DIY Flamingo Shoes

I was recently shopping with my husband in the mall. Shoe shopping. Yikes, right? He is a very determined guy, the get in and get out as fast as humanly possible kind of shopper. But shoe shopping is not something you can just rush through, especially for running shoes! I have weirdly problematic feet and have to make sure that my arches are fully supported or its a no go. So as I was browsing the shoe section in Dillards, every time I paused by a pair of flats or heels, Chris would sigh and look up at the ceiling. you know how I am talking about? And when I paused by these shoes he gave an extra sigh. “What do you need flamingo shoes for?” he asks. “You could probably makes those.”

I could probably make those. Light bulb.

That is the origin stories of these shoes. Ready to hear how I did it?

(Just so you know there are affiliate links in this post, but I only post the products I have actually used and it costs you nothing, just helps with the upkeep of this blog)

I used:

• a pair of canvas shoes that I found at Walmart for $5.88 (They are actually pretty comfortable!)
• Sharpie Ultra-Fine Point Permanent Markers  
• Fabric Paint Medium 
• Pink acrylic paint and Paintbrush

I practiced a lot of little flamingos. I drew and I drew and I drew. I googled a few flamingos and made a mash up of the ones I liked. Then I drew them on the shoes!

There are a few things to be careful of through. The markers do bleed a little. They get absorbed by some of the fibers so draw quick and clean and go slow when you do any fill ins. You can tell they aren’t perfectly clean lines, but since they are, you know, flamingo shoes, I wasn’t going for incredibly professional.

Then I mixed the fabric medium and acrylic paint, got a small paint brush and went along the edge. You can mix the fabric medium with any color of acrylic paint and it is ready to go on fabric! Cool, huh? You will want to go super slow when painting the edge. Bright colors show up pretty good on white. 

Then very lightly go over it with the modpodge!

Bada boom, you got some knock off flamingo shoes! They may not be perfect copies, but they make me happy when I am running errands. And for $6 instead of $40, my husband is happy. Win win!