Day of Coupage: Pimp My Sneaker Ride

I just finished taking a fun, 6-week decoupage class at Cambridge Center for Adult Education, and completed a few projects. The most involved project was my pair of Nautica sneakers purchased at Filene's Basement back in the day.

Sneakers Bourgeois

The first step was covering the bottom rubber sides and lace holes with blue painter's tape, then stuffing the insides of the sneakers to maintain their shape.

Then, I ripped newspaper into small random-shaped pieces, and using acrylic gloss medium, I glued two layers of the newspaper onto the sneaker, smoothing it over with my fingertips.

Sneakers Well Read

After applying the newspaper, I sprayed the sneakers with Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic coating. I did this outside so I wouldn't choke on the fumes.

Sneakers Take A Shine

Next, I ripped white copier paper into small pieces and applied two layers in the same way I applied the newspaper.

Sneakers White-washed

After spraying this layer twice with the Krylon coating (I allowed at least a day and a half to two days between sprays), I applied my first layer of the design — the Earth layer. The grass layer consists of images I took out of interior design magazines. The flower layer is taken from a birthday greeting card my aunt gave me years ago. I xeroxed the back and front of the card and cut out the flowers individually.

Sneakers Aglaze with Earth layer

My design theme is Earth and Sky, and for the Sky I xeroxed photos I took of my Christmas tree a few years ago, including vintage star lights and ornaments. The black and white moon faces on the toes are xeroxed from a great postcard I bought at a card shop in Manchester, VT years ago. The black stars are from a photo I took of the star mirrors on my Hollywood wall.

Sneakers Etoile Magnifique!

After applying the Sky layer, I sprayed the sneakers twice with Krylon. For the finishing touches, I used acrylic paints — cadmium yellow medium and manganese blue — to fill in any gaps in the design.  Then I removed the painter's tape and painted the tops around the lace holes with cadmium yellow. And, serendipitously, I found electric blue shoe laces as I was browsing in J.Crew, and they worked perfectly with my blue and yellow color scheme.

Voila! Sneakers Magnifique! C'est si bon?

Sneakers Pimped Out