How to Customize Shoes

How to Customize Shoes

Posted by DecoArt on Jul 21st 2019

I admit I’m a little embarrassed to tell you how many shoes were in my closet before I did a little closet KonMari-ing last month. I found 2 pairs of shoes that I had never even worn [insert girl covering face emoji here]! One of them was this pair of casual red shoes that I was planning to donate but then I got this fun idea to customize them with a little paint makeover.

Since I’m a big Ohio State Buckeyes fan, I thought they would make adorable game day shoes with some DecoArt SoSoft paint. They turned out even cuter than I imagined!

Obviously, you don’t have to be an Ohio State fan to customize a pair of shoes that need a little something-something. You can follow the steps of this tutorial and then get crazy with any design you’d like!

Items Needed:

  • DecoArt SoSoft Fabric Paint - Brown
  • DecoArt SoSoft Fabric Paint - Golden Brown
  • Shoes To Customize
  • Paintbrush

Instructions:

Instruction Image #1

Use a brush and paint a circle(ish) with SoSoft paint in Brown. Buckeyes are not perfect circles so no need to worry about painting perfect matching circles on each shoe. I made the shapes of mine a little different just the way no 2 Buckeye nuts would ever be exactly the same. My symmetry-loving brain struggled with that but it made the Buckeyes look more authentic. :) SoSoft has great coverage so depending on the color of your shoes you may only need 1 coat. Since mine are red, I applied a second coat once the first coat was thoroughly dried.

Instruction Image #2

Once both coats have completely dried (overnight), paint the inside circle of the Buckeye with SoSoft Golden Brown paint. Since Golden Brown is much lighter than Brown I painted 2 coats.

Instruction Image #3

And that’s it...no need to seal them or apply a protective coating. 

Instruction Image #4

I’m definitely game day ready! 

Instruction Image #5

Do you have any shoes that you’d like to jazz up with a paint makeover?