Painted Shoes

 
     My first foray into shoe painting was for my cousin's wedding on May 4th, which just so happens to be Star Wars Day.  As an avid Star Wars nerd, I had wanted to paint shoes depicting some of my favorite characters from the Star Wars universe, and this wedding was the perfect time to fly my nerd flag.  I decided to paint R2-D2 the astromech droid, because the colors matched the outfit I was wearing to the wedding.

     I had seen this on another blog, link here

     I bought TOMs for my first effort, and they were great to paint on.  I used fabric paint for this pair, but I am going to try acrylic paint for the next set.

   Now, TOMs are expensive!  I saved up for months to get my TOMs.  You can paint on any shoe usually.

     I researched shoe painting thoroughly before I began, because I did not want to ruin $50 shoes!  Normally the first step is to clean the shoes and make sure there is no dirt on them, but since mine were pristine and right out of the box I skipped that step.

     When I went to Nordstrom's to purchase TOMs, they didn't have any plain white shoes left in my size, so I bought a pale yellow instead. I just painted white where I normally would have left plain with white shoes.  As you can see in the photo, there is only white on the middle of the top, so it wasn't too big of a deal to paint it.

     I painted the block colors first (the white and silver), and then drew on my design with a regular #2 pencil.

     I filled in everything blue, and then I used red Puffy Paint for R2-D2's eye to make it stand out better.  Then, I filled in where the black paint goes, and then used a very small paint brush to outline everything.  Many people use fabric markers (the Tulip brand makes these, and can be found at pretty much any craft store) for coloring in the shapes and outlining, but I wanted to use all paint.  It is harder and more time consuming, but I liked the painted look better personally.  I did several coats of the white and silver, and three coats of the blue and black (including the outlining).  I used Puffy Paint for red, and that only needed one application.

     Just to be safe, I sealed mine with a spray Acrylic craft sealer that is safe to use on fabric and canvas.  I got it at Michael's craft store, and I just picked a brand that looked appealing.  Each spray can has directions for using the sealer.

     I am extremely happy with the results, and they were a hit at my cousin's wedding!  I love my R2-D2 shoes!

Here are a few more pictures from different angles:

Details on the toes

Details on right side

details on left side

   May the Force be with you!