This post however is not beauty related but I like to think that being a nail blogger for three years kind of helped in this effort.
A few weeks ago I had seen Bunny Meyer, or GraveyardGirl on YouTube (and yes I know that's now how she spells it.) doing a video series on her channel of ideas from Pinterest to see if they work and she was tie dying canvas sneakers with Sharpies. I thought that was a really cool idea. I quickly grabbed my phone and opened the Pinterest app and began browsing, I quickly found a tutorial on how to make galaxy shoes using the same techniques with Sharpies. At that moment I was determined I was going to try this, I practically live in canvas shoes in the summer so why not have my own decorated pair right?
After a little bit more research and watching some videos on YouTube I decided that I wanted to make my galaxy shoes with paint instead of sharpies, the cost would be less and I don't know I had this fear about using sharpies and rubbing alcohol and that the whole thing would get screw up.
I got all my supplies at the wonderful world of Walmart and here's how it broke down.
- White Canvas Shoes: $6.36 (that includes tax)
- Four Bottles of Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint: $0.50 Each, Total. $2.17 (includes Tax)
- Set of four foam brushes: $1.02 (includes tax)
- Acrylic Sealant Matte (I didn't want Glossy Shoes) $6.14 (includes tax)
- A Cheap Toothbrush $1.08 (with tax)
So the total cost to make these was: $16.78! Companies are selling them for $50 and up if you buy them from a store, why not save some dough and make your own, you can customize them to look however you want.
Okay so here is a not a step by step but a brief overview of what I did in case anyone wanted to try this out for themselves!
I wanted to do a complete tutorial but I got really into it and forgot to take photos at certain parts, I'll do my best to explain.
The first thing I did before beginning my artistic journey was to tape up the rubber part that runs around the bottom of the shoe with tape. I used masking tape, but I would recommend painters tape instead of masking tape. I found that the masking tape eventually pulled away from the rubber and also left the rubber sticky after removing it. Also you want to remove your laces as well unless you want galaxy laces too.
I ALSO HIGHLY SUGGEST YOU WEAR A SHIRT THAT YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT ANYMORE IN CASE YOU GET ANY PAINT ON YOURSELF!!!
The paint I used is non-toxic and can come off of skin with warm water and soap. Hence the reason you need sealant when done with these shoes.
Now I know in this photo there are five colors. I added the darker purple in after I did my first pair of shoes. This post is showing you my second pair I did for my best friend Stephanie. But still you only need four colors. For my personal pair of shoes which you can see here on my Instagram I only used the navy, white, lavender and pink colors. If I needed a darker version of the pink or lavender I mixed in the navy color or if I needed a lighter blue I mixed in the white paint. I only picked up the darker purple so I could try something different and personally I think it worked out well.
I first started with the navy color. I blocked out spots on the shoe where I wanted it to be the darkest. I left open white spaces to blend and place a lighter blue and the purple colors so that it would look like space better.
Once I had the navy parts blocked out I went to work on the light shades blending them in, kind of like doing and ombre on the shoe where you can see the fade. You don't want ANY harsh lines in this. Its supposed to magical and wispy.
Here is what the shoes looked like after I blended in all the colors. I then took the bright pink and mixed it with the navy to get the medium purple color to make the 'nebulas' I used one foam brush to to do them, one corner of the brush I sponged on the paint and then used the dry side to blend them out and make them look cloud like. Once again I did this sporadically all over the shoe.
Once I had the 'nebulas' looking how I wanted I took some of the white paint and a small brush I already had and did some highlighting. My dad is artist and I did pick up some stuff from him when I was growing up. I added the white paint in places like under the arch of the nebula on the front of the shoe or to the high points as well. I also made some white nebula clouds in spots that looked too plain.
Next comes the most fun yet most messy part of the project, so I hope you heeded my warning at the beginning about wearing a shirt you don't care about anymore. This is where the cheap toothbrush comes in!
I dipped the tooth brush in the white pain and splattered it all over the shoe to make 'stars'. You can judge how much splatter you want in one spot, its completely up to you.
My right hand was almost completely covered in paint when I was done, thank god this paint comes off with soap and warm water. Now I could of used fabric paint but I found the range of colors to not be what I wanted and or needed, that's why I chose acrylic paint. You can by a base to mix with it to make it fabric paint but like I said above you can just get a can of sealant and it works the same way.
Here is what the shoes looked like after the splatter effect and a few hand drawn stars.
I really think that the splatter makes ALL the difference, it gives the shoe dimension and really makes it look like outer space. I also used my dotting tool to help create a few other larger stars and painted on a few as well.
Here is a photo of the shoes I took with my phone to shoe the finished product to Stephanie.
I didn't even realize I made the hand drawn stars coordinate until I took this yesterday. Also if you couldn't really see the shoes on my Instagram page here are a couple shots of the shoes I made for myself.
I love how these came out, both pairs! I couldn't have been happier with them and now all I want to do is to keep making them! Friends are saying that I should do this professionally but I know there are other people out there doing that. If someone wanted me to make a pair or something I probably wouldn't say no. I hope you guys enjoyed this post as much as I did making these shoes.
I'm glad to be back in the blogging game and hopefully I'll have a new video up soon for you guys too!
I'll talk to you all very soon! <3 Nicole
