Monday, June 27, 2011

I painted my shoes!

I have been wanting this pair of yellow shoes forever. Nevermind. I can't find them online anymore. They were Seychelles, they were yellow, they were fabulous, they were expensive!

So left to my own devices with some internet tutoring and a pair of ivory shoes I don't wear much, I set off about making my dreams come true.

Here is a pic of one shoe with one coat of yellow (it ended up taking three coats) and one shoe as they started.


Here are the finished shoes from my point of view.



Here is a sort of blurry pic of me rocking the shoes.



Basically, you take acrylic paint and mix it with acrylic fabric medium. I would suggest you purchase or use a shoe that has a color that you would not mind showing through a little because the color remains a bit translucent (at least it did with yellow). I actually applied the paint with balled-up paper towel because I forgot to buy sponge brushes at the fabric store and I was too lazy to go back. I had to let the shoes dry about 5 days before I chanced wearing them and even now they are a tiny bit tacky to the touch so I wouldn't suggest this technique on shoes you plan to wear in particularly dirty/dusty areas. I have worn them out in the world once and they fared just fine.

Happy almost July 4!

Monday, June 13, 2011

Use it up. Wear it out. Make it do or do without!

I sort of really love that mantra. I can't say that I always live by it. Being a working mom makes me often err on the side of convenience. In this case however, I am happy to say that I made it work!



I have a pair of very lovely deep red patent leather mary janes that were unfortunately assaulted by the doggy that we tried to adopt about 6 months ago. He only got one, but boy did he do it up on that one. I love those shoes and have been really sad not to have them, so I decided that something must be done. I am a resourceful gal. I knew I could come up with something.



The first thing I did was cut off the chewed up patent leather on the heel of the trashed shoe (doggie also removed the tip on the heel). My first idea was to try duct tape painted to match. No pictures exist of this fail (because it was a FAIL). Then I got the idea to try ribbon. So I went to the craft store and what I found instead was this cool velveteen paper on the scrapbooking aisle. Almost perfect match! And it had this neat sort of rubbery backing that made it extra sturdy but also bendy.

First I removed the tip from the shoe that had one (more on that later). Then I cut strips of the velvet paper and craft glued them to the shoe. Once they dried, I trimmed to fit and then at a total loss for what to do with the tips, I first tried cutting materials from old shoes I don't wear anymore to fashion new matching tips (nope). Then I decided to cut black felt to fit. It looked great. I put three coats of craft glue on the felt to make it sturdy and maybe a little moisture-proof. I am really happy with the results. I haven't worn them yet. June gloom lurks in California and I think these will have to be shoes worn when there is no chance of showers. Will update when I wear them out.


Whoopee!

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

$5!?



Look at my new $5 dresser. I am soooo pleased.

Also, I had to make a vet costume for miss Z's preschool graduation. I think it turned out mighty fine.



And I have decided my couch has too much in the way of brown-ness. Nothing is big enough to cover the whole thing so I have come up with the idea of being deliberately patchy. My hubz thinks I am insane. So far, I like it.