Yep, More Painted Shoes

I really thought I was done with the whole painting shoes project after I did my lobster Dr. Scholl’s this summer. That is until I saw the leather mules over at Brentwood Design. Who wouldn’t love a pair of monogrammed shoes? So very chic but yet so very difficult to find. And Alyson and I promptly agreed that her little lady, Miss Graysen really must have a chute hand painted pair of first walkers. However, the designs at Brentwood were a bit over-the-top for her (and mine, too) taste. Don’t get me wrong. Donna’s designs are beyond fabulous and she is obviously extremely talented and has found a great niche, but Alyson wanted something a little simpler. So I said I’d give it a go.

Supplies needed:
-pair of leather toddler first walkers or women’s loafers or mules
-blue transfer paper
-pen
-paint pens & acrylic paint
- ¼” wide decorative grosgrain ribbon for laces (if for laced shoe)
-Fray Stop
-monogram or design either drawn or printed

Now, let’s get started. I must be pretty excited about Fall as I seem to keep being drawn to the argyle pattern with this project. What started me thinking about the classic argyle (which is, as we all know, a staple in any preppies wardrobe) was the top of the toddler shoes I bought for Alyson’s little girl. You can tell in the picture that they have a diamond shape out of small holes on the top of the shoe, so I decided to take that and run with it and use it to my advantage. So on the toddler shoe, I taped off my diamond at the toes, painted it with a paint pen first, let that dry, then painted over with Acrylic. I don’t know why I did that, I just did. So then I moved to the back of the shoe, taped off my diamonds there, and painted them as well.

While I was waiting for the diamonds to dry, I took my blue transfer paper, and transferred my monogram on the side of the shoe. As always I used the blue painters tape to secure my little monogram to the shoe so the paper wouldn’t rip, and then went over the transferred monogram with my paint pens. A little note here, I only did one side at a time as to not smear or rub off the transfer while I was working on one side. Once I finished all four monograms (two on each shoe, inner and outer sides), my diamonds were dry, I then removed my tape, and added on my dashed X’s to complete my argyle pattern with my paint pen. Now, I did not like the look of the white laces in the shoe, so I removed those and bought pink and white ¼ “ wide grosgrain ribbon instead. I’m still not in love with the ribbon I bought as I wanted something a little more fun (maybe a gingham or polka dot perhaps?), but it was difficult to find a fun grosgrain that was that narrow. Anyhow, make sure you cut your ribbon at an angle and use the Fray Stop to prevent the ribbon from fraying (duh), and then lace up the shoes once the Fray Stop has dried. Put the new kicks on your little lady (or gent), a pair of jeans and cardigan and out to the park you go! And yes, I do think these would look perfectly cute on a little boy as well, so long as you changed your color scheme to lets say, perhaps a brown and baby blue instead of pink and green.

So these turned out so cute, I got to thinking how they would look if I did a pair for myself. I mean, you never know unless you try, right? So clearly I was not going to go mess up a perfectly good new pair of shoes and after some digging, found an old pair of navy loafers in the back of my closet. Note to self: clean out closet. Anyhoo, the shoes. I really never wear navy shoes anymore (it’s been 4 years to be exact), so I didn’t really feel bad about experimenting on them, and decided once again to just go with an argyle pattern. I will say though, that I played around with my design and color scheme and fonts in Word before actually painting it on. And instead of using the painters tape to tape off my diamonds, I went ahead and printed up my design, and traced it onto the shoe using the transfer paper. Why? Well I don’t know. I guess I just wanted to get a little crazy and mix things up a bit. I know what you’re thinking. WooHoo! Watch out; there goes monogram momma getting crazy again with that transfer paper!

Once my diamond shape was transferred onto the shoe, I painted it with my green paint pen to get clean lines. I then hand painted several coats of acrylic paint on top, very carefully. Once the diamonds dried, I cut out my initial, and again, transferred that onto the center of each green diamond. I then painted that with a paint pen, and then added in my dashed lines to complete my argyle pattern. It’s as easy as done.

So, time for confessions. While I love how little Graysen’s shoes turned out, I’m not necessarily married to the shoes I did for myself. I can see myself occasionally wearing them with jeans and perhaps my green cable knit, but don’t expect to see monogram momma sporting these as her everyday run-around shoe. Even with this toned down version of the painted shoe, they are still a bit much for me. They might be just right though for a College Football game and tailgating though, so I’ll have to keep that in mind.

Now if you still really love the idea of a monogrammed or personalized shoe but don’t care for the ones I did or the ones at Brentwood either, then you simply must check out Amy Jo Gladstone of New York. While you’re there, make sure you check out her entire collection, monogrammed and non-monogrammed alike, as she’s got some really fabulous looking driving moc’s w/ pink or green stitching on a black shoes with coordinating tassel. But if you still don’t fancy anything on Amy’s site, and perhaps you are looking for a fun needlepoint shoe, then check out the nice collection at Itz A Stitch or The Cottage at Spotswood. However, while you’re visiting the Cottage, you simply must check out the sweet little needlepoint shoes for baby. So delicious, I love them! But while we’re on the subject of super cute baby shoes, you all really must peek your head into Twinkle Toes Shop for that super finicky baby or toddler. Oh how I wish they made these larger for all 4 of us in the Monogram family as they are JUST what is missing from our Christmas card picture outfits (which yes, I’ve already decided upon).

So now that you’ve got some good options for customizing and monogramming your own shoes go off and be creative as you can in your design and execution. As for me, today I am feeling a bit navy and green so I think I will load up the mini monograms and head to the library for story time. After that, perhaps we’ll pick up some lunch and head to the park. Of course, that’s all depending on the weather, which has been keeping us very wet for several days now (and monogram momma does not enjoy getting wet on rainy days). So have fun and happy shoe painting, and I do hope you’ll send in some pictures if any of you should decide to attempt this project yourselves!