue later they were finished! I have to say they have come pretty damn far from their original form and I love them! They are low enough to be comfy and the pattern showing through the pink makes them so much more interesting! What do you guys think? |