Tip for the laces that were unraveling: if they’re made of a synthetic fibre, you can carefully melt the end of the strand with a lighter and mush it together into a little nub and it won’t unravel! It’s a little scary and it’s best to practice on a scrap piece first, but I did this all the time when I worked at a theatre costume shop. It also doesn’t work on natural fibres unfortunately. For those I usually tie the end in the tiniest knot I can manage and/or use a bit of liquid stitch glue to keep it secure. You could also easily go back in with a tiny bit of liquid stitch under the ribbons you used if you wanted to make it a bit more durable while keeping that aesthetic!
In theater I use Angelus’ Paint to paint shoes for dancing. They have a shoe prep base, lots of colors, and a finishing coat in different types of finishes. They do really well. They can be used on vinyl, leather, and canvas. Really good and do recommend. They can also go in an airbrush.
Seconded! Angelus paints are super durable if applied correctly. They’re designed for leather, which means they’re designed to stretch over time. No cracking! I’d recommend doing research into what kind of paint mediums and/or sealants to use for your specific material, though.
Needed this info! Thank you. Too many times I've sanded, primed and painted shoes just for them to flake T_T Would love to make custom shoe designs that are durable enough for daily use.
Yess! Glad I can inspire! Just make sure you get a good top coat if you paint the shoes. I need to go get a better one for sure 😂 one little frolic in my back yard left some scratches on my poor paint job.
If you like: Fairy core ✅ Hobbit core ✅ Cottage core ✅ Cosplay ✅ Thrifting ✅ Nerdy things ✅ Being yourself ✅ Well, guess I had no choice but to subscribe! 😊 So excited to be here!!!
These both turned out so pretty! 😍 Have you tried angelus leather paint? I feel like I’m a broken record player recommending them to everyone and hope i haven’t suggested them already! 😂 But they work on both leather and pleather. I find almost anything you spray on will crack because it’s not flexible, but angelus paints don’t crack almost at all (unless you slap on a way too thick layer, which is hard to do!) and they’re SUPER durable. They also don’t need varnish - they dry sealed.
I’m an oldish lady but totally adored these shoes. I loved your talking about them and showing the full process. Beautiful work🌷. I would wear them. I’m not a fairy type but I am a lil hippy dippy, compared to most of my friends. Glad I found you 🎉
Oh! And I meant to mention where my outfit for the photoshoot was from! The green underdress was my bridesmaid dress for my friends wedding last year. It was from Shein but no longer available. The pink dress is from a local costume & novelty shop in Sac (Evangeline’s) it was down stairs. The brand is “Flower” however if you’re looking for similar stuff check out the Little Bazaar. The cream dress from the 2nd outfit is Cider & my vest was thrifted, brand is Charlotte Russe.
Nail art striping brushes have been an absolute godsend for painting little precise lines in my crafting projects!! I would 1000% recommended picking up a pack for anyone looking to add tiny lines like the veins on leaves.
For the oak leaf ones, next time try leather acrylic paint, it might be more durable. Not sure if it will work on the vinyl, but it might. Flower fairy ones were super cute.
I love these. I will be adding leaves to my boots but after reading the comments I will now be getting the paint that is made for leather/fabric. I'm glad I saw the comments. :)
First time watching. I think they look great! I’m not a fairy person but I do like fairies…but I love being in a forest…so maybe I am a fairy. However, since fairies get all their clothes from the forest…would thing match perfectly…I would think not. Anyway fun project!
These turned out SO GOOD! I’ve always coveted these shoes whenever they would pop up on my Pinterest or Etsy, but they are always out of my budget. Never thought about making them myself! This tutorial is so helpful!! 10/10
Yay! Although if you do this, people are suggesting leather paint, which I didn’t know worked on vinyl but I guess it does! Idk if I can repaint mine but I’ll def use it for my next pair.
The tip that I was given that worked well was to mix acrylic paint with Shoe Glue. Get cheap brushes though, because they'll be pretty much destroyed after.
What helped me get better with airbrush was practicing on paper or using it for makeup because when you feel the airflow it helped me use it on paper better. So using the airbrush on different surfaces helped me to get better faster. Plus it was fun! But look up the ingredients because some of the companies are using things that are toxic to inhale…. Which you would hope they wouldn’t do but some of the biggest companies do!
There's a weatherproofing/waterproofing spray I use on a lot of my shoes that might help with the wear and tear on these! Putting it on top of the varnish might help give it some extra protection.
Try fabric medium mixed into the acrylic as it will add more elasticity to the paint job (I used just straight up fabric paint on y faux leather jacket and it worked great). Or just look into leather paint.
Super pretty! I love both pairs! From now on, I'mma keep an eye out for some beaten-up shoes that I can DIY. I already have those leafy twine in my crafting stash, never thought to use them as shoe laces! 😍
🧚 Beautiful shoes! But my heart broke for you the moment I saw you go straight in on the leaf shoes with the base coat. I just knew they would chip. In future, try very lightly sanding the shiny side of your vinyl/pleather with some fine grit sand paper and always use a primer coat before going in with any paint (try using leather paints). You don't have to sand off much. Just enough to take down the shine. The aim of the game is to create tiny pores in an otherwise smooth-ish surface (the general leather type texture isn't really enough to give a good grabby surface) for long lasting paint adhesion. Best of luck! 😊
When people paint table top miniatures they do a coat or to of gloss to seal because it is more durable then add Matt on top so that when the miniatures gets shiny it’s time to rematt
These are the cutest shoes ever. I need to figure out a reason to make a fairy costume. I can't wear them to RenFaire because I belong to a guild that strives for historical adequacy but we do the occasional pageant. Anyway, you are super skilled and very inspiring. Thanks for sharing your process.
If you want to use regular acrylic paints on shoes, you need to mix in textile medium. It will help the paints stay flexible and bind to the fabric. They turned out cute though! Angelus Leather Paint or Tulip Soft fabric paint also work.
They look so pretty💚🧚💚 When I used to do the ballet and tap shoes for concerts I'd order leather or fabric paint or there's a fabric medium you can add to paint that will make it stick to the shoe then once they were dry and before embellishing I'd put a matt, clear wax over the paint and let them dry for about a week before any embellishments were added. They really lasted and barely chipped 😊 xx
I also tend to do things the hardest/most complicated way rather than the easiest/sensible way, because I do not make sense, either. These shoes are gorgeous! I thought you would've just used fake leaves, but using the faux leather ended up making them look more like they were cobbled that way. I'm so tempted to make a pair for myself; I have a spring-green sundress, and I've been thinking of making fairy wings...
Since you already painted the the leaf shoe i would recommend clear plasti dip spray as that can flex. I use it to seal all my paint jobs on eva foam armor (#cosplaylife lol) and i've yet to have an chipping from normal wear. While i know the shoe is covered in fake leather, it should work just fine.
First video i've seen, & i'm coming back for more! Great job on the shoes. Don't take this the wrong way please. But when you do the faery dress up......."I" think it'd be better to have a more natural look on the make-up(more like a real faery). You're a very cute girl that pulls it off very well💚🌲🧚♂
How absolutely delightful are you?? So happy I stumbled upon your page. Love, love, love the shoes!! Can't wait to see what else you have to share with us. Well done!!😊
This is the first time I've watched your channel. I really enjoyed it. You gave me such a great idea to make a pair of fairy shoes for myself instead of buying them.
Ah! Both shoes are so pretty! They turned out great, I think my fave is the flowers because that's just my aesthetic. Personally I never wear second hand shoes for sake of my feet's health. And I don't mean sanitary, I mean structural health. You never know how close a pair of second hand shoes are to completely dying (I have had pairs of brand new shoes that last barely a year and I've had pairs that last for 5+ years, both were causing pain at the end and I wouldn't wish on anyone). And also shoes form to their wearer, it takes twice as long for them to reform to a new wearer (if ever).
to help with the paint job, you're best to buy leather paints (highly recommend angelus paints) and a fabric medium. And then a leather/fabric sealant instead of varnish
Scotty these look fantastic!!! 😮 they’re so freakin cute. Thanks for making such an informative tutorial. Perfect for Ren faire peeps and Halloween hunnies.
I love these. I did a similar thing, and the paint all chipped off. Also, the appliques started to fall off. I may have not used the right glue. If I were to do it again, I would use artist oil paints, and do some hand sewing to the appliques to better secure them. The oil paints take a while to dry, but I think are more durable.
I love what you did with the shoes with the flowers! The minute you started painting them light green I knew they would be fabulous. The leather pair turned out nice too. Amazing job.
They turned out great! I feel like using exterior house paint would be more durable. You could get samples of the colors which would be plenty for these types of projects.
I have the original leaf shoes that you recreated, they are sooooo hot because they are not leather. I love your flower shoes so much! I'm totally going to make something of the sort. I just found your channel and don't normally subscribe on the first video, but when you said "only Faes", I had to because I'm a Faye ❤
I'm not a pro but maybe if you degloss the vinyl before you paint it, it may allow the paint to stick more permanently or at least a longer semi perm..that's what they say about how to redo cabinets.
They came out just beautiful! ( I am very allergic to Barge, so I am looking into another adhesive. Got a tube of "Shoe Goo" for an alternative to the barge. . Trying it on a slipper repair where the sole came away from the toe box front.)
Really appreciate the materials list! 5am is the wrong time to be searching for the perfect vine rope for something I'll probably never make, I've tossed yours into my wishlist in case chaos must coalesce. Putting your affiliate page into the notes on it since it doesn't appear to remember where I found it ^^ May want to update the leaf ribbon to a new listing though, the non-twine one is unavailable at your specific link (they all appear to be dropshipped, though, available from many sellers, so you should be able to find the same thing to replace it with)
