Turn plain white shoes into colorful footwear.
A pair of plain tennis shoes may be practical and comfortable, but they are not always the most stylish accessory. If you have a quality pair of leather shoes, decorating may be limited to adding a fun pair of shoe strings or a shiny shoe charm, but white canvas tennis shoes can literally be considered a blank canvas for decorating.
Instructions
Paint
1. Remove the shoestrings and wipe off any dust or debris from the shoes. Lay a drop cloth or sheets of newspaper on your work surface to protect it from spills.
2. Apply painter's tape to any areas you do not want to paint and any non-canvas areas, such as the rubber edge. Line the back of the eyelets with tape so paint won't soak through to the tongue.
3. Paint the shoes with fabric paint. Paint the entire shoe one color, or paint free-hand designs like hearts, spirals or geometric shapes. Allow the paint to dry for 24 hours.
4. Place the tennis shoes in the dryer with a couple of clean, dry towels to soften their tumble. Dry them on high heat for approximately 20 minutes to help set the paint.
5. Replace the shoestrings with a fresh new pair of colorful strings.
Glitter
6. Clean shoes, remove the shoestrings and tape off non-canvas areas.
7. Draw a design on paper that you can replicate with tubes of glitter paint. Use swirls, curves or straight lines. Experiment with duplicating your pattern with glitter paint on paper before attempting to glitter paint your shoes.
8. Apply washable glitter paint to the shoes to duplicate your pattern. Allow the glue to dry for 48 hours and tumble the shoes in a hot dryer to set the paint.
Fabric Decoupage
9. Prepare the shoes by removing the strings, cleaning them and taping off areas not made of canvas.
10. Cut small triangles from scraps of fabric. You will need approximately 80 to 100 triangles to fully cover one shoe, depending on the size of triangles and the size of your shoe.
11. Brush a layer of decoupage paste on one section of your shoe. Arrange several fabric triangles on the paste, allowing them to overlap and create an interesting design. Continue until the section is decorated as heavily as you like it. Repeat with other sections until all of the canvas area is decorated.
12. Apply a coat of decoupage paste over the sections where you have applied fabric. Allow the shoes to dry for 72 hours.
13. Remove the painter's tape and replace the shoestrings. Care for decoupaged tennis shoes by spot cleaning or hand washing them in cold water only as needed.
