marvelous shoe makeover
Our German exchange student, Tessa only has a few more weekends in the USA so I suggested doing something a little different than the typical movie night. So we began our adventure by heading to the local Salvation Army to hunt down some shoes…
After the 3 of us found our Cinderella slippers, we searched the web for images we wanted to put on our shoes. I went with a pink floral theme, Rebecca collected a variety of colored posies & Tessa found inspiration from her pinterest page. I created collage sheets of the images & had color copies made. Then we headed to the studio to makeover our thrifty finds. Armed with foam brushes, mod podge & scissors… we were off to play!
Rebecca cut many of her flower pictures into thin strips & applied them in a row.
Didn’t they turn out stunning?! She did an amazing job & I have a feeling she could have a pretty successful side job decoupaging shoes for others.
Tessa’s technique was applying square images which gave her pump a more patchwork look.
Tessa also added lovely orange ribbon around the edge for a striking accent. I love the fact that these pumps represent a cool collage of postage-stamp-sized images Tessa loves. No doubt these will turn heads when they’re on her feet.
I covered my shoes with pages from a book first, then applied carefully cut flower shapes.
I don’t know why, but I love the look of text & like how it peeks out behind the flowers. I’ve only worn these shoes out once so far & got crazy compliments on them. I think I might need to make a few more pairs to add to my selection of soles.
The girls had a great time creating their wearable masterpieces & this project cost less than a movie ticket! Shoe makeovers are a great crafternoon activity for any group of creative gals who like fabulous shoes.
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OMG, those are amazing..what a fantastic idea…thanks for sharing…
Happy to inspire creativity :-)
What a fun project! So cool that they all look different and are stunning! I appreciate how you show us photos of all the steps. I bet you sure will miss Tessa. She’ll probably start a new trend in her hometown!
She has been loads of fun & I’ve enjoyed being part of memories that we’ll both treasure for sure!
My art friends and I love the shoes so much we are making them to wear to our next meeting. Shoe’d be lots of fun…………….
Cathwren
Wow! Truly inspiring. I was just wondering what you used to seal the shoes with afterwards? I’m about to start my own shoe-redo but am unsure of which medium to use to protect the shoe from scuffmarks yet still maintain flexibility. Any suggestions?
We just used Mod Podge & it worked fine… but depending on the style of show you may still get cracks where the shoe bends when you walk :-) Happy Crafting!
I have tried to do this for my childrens shoes. But the side of the sole stays tacky and sticks to everything and the front starts peeling off within an hour of wearing
Please help
Hi Kirsty,
I’m not completely sure how to troubleshoot this since I only wear these shoes every now and then. I can imagine that kids would be a little more rough with their their kicks :-) I don’t know why the mod podge wouldn’t cure on the sides of the shoe… maybe the shoe is too flexible. This project works best with shoes that don’t have a lot of give. Wish I could be of more help. Thanks <3
Is this just regular paper? Mod podge is that like sobe glue or is it for decoupaging ?Why couldn’t you use material then you could spray it with a spray sealer??Couldn’t you.My mother was so good at this type of things she would have loved internet and DIY and Pin She could do ANY thing I didn’t get any of it from her,Oh I have great ideas in my head but when I try to do it oh my what a mess then I get upset.I had some body pick me up some jewels for a bedazzler they wasn’t right and they got me gold paint to paint jeans now I”m scared I’ll mess it up
We used color copy paper so it had a bit of sheen to it already. You could use material too… have fun experimenting and let me know how they turn out!
Just LOVE the idea!!!
Question: Decoupage shoes. When using Mod Podge glue, do you place several coats on when you’re done to protect from water or peeling? Thank you,
I do a couple coats of mod podge, but do realize these shoes are still fragile and won’t do well with water and will crack a bit with heavy wearing.
I LOVE these! Are they delicate though? They must be delicate. I live in the rain capital of America so I doubt I could get away with these for long… any kind of heavy duty sealant you put on them?
Yes, they would not do so well in the rain no matter how much sealer you put on :-(
Mod Podge does make a version for use on projects that will be used outdoors. It says it holds up to the elements, rain or shine. That might make the shores more durable. Can’t wait to try this!