Sunday, July 3, 2011

Summer Project: How To

So, I realized that every summer I paint the oldest pair of my sneakers...this summer will be no different, but I'm undertaking a bit more complex designs. Two summers ago I splatter painted my green converses, last summer I adventure time-d my Vans and this summer my red Jr. Prom sneakers are getting the VIP treatment and getting my favorite first generation Pokemon painted on them. In celebration of my love for shoes, I've decided to share some of my tricks of the trade for maintaining, salvaging and revamping sneakers :) Most of them are pretty unexpected and can be done with stuff you probably already have lying around the house. Hope this helps and enjoy pimping out your feet!

[NOTE: These tips have been tested and perfected on Converse All Stars and Classic Slip-On Vans. Any canvas shoe can be expected to work with most of these techniques but I can't make any guesses about suede, leather or any other synthetic material]

Prepping Your Shoes (or just keeping them lookin' fly like a G6)
TIP #1: Nail Polish Remover
I know, it smells gross and burns like hell if you get it on any wounds, but this stuff is GREAT at getting anything and everything off of, well, anything and everything. I use it whenever I get any sort of paint anywhere I don't want it, from acrylics to nail polish to everything. It also works wonders on keeping the white rubber soles of your sneakers looking like new (or at least, not as old as they actually are). Just put some nail polish (AKA neurotoxin) on a cotton ball or Q-tip and start scrubbing.

TIP #2: Nail Glue

I try not to think too hard about the fact that all the stuff we put on our nails is also great on shoes. It helps me sleep at night. That being said, I do have to thank BeautySchoolDropout (BSD for short, like your nickname? lol) for the tip off about this wonder-substance. I've heard/seen it be used for everything from display assembly to creating pseudo elf-ears. It's also great at keeping the rubber of your soles together. Not to mention its like under two bucks for a bottle. I find the best kind for the job is the type with a brush instead of a squeeze bottle. Just brush a little bit onto one side of the rubber and hold. But don't get it on your fingers, this shit bonds FAST. If you do though, it comes off with a bit of nail polish remover, no problem. NOTE: If you're cleaning AND gluing your soles in one go, clean them first then let them dry well before gluing, otherwise the nail polish remover will ruin your glue job.

TIP #3: Brush Your Shoes (Ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch ch)
First off, if you can tell me what the name of this tip is a reference to, you win a bazillion Krysti-points.
Moving onward, again, beauty product turned shoe (and clothing) care product. Just make sure that the brush you plan on using isn't the one you're brushing your teeth with (mine has big sharpie letters on it that say DO NOT BRUSH TEETH). Used toothbrushes are super useful in crafty projects, not only do they make great splatter paint brushes, they're also great at getting caked on mud and crap off of fabrics, specifically sturdier fabrics like canvas. If you've got dirt and mud on your sneakers, let it dry and scrub it off with a toothbrush. The same applies for wool. Last year I fell face-first into a huge mud puddle wearing my green wool peacoat. I saucily trudged home, was laughed at by my roommates, hung my jacket to dry, went back to lunch, and came back and scrubbed the dry mud off. You couldn't even tell anything ever happened to it (which is great, cause those suckers can be expensive).

Pimping Your Shoes (or anything fabric really....)
TIP #4: Tulip Fabric Paints
Oh my goodness I love this paint. I've used it a million and a half times on tshirts, dresses, sneakers, jerseys and everything in between. They work great, don't fade in the wash and are just like normal paint (fun fact, I despise puffy paint in most situations). Most of the things I've been doing recently with this have been free handed, which is great because you can mix and blend and fade colors just like you can with regular paint. But these little guys are also great for using with freezer paper stencils which, as my close friends who

TIP #5: Sharpie...wait for it...FABRIC MARKERS

Oh. Hell. Yes.
For anyone out there who's used a Sharpie to make/sign a great memory-filled tshirt and then have it completely disappear after one wash - here is your salvation. The folks at Sharpie must have finally taken a look at all the awesome projects the folks on DeviantArt and Craftster were doing on fabric with their regular markers and thought "hey, maybe these good people wouldn't have to check the weather forecast before wearing their creations if we made them some awesome fabric markers!" Great idea sharpie people! I just bought a pack of these at Walmart and have started using them in tandem with the tulip paints for crisp outlines and tiny details. The black one is (as should be expected) awesome, the others work a lot better on lighter fabrics. So since I'm working on red I'm kind of sticking with the black. But I cannot wait to get my hands on some plain white sneakers!!! However, if you don't feel like investing in these buggers (they're a bit pricey at @ 12.99 for an eight pack at Walmart) you can just stick with the crafters go-to tool: the classic sharpie.

TIP #6: ModPodge

"What the hell is this?" you say. And I was in your shoes too, not too long ago. Until I finally decided to pick some of this ish up last summer. Basically its like a combination glue/sealer that works on almost anything, wood, plastic, glass, fabric, and acts as an all in one for decoupage. Most recently I used it on my comic book heels:
But combine it with sparkles and you could create yourself some glittery heels a la The Wifey 
(or sneakers a la LunaLovegood - sorry, no picture of those). It's really easy to use and you can find a million and a half ideas for shoes and other projects on their official blog.

And for all you blog readers who have no interest in crafting whatsoever but stuck it out through this post because you love me, I'm sorry,  my life is eat-sleep-camp-craft. There's not a hell of a lot else to write about. But I love you all and as always, suggestions welcome!

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