Caitlin loves dancing! And all forms of dance she refers to as “Zumba”. One day, Caitlin told me that she wanted “Zumba” shoes. If you’re not familiar with the Latin-dance-exercise-craze “Zumba”, the style of clothing and shoes are bright, wild and colorful. Given how hard it is to find the right shoe to fit over her orthotics, I knew finding a “Zumba” shoe that fit was going to be a real challenge!
I wrote in a previous post that the Drew Victoria shoe was a great fit for my daughter. Unfortunately, the shoe is only available in one color, black. Pretty boring for an active young lady with “Zumba” style!
I got to thinking that it was time to get creative and try my hand at painting shoes again. I am very much still a beginner at this craft since I only have one other project under my belt. And I was afraid of ruining the shoes, especially since the Drew Victoria’s are not cheap!
To increase my chances of success and not feel so bad about making a mistake, I did the following… First, I waited until the shoes were a little worn and broken in. Second, I created a simple design. And finally, I used just one color.
I gathered all my supplies to make sure I had everything before getting started. There’s nothing more frustrating than stopping in a middle of a project to get more supplies! I still had all of the products from the Angelus Direct Starter Kit from my previous project. All I needed was some paint. In keeping with the “Zumba” theme, I went with Neon Tahitian Pink paint. It’s also helpful to have another pair of shoes to wear since it can take a few days to finish the project.
Prepping the shoe surface is a simple, two-step process. First, I used the Easy Cleaner and a brush to remove any dirt. Then, I used the Leather Preparer and Deglazer to remove the protective sheen from the leather.
Next, it was time to decide on a design. When it comes to design, the stitching on a shoe usually creates a natural template to follow. The Drew shoe does not have a lot of stitching but a little tape helps to create some boundaries. I thought some blocks of color and a stripe across the top would make for a fun design.
Now, when it comes to painting, it’s recommended to brush on thin layers to deepen the color vs. trying to cake on one thick coat. This shoe needed a lot of layers of paint to cover the dark color. The leather was soft and sucked the paint up like a sponge. I painted layers over a couple of days so that each coat could dry completely before the next. In the end, there was still a little hint of black showing through but the glowing pink hue did a good job of hiding the small imperfections.
To clean up any over-painting, a little bit of Deglazer and a q-tip does the trick. Then, the last step was to apply Acrylic Finisher to seal the paint and add a slight sheen for a finished look.
The paint color was a lot brighter than I imagined! The Neon Tahitian Pink paint held true to its name and you could see my daughter coming a mile away! Caitlin seemed to really like her shoes and wore them every day!
After a couple months of daily wear (and zumba-ing), the shoes took a real beating! The paint was starting to show some cracks and scratches in the color, I think due to the leather being so soft. I wish I would have taken a picture before I touched them up but hopefully you can visualize this.
Touching up the paint was not too hard. Here’s what I did … First, I used the Easy Cleaner and Deglazer again to clean and remove the protective sheen. A little bit of paint might come off but that’s OK. Next, I painted a coat of pink over the existing painted areas. I decided to change the paint on the toes of the shoes to black because that’s where the color was getting scratched the most. And I actually think it looks better breaking up the big block of color. Then, I finished up by applying Acrylic Finisher to seal in the paint.
I think she loved the new design just as much as the original! The shoes looked fresh again and she was able to wear them for a while longer.
Painting shoes is a great way to customize hard to fit, orthotic shoes. With a little imagination and some practice, you too can create a shoe to match your unique style!
Thanks for stopping by!
JoAnn’s journey as a parent and caregiver to an individual with disabilities started when her daughter was born pre-maturely with multiple health issues resulting in cognitive, physical and speech disabilities. Over the years, JoAnn discovered that recreation, travel and social experiences can bring happiness and relief to a life that is often stressful and frustrating. She loves to seek out adaptive, accessible and fun activities for her daughter and the whole family to enjoy. She started the blog www.OurSpecialFunOasis.com to share her uplifting stories and positive ideas to help and to inspire others.