Goldie Toes

Oh my goodness gracious am I excited about this project!  One because I’ve finally broken out the spray paint after a five month hiatus and because it was 100% free!  Here’s the scoop.  I’ve been going through my closet little by little, slowly beefing up my Goodwill pile.  Whilst in one of my purging sprees my eyes sank down to a pair of old white ballet flats I’ve had since college (I think I got them for $10 new).  Not in the best of shape after beating my college paths and not having touched my feet in at least a year, their future in my wardrobe was looking pretty bleak and the pile pretty welcoming.  But, before I give anything away I always travel to the crazy creative area in my mind just to make sure they can’t be refashioned or reused.  And lucky for these little gems, I had an idea.  They were going to be the perfect medium for an experiment I’ve always wanted to try but never have.  Here they are in all their worn in glory:     

And here’s the inspiration behind the madness that was about to ensue: The Cece cap toe ballet flats from J. Crew chiming in at a whopping $168!  So pretty but not in my budget, no way, no how.  (Shoes images retrieved from J. Crew.)

However, a half hour of fun craftiness and I had my own cap toes: 

Here’s how I got ‘em.  First, I scrubbed my old shoes with some bleach and dish soap to perk them up.  Can you tell the difference? I know, it’s not a slap-you-in-the-face difference but they’re a little cleaner.  The toes have endured the worst wear but that’s why this upgrade is perfect for this sad pair.

So next I snatched up a few things I had laying around:

Then I got to taping.  First I taped off the area I wanted to paint: Because these shoes had pleats in front, I made sure to press down the tape really hard to ensure that paint wouldn’t leak down the pleats and spoil my plan.

Then I taped off the front sole of the shoe:

And then I taped some scrap paper over the rest of the shoe to protect it from any stray paint:

Outside I went and a few thin coats of liquid gold I sprayed… …until I went back inside, took all of the tape off, and decided I wanted a little more gold so I repeated the whole taping process again.  :)  But, that’s obviously an optional step.

Side note:  I made sure to remove the tape when the paint was still a little wet.  Otherwise, the paint may have peeled off with the tape putting a rather large dent in the whole project.

Now for the back of the shoe.

First I taped off the sole:

Then I taped off a thin strip.  The back seam of these particular shoes was a little crooked and I didn’t want a crooked line, so I just disregarded it and made my own straight line. 

For protection of the rest of the shoe, I taped on some more scrap paper and stuck a wad in the heel of the shoe:

Out to spray, let ‘em dry, and tape off and I’ve got some new favorite shoes. 

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the durability of spray paint plus shoes, it’s actually really great.  These shoes are faux leather and just to see, I actually tried scratching some of the paint off of the front.  The only way any paint was coming off was if I scratched the pleather off the shoe.  Happy day!  :)

I’m so excited this worked because I’ve always wondered if I could ever change the color of a pair of shoes with spray paint and now I know!  Anyone else tried pairing the two with good results?  I’d be lying if I said I’ll never do it again!  Patterns, shapes, stripes…it’s all fair game now!

Happy weekend everyone!