Sharpie markers + a little rubbing alcohol on something white makes colors run. Did you know that? It gives it a somewhat tie-dyed effect. And since I love me some tie-dye, I had to give it a shot on some canvas shoes.
By the way, just a little over $5 for these shoes at Walmart, and if you know me in real life, you know the only shoes I ever wear are flip-flops and these type of shoes. So woot-woot! New pair of shoes for Moma under $6! Woohoo!
I had made mention on instagram how I had a blue-million things to do yesterday, but I really wanted to take a little time and make the shoes! That got me to thinking, does anyone else out there say *blue-million*? I had a couple of responses that said YES! One was from West Virginia, and I am not sure where the other was from. But one lady said she had never even heard of the term. To me, blue million means too many to count. You are swamped. Over your head or overwhelmed.
If you use it in a different form, or at all, I’d love to hear where you are from! 🙂
Anyhow, back to the shoes. I started both shoes with different patterns, but basically the same. I wanted to see which effect worked best and give you some pointers before you try your own shoes!
Basically, I didn’t want a “pattern” per say, I just wanted a fade from one color to the next kinda thing. Since because with shoes you can’t band a section off and saturate with color like you do when you tie-dye, you just have to color your sections in.
The above shoe was a good idea, but the colors were not close enough together. You want the colors to be close enough to run. It was my first shoe and my first try, so now you know. I did go back in and color it up some more after seeing it wasn’t working in the fashion I wanted.
This is the second shoe. I colored waves of color, progressing outward like a ripple. Much closer together.
I used rubbing alcohol and a little pipette to distribute the alcohol to the shoe without completely saturating it. You can begin to see how the colors are running.
I even got an old toothbrush and helped muddle the colors a bit.
I am completely smitten. I think they are AWESOME!
Carlie made her own pair too. Very cute and summer-y!
Cameo has a pair to make as well, and I’ll update a pic with hers once she gets them made.
It was super easy and a lot of fun! Even when you do have a blue-million things to do, take a little time to have fun with your kids. You might end up with some wonderful memories and some great shoes. 😉
