From the Archives: Star boots upcycle

 This post is from March 2014.   When I was posting my starry outfit the other day, I added the hashtag Stars.  After I posted, I was curious to see what I had under that hashtag and suddenly remembered the time I upcycled a pair of my boots with acrylic paint with stars!  Can't believe I ever got rid of these.  They were so cute!!!

Anyway, I thought I'd share this post as there are a few new friends here nowadays as well as old lovelies! 

Enjoy!

xx

Star boots upcycle

Hello there!

I wanted to share this fun and easy craft project I recently completed which would be ideal for kids and adults.

Several of you admired my Star boots in my Birthday outfit post.  Well, I was really pleased that you did, as these were my recent upcycle project.  I wanted to create something fun which would stand out. I love Irregular Choice shoes for their standout quality!

I have had these black boots for a while and they are rather knackered.  There are a few problems. 1) the heels are worn down at the back and secondly, they are really scuffed.  Since they are just made out of some man-made material, not leather, polish wouldn't make a difference but I am loyal and they have served me well, so I felt like giving them a new lease of life.

This project is fun because I believe it can be undone if you are unhappy with the results.  Acrylic paint washes off with water and a sponge.

You will need:
Old tired, scuffed looking boots or shoes (you could do this with nice new pair but I wouldn't want to risk it at first!), acrylic paint in your choice of colour, suitable paintbrush for acrylics (not too soft, not too thin,), protection for your work surface, Stencil (I made mine using an Xcut star-shaped punch), scrap paper, a pile of socks,

1.  You can see how tired and scuffed these are.  They were also a bit muddy. So first, clean the surface of your shoe to get rid of any lint or dirt- I used a baby-wipe but a small sponge/cloth and water will also do better!

2.  Prepare your template.  With my star punch, I punched several of them into scrap paper and cut a square close around it so it wouldn't accidentally smudge any other drying stars when painting other stars.  I also made quite a few templates because sometimes acrylic paint got onto the bottom of the template and slightly smudged the stars.  Thus, I rotated between them.

3.  Lay down something on your surface.  I just used a carrier bag.

4.  Stuff your boot/shoe with socks/leggings material, something to help it keep its shape.  I discovered the need of this after the painting my first star.

5.  Put a SMALL amount of acrylic paint into a receptacle (a little goes a LONG way).  I used a pasta jar lid for this- doesn't matter if it gets too grubby as it can be recycled and a nice small, but flat surface. I chose to use pearlescent green paint, I'm not sure what the difference will be using matte paint.

6.  Before you begin on the actual shoe, try painting on the sole with your template and paint just to check you like what you're about to do! I tried out my small star template and large star and discovered the small one just looked messy and was harder to make the shape distinct.  You might be better with a slightly larger shape.

7.  Lay your template over a spot and hold down with your fingers (can't be doing with that masking tape milarkey) so it is flat.  Pick up a tiny amount of paint with your brush and paint over the template.   Carefully remove it.

8.  Re-lay a template at a distance of your choice.  Try not to let the sides of the template touch your previous star. (N.B.  It does dry quickly though, so don't worry too much).

9.  Every so often, look at your shoe to check you are positioning the stars evenly. I did all one side first, then had a look at it before laying it on its other side.

10.  Paint your other shoe.  Do the same with the other one. I had to check that my stars were the same distance.  They aren't but it seemed ok!

11.  Admire your new boots!!!

Just a word of warning.  Someone mentioned to me that acrylic paint can be washed off by water, so I avoided wearing mine in the rain so far.  I think they might be ok but just in case...
And if you fancy a change, then you could always clean them and repaint with a new pattern in new colours.


 One of my colleagues said she thought they might look pretty in all different star colours which I might try at some point!

Hope you like it.  One of my parents spotted them at school and when I told her I'd painted them she got all excited and thought that she could do this with some of her kids' scruffy shoes- she said she had a great idea which she'd wait till summer to do!!!  And parents, why not, for fun, let your child paint an old pair of shoes in this way with a template- they might be proud to say they've upcycled their own shoe!!! You could even have a shoe painting party for your child's birthday!!! Everyone could bring an old pair of shoes (or a new pair?!) and paint them with hearts, stars, butterflies, circles (polka dots), letters, you name it- all you need is a punch or template!!!



Linking to the following fab blogs including my Uni friend's fabulous blog!!! Visit the Fairy and the frog for amazing idea for things to do with your children and language links to these activities! Great ideas for nursery teachers too!:

Creative Mondays with Claire Justine

The Fairy and the frog parenting pin

In and out link up party with Cynthia at Feeding Big








You're gonna love it Tuesday

with Kathe with an E!

OH OK, you have a GSOH

I like how having a set of miniature brooch backs means I can fashion myself a new brooch with any household item.  I'd made Janet a Scrabble brooch for a swap and decided that it was high time I make myself some. Except, I quite fancied the idea of interchangeable letters which I could pair as collar clips for my shirts/coats.  SO, I selected these 5 letters, K- obviously so I can let everyone know my name doesn't start with C. But the others...?



1.  Everything is OK with me today!
2. SO what?
3. OH! Yes, they are Scrabble tiles.
4. Yes, I do look a Knock Out in this outfit!
5. GO!
6 So you can see where I glued. I used 15mm brooch backs which are the smallest ones you can get on Ebay. I didn't QUITE use enough glue so I need to redo the K and G....



And finally, yes, I Do have a Good Sense of Humour!

xxx


Linking to Creative Mondays

Star boots upcycle

Hello there!

I wanted to share this fun and easy craft project I recently completed which would be ideal for kids and adults.

Several of you admired my Star boots in my Birthday outfit post.  Well, I was really pleased that you did, as these were my recent upcycle project.  I wanted to create something fun which would stand out. I love Irregular Choice shoes for their standout quality!

I have had these black boots for a while and they are rather knackered.  There are a few problems. 1) the heels are worn down at the back and secondly, they are really scuffed.  Since they are just made out of some man-made material, not leather, polish wouldn't make a difference but I am loyal and they have served me well, so I felt like giving them a new lease of life.

This project is fun because I believe it can be undone if you are unhappy with the results.  Acrylic paint washes off with water and a sponge.

You will need:
Old tired, scuffed looking boots or shoes (you could do this with nice new pair but I wouldn't want to risk it at first!), acrylic paint in your choice of colour, suitable paintbrush for acrylics (not too soft, not too thin,), protection for your work surface, Stencil (I made mine using an Xcut star-shaped punch), scrap paper, a pile of socks,


1.  You can see how tired and scuffed these are.  They were also a bit muddy. So first, clean the surface of your shoe to get rid of any lint or dirt- I used a baby-wipe but a small sponge/cloth and water will also do better!

2.  Prepare your template.  With my star punch, I punched several of them into scrap paper and cut a square close around it so it wouldn't accidentally smudge any other drying stars when painting other stars.  I also made quite a few templates because sometimes acrylic paint got onto the bottom of the template and slightly smudged the stars.  Thus, I rotated between them.

3.  Lay down something on your surface.  I just used a carrier bag.

4.  Stuff your boot/shoe with socks/leggings material, something to help it keep its shape.  I discovered the need of this after the painting my first star.

5.  Put a SMALL amount of acrylic paint into a receptacle (a little goes a LONG way).  I used a pasta jar lid for this- doesn't matter if it gets too grubby as it can be recycled and a nice small, but flat surface. I chose to use pearlescent green paint, I'm not sure what the difference will be using matte paint.


6.  Before you begin on the actual shoe, try painting on the sole with your template and paint just to check you like what you're about to do! I tried out my small star template and large star and discovered the small one just looked messy and was harder to make the shape distinct.  You might be better with a slightly larger shape.

7.  Lay your template over a spot and hold down with your fingers (can't be doing with that masking tape milarkey) so it is flat.  Pick up a tiny amount of paint with your brush and paint over the template.   Carefully remove it.

8.  Re-lay a template at a distance of your choice.  Try not to let the sides of the template touch your previous star. (N.B.  It does dry quickly though, so don't worry too much).

9.  Every so often, look at your shoe to check you are positioning the stars evenly. I did all one side first, then had a look at it before laying it on its other side.

10.  Paint your other shoe.  Do the same with the other one. I had to check that my stars were the same distance.  They aren't but it seemed ok!

11.  Admire your new boots!!!


Just a word of warning.  Someone mentioned to me that acrylic paint can be washed off by water, so I avoided wearing mine in the rain so far.  I think they might be ok but just in case...
And if you fancy a change, then you could always clean them and repaint with a new pattern in new colours.


 One of my colleagues said she thought they might look pretty in all different star colours which I might try at some point!

Hope you like it.  One of my parents spotted them at school and when I told her I'd painted them she got all excited and thought that she could do this with some of her kids' scruffy shoes- she said she had a great idea which she'd wait till summer to do!!!  And parents, why not, for fun, let your child paint an old pair of shoes in this way with a template- they might be proud to say they've upcycled their own shoe!!! You could even have a shoe painting party for your child's birthday!!! Everyone could bring an old pair of shoes (or a new pair?!) and paint them with hearts, stars, butterflies, circles (polka dots), letters, you name it- all you need is a punch or template!!!



Linking to the following fab blogs including my Uni friend's fabulous blog!!! Visit the Fairy and the frog for amazing idea for things to do with your children and language links to these activities! Great ideas for nursery teachers too!:

Creative Mondays with Claire Justine

The Fairy and the frog parenting pin

In and out link up party with Cynthia at Feeding Big








You're gonna love it Tuesday

with Kathe with an E!