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Kimberlee Buck  |  Contributing Writer

This summer I had some free time, so I decided to make over some old shoes I had sitting in the back of my closet. Now, I have no experience whatsoever when it comes to hot glue guns and drawing with Sharpies on tennis shoes. But I can paint.

ShoesI originally got the idea of a shoe makeover from Pinterest. I searched DIY in its search engine and “DIY colored shoes” came up. This pin showed me how to paint or color the back of my shoes.

When I say I painted the bottom of my heels, I’m not talking about the paint that people use on the walls or the paint you made pictures with on the wall and got in trouble about. We are more mature; now we paint our shoes.

All of the supplies mentioned below can be found at Michaels Art and Craft store.Supplies

Here are the supplies you need to makeover your shoes:

  •      A pair of shoes
  •      Rubbing alcohol
  •      Cotton balls
  •      A thin paint brush
  •      2 regular size paint brushes
  •      3 bottles of satin acrylic paint: white, your current shoe color, and a color of your choice for the bottom of your shoes. (Nail polish can be used as a substitution for this step.)
  •      3 plastic cups
  •      1 plastic cup with water

Let’s get started:

  1.     Cleaning

(Grab the rubbing alcohol and cotton balls.)

After you have decided which pair of shoes are worthy enough to be your guinea pig (I choose a pair of black Mary Jane pumps), grab the bottle of rubbing alcohol and a couple of cotton balls. Pour alcohol on one of the cotton balls and clean the bottom of your shoes. This will get rid of any dirt you had on them.

  1.     The base coat

(In this stage you will use a bottle of white paint, plastic cup and paint brush.)

Now, it’s time to set your base coat for the bottom of your shoes. What you want to do is grab the bottle of white paint and pour some into the plastic cup. Feel free to pour as much as you want.

Keep in mind you arBottom of Shoese painting the bottom of both shoes. Next, dip the paint brush in the white paint and begin painting the bottom of your shoes. Once you have completed one shoe, move on to the next one.

Once you are done painting the base coat for both shoes, look over them and make sure you didn’t miss any spots.

Get the edges with your small paint brush. When you are done with this, set your shoes on their sides, making sure the bottoms do not touch the newspaper you put it on.

  1.     Let it dry

Letting your shoes dry can be a hard task to complete because it takes a while, but think of how beautiful they will look once you are finished. Make sure to check both shoes with the tip of your finger to see if they are dry (drying time 2-3 hours).

  1.     Painting Paint

(In this step you will use the paint color of your choice, the color of your original shoe, two paint brushes and the plastic cup with water.) 

Before you begin this step, make sure your brushes are clean from painting the base coat. If not, I’m happy I reminded you. Go ahead and use the plastic cup with the water in it to dip in your brushes. Please make sure they are dry. Feel free to use a paper towel for this.

Now, you get to paint. Grab the color of your choice and one shoe. (I wanted to paint my shoes turquoise at the bottom.) Pour the paint into a plastic cup and use the regular-size brush to begin painting. Once you have finished one shoe, move on to the other. Remember to use the small paint brush for the edges and small places to reach.

5.     Let it dry and clean up

Congrats! You have officially completed your DIY challenge. Make sure to let your shoes dry completely before moving and/or wearing them. I recommend letting them dry overnight and checking on them in the morning. If the color isn’t as bright as you wanted it to be, feel free to do a second coat following the directions in Step 4.

For more unique shoe makeover ideas, check out http://www.buzzfeed.com