DIY: Two-tone brogues

I'm totally in love with this pair of black & bronze brogues that I whipped up a few weeks ago. I had been wanting to create a two-tone look on a pair of brogues after seeing several similar DIY projects appearing throughout the internet for the past couple of months. My chance came when I saw a pair of black brogues on sale for just $5 at Rubi shoes! Sometimes I just can't believe how lucky I am! 

Before

After

I completed this project in 2 nights. I applied several coats (approx 6 - 7)  of the paint so that the black no longer shows and the paint starts to give an opaque metallic look. By the way, this is the perfect DIY project to do while watching TV shows. There's no concentration required at all. I love it when I can watch shows like I Love Lucy while creating stuff. 


Here's the how-to:

Materials:
Fabric paint
Paintbrush
A pair of brogues


Steps:

1. Paint in the areas that you want to paint.

2. Repeat with several layers of paint until the original colour of the shoes no longer shows!

From the streets of Bangkok - 4

Painted sneakers!? Nah! They are printed ones. Ok, so this is not exactly something made by the artists of Bangkok, but I thought that it's actually a really good idea for painting your own white shoes! I'm not too sure why, but the idea of wearing something that looks like a watermelon on your feet seems to be rather popular. A quick google led me to several links tutorials on how to paint your own watermelon sneakers. 

Watermelon sneakers in Bangkok, around 250 Baht before bargaining.

Oh, and not forgetting how Vans also have their own version of the watermelon plimsolls!

So, if watermelon is your favourite fruit... you can add this project to your DIY list. It can't be too difficult. Just paint the sides of the gum soles green, the canvas body red, and finally add little black dots all around the red body. 

From the streets of Bangkok - 3

First of all, I apologise for this very late post. It has been more than a week since my last post. I've just moved to a new place in Australia (where I am studying) and it takes forever for the new Internet to set up. Damn.

PAINTED SNEAKERS! These designs on these hand-painted pictures look as though they were printed on. But no, you can be absolutely sure that are indeed hand-painted because the artists were just sitting right there painting other shoes! They were spotted in a corner of the Chactuchak Market and there were so many designs to choose from! I was really tempted to get one for myself but I have already overspent for that day.

I wasn't too sure about the prices of each design but apparently the prices start from 260 Baht.

If you were to ask me if I regret NOT getting one of these pairs of lovely shoes, I'd say no. It mostly because I have always felt that DIY items have a much greater sentimental value when it is made on your own or given as a gift from someone. It's just a personal thing. Nevertheless, I still feel that this is a great inspiration for people who plans to paint their own plain ol' sneakers.  

Check out the designs that they have! I really like the one with Spongebob's big smiley face (centre, left) and the one with the big heart between Mickey and Minnie (bottom, right ). Start your sketch on a paper now and start painting soon!