We have done absolutely nothing today, and it's been blissful. Me, Jason, and Tessie have all be snuggled in bed; it has turned into our town. Although I have been spending some quality time with my dear friend Pinterest! Getting hooked on new blogs and new ideas for replenishing and remixing my wardrobe with nothing more than my sewing machine (I'm currently hooked on Merrick's Art, which is making want to re-evaluate every piece of clothing in my closet to find ways to improve them). And it made me wonder, can I paint shoes? If you haven't seen this pin, it's where I got my idea.
I have a pair of ballet flats from Khol's, from their Simply Vera by Vera Wang line. I'd purchased them originally because they reminded me of an expensive pair that my mom had by Sam Edelman (she bought hers at Nordstrom's for upwards up $150). Mine were $30. The only problem was after I got them home, I realized the color wasn't quite as "neutral" as I'd thought they were. So they sat in my closet, unworn, but loving gazed at, and waiting for the right outfit (the pictures make them look like a much lighter shade than they really are--they're almost more of a light brown than a white wash khaki). Today I decided to make them the right color for my outfits.
I started by mixing some acrylic paints I had sitting around the house. I knew I wanted a gray-ish color since I have a lot of blues, blacks, and grays in my wardrobe. Then I mixed it with some fabric medium (the stuff everyone is using to paint furniture fabric these days). You can kind of tell by the picture that these shoes are a faux-leather. I figured fabric medium was my best bet to keep the paint flexible enough to where it won't crack after I wear them for a day.
Then (using a tiny make-up brush I never use) I just started painting. I started on the underside and worked my way to the top so that the bottom would be dry enough to set down once I was finished. This was the result after the first shoe was finished (you can see the difference better between the gray and the "khaki").
Since I was pleased with the results, I moved onto the second. I'm so happy with how they turned out (and how easy it was to do). The entire process took maybe 10-minutes for each shoe. Here they are next my inspiration. The Sam Edelman shoes are way more metallic than mine, but now that I know this method (seems) to work, I may try to find a metallic acryllic paint (do those exist?) and give it another go.
In the meantime, I stashed the remaining paint mixture in an empty acryllic paint bottle for any touch ups I might need. Once I've worn them a few times I'll update with how they're holding up! Happy painting!
