DIY: Shiny Red Shoes

I recently thrifted a comfortable pair of leather sandals. Immediately when I tried them on and they fit, I knew I wanted to give them a fun little face lift. They had some years of wear on them, for certain, but they were also super cute! I love DIY projects that involve shoes! Growing up, along with million other dreams, I had a dream of becoming a shoe designer. Buying a pair of shoes and making them my own is sort of like being a shoe designer. No? Let's pretend it is. Let me live my dreams!

So here is what I did. For this little make over I used a thin paint brush and red acrylic paint along with a little bit of water. I diluted a little bit of paint with the same amount of water and started to paint my sandals. I didn't tape around the shoes, so I painted carefully not to get the sides. When an accident occurred, I just wiped the paint off with a damp paper towel. No biggie! Also, I used a big trash bag for my work surface! After the first round of paint diluted in water, I gave about three coats of just paint on the shoes with no drying in between! Then after they dried, I gave two more coats!

When hubs saw the shoes, his exact words were "Wow they are hot! I am so proud of you."  Nothing makes me happier than making my husby proud! ;) It is the most rewarding feeling ever! Yes, this project is no big deal, easy peasy, but in my husband's eyes I'm the world's best shoe designer. Heehee. 

I'll cut myself some slack and let you all know that I put in my best effort and worked on these babies for a couple of days! There! 

Oh and I even water-proofed them with triple thick glaze after I made sure the paint was dry, because you just never know when lets-jump-in-a-puddle-moment would come! ;)

The glaze made them shiny. Shiny shoes bring back memories of me being five years old. I don't remember this but my mom told me a story of a time when her friend took me shopping for a pair of shoes and we came back home after a long day of searching, empty handed!  Apparently my five old self was not satisfied with any of the choices.  Today when I am not satisfied with a shoe 100% I turn it into a project! ;) So these shiny red shoes cost me $4! I thrifted them for $3 and the paint was just a buck.  I had triple thick glaze left over from sandals makeover project. I had so much fun creating these cheerful sandals.  I will be wearing them a lot this summer!  Red is my favorite color and anything that's comfortable is always a win in my book! ;)  What is your favorite DIY project?  Thank you for reading!  Happy weekend!  xo, m.