Four years ago, I bought three pairs of leather ballet flats at the Gap. They've been in heavy rotation ever since, and have started looking worse for wear.
But they were either odd colors {grey, red} which I couldn't find shoe polish for, or it was a color I never wore for some reason {brown}. So, on a whim, I decided to paint them.
First, gently clean with a damp cloth, then dry-brush on acrylic craft paint.
Make sure to stretch out the leather and get in all the cracks and seams. Let dry. Apply second coat if necessary.
Voila! Revamped shoes. I've been wearing them for a few weeks now, and they seem to hold up pretty well. :)
Have any of you ever painted shoes {or a purse, or other leather goods} before? Do tell.
9 comments:
I've heard rave reviews about those Gap ballet flats. Are they as comfy as I've heard? They look great with their new paint job!
Who would have thought?! What a great idea!
I have never even thought of that. Wow. Glad they are holding up! Isn't acrylic paint water based, though, what happens if it rains? Did you spray them with something after?
I am crazy about Old Navy and Gap flats, but they do wear out! I may have to do this :)
I never thought about rain! It {almost} never rains around here-- thus the oversight. However, I'm sure there are paints available at the craft store designed for leather. I was just too impatient to go shopping first. :)
dang. i was going to post about my pink shoe debacle(what not to do). but now i'll just look like a copycat if i post about shoes. i wish i used the paint you used. i wanted pink shoes for easter and mother's day, but the paint cracked. doom. i'm sad now, that i don't have pink shoes. the end.
p.s. could you post this a month ago?
Okay, what a weird question to end with. Painting shoes? WEIRD!!
And my answer is yes, I have. :) For my brother's wedding me and my 2 sisters were bridesmaids and we are all rather cheap. We didn't want to buy the Ashley Simpson shoes our SIL recommended (not super expensive, but none of us thought we'd be wearing the shoes much again) so we looked for something similar. We found some that we really liked the shape of (they had to be sling back, white and with a pretty high heel) but the heels were cork. We bought them anyway and spent the night before the wedding at the kitchen table applying coat after coat of paint on the heels. We all thought they didn't look great (we could see all the flaws because it was HARD to avoid all the edges and make it even etc.) but people assured us you would never have known. :)
Yours look awesome!!
I spray painted a dead bush green in the front of our house last fall. Does that count? It conclusively died too late to replant and I knew I couldn't look at a brown bush all winter long--too depressing.
Once the birdies leave the nest that's there, that bush is a goner.
Paint performs many miracles.
I spray painted a dead bush green in the front of our house last fall. Does that count? It conclusively died too late to replant and I knew I couldn't look at a brown bush all winter long--too depressing.
Once the birdies leave the nest that's there, that bush is a goner.
Paint performs many miracles.
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