Chip was invited to a one-year birthday party a few months ago. I figured his little friend probably had enough toys. (I did contemplate getting a musical drum set for her, but her mom is my friend and I wanted to keep it that way) I went with the safe route and decided to paint some nice (quiet) shoes instead.
It was actually very easy.
The nice thing about canvas shoes is they come in so many colors. I chose hi-tops because there's a little more space to work with. And they're just so darn cute.
For the flowers and dots, I just used acrylic paints you can pick up pretty cheaply at at any craft store. You can sketch out a design with pencil first; I just drew this freehand. For a design like this, you need a pretty small brush, and I went over the design several times to make it "pop."
I also thought it would be fun to further personalize the shoes by painting her name up the backs. Good thing she didn't have a long name like my kids; that never would have fit.
When I was done painting, I sprayed the shoes lightly with a couple coats of acrylic sealer. Word of note: make sure you spray the sealer outside in a well-ventilated area because it stinks! Chippy's little friend is not doing a lot of stomping through mud puddles at this point, but hopefully the sealer will help the paint from peeling or rubbing off some.
As a final touch, I switched out the plain white shoelaces with some cute grosgrain ribbon. Turned out pretty cute, I think.
What a great idea. So creative! Most kids have too many toys etc. these days, but this is a present with a personal touch.
ReplyDeleteAlan Riley, publisher www.beautifulbeddingsets.com