« Pink Cheetah Espadrille Makeover »
Tuesday, February 5, 2013 
Last year was pretty bad for me. In my family we had four surgeries including two that were major and one death. During the first big bad ordeal in April, Momma took my sister and me to Target. We were all pretty numb and killing time more than anything.
Normally I'm not someone who shops just to shop. I buy what I need. I buy what is on sale because I will need it in the future. And I always, always buy out of need rather than want. But that day I just wanted to buy something. I actually ran back through the store until I saw these on an end cap and ran back to pay for them. Looking back I think that my subconscious just wanted control of something... even something as small as needing to check out at a store.
The three of us proeeded to enjoy a Starbucks which I'm not technically supposed to have and I suffered for it later. It would seem that my judgement was plain ol' in the toilet.
Now normally when I buy "plain" shoes I toss them into a tote in my craft room to be made over at some point. When I got home, these were put straight into my closet, apparently, without another thought.
Just this past weekend I noticed them and realized that they get passed over every time I get dressed because they're so plain. Guess it's about time to fix that up!
For this project you will need:
- Paint brush
- Acrylic paint in 2 shades + Fabric/Textile Medium
Here are the shoes before. They even still have the tag on! And it shows that I paid full price for them which is NOT the norm for me!
Take your acrylic paint and and mix with the fabric medium per its directions. Paint dots and blobs of various sizes using your lighter paint. Be sure to have some extending to the top edge and the sole. You'll be going over and around these so you'll want some space in between each.
Start painting in an area that isn't terribly noticeable, like the inside of one of the shoes so that you an get your technique down.
Paint random shapes around potions of each of the blobs with your darker paint color. If you're happy with how this section turned out, mimic it when continuing to paint.
In order to have some sort of quality control, one of the things I like to do when painting shoes is to paint one side of a shoe and use it as a guide and paint the other shoe. I have found when I just paint all around the first shoe, sometimes my patterns vary and sometimes it an vary until it looks really pretty badly.
Finish up by painting your darker color edges on both shoes and allow to fully dry.
On these shoes, I decided to leave the top toe portion free of cheetah print. I'm really happy with how they turned out. What do you think? Happy Shoesday!
DIY Style, Fabric Paint, Shoe Makeover, Tutorial 
Reader Comments (2)
Ha ha, happy shoesday! I love how these turned out - - pink and animal print and two faves of mine, and you executed this so tastefully, I can guess that they'll get worn a whole lot more now!
Thanks for your sweet comment on my blog! I have enjoyed being a follower here for a few months now...and I'm in LOVE with your blog design. Working with a new designer on a new design for The Thinking Closet and I definitely bookmarked your blog for inspiration. Thanks, girl!
You are too sweet all around Lauren! I am loving your blog right back. Thanks so, so much for the comment. Whether or not you meant it to be it was highly encouraging. :)