Thanks for all the comments about our new dragon shoes {and I use ours really loosely since I'm not sure I will ever get to wear them. whatever.} You guys had a few questions about them, so I will try to answer them. 

First, let me say that we love TOMS shoes. We love their back story, their mission and their humanitarian efforts. As a matter of fact, we own many pairs of TOMS and can't say enough good things about them. It just so happens that we made our first visit to Fred's in Bryson City recently. {Think Dollar Store or Family Dollar}. I am a big believer in finding diamonds in the rough in unexpected locations. Cue the cotton slip-on TOMS look-a-likes. 

Maris was super excited spotting these shoes in Fred's. This style looks exactly kind of like the Natural TOMS style which sell for $44. Fred's sold their shoes for $12.95. I've never painted shoes, but, $12.95 seemed like a fair 'let's give it a shot' price for my first time.

To start, I spray painted several thin coats of white paint on each shoe. Using a hairdryer {because I am inpatient} I dried them completely. The spray paint makes the fibers rise and the surface becomes really scratchy. To smooth them out, I used extra-fine sandpaper. The spray paint acted as a primer and really gives the craft paint something to hold on to.   

In creating the pattern, I wish I had a cool 'transfer' technique to share, but I don't. The Chiang Mai Dragon fabric has a lot of pattern going on. The actual fabric is a really large scale and if I painted it exactly as it appears, I would have had only about 2 flowers per shoe.

 Instead, I painted it on a much smaller scale. If you go to this site, it shows you a really big piece of the fabric. I changed my zoom on the computer to 400% and used that loosely as my proportion guide. The dragon and the colors are the 'staples' of this fabric so I would suggest that, if you can, include the dragon and replicate the colors. But, as far as everything else goes--simply pick which flowers and leaves appeal to you and place according to how they look best on what you are painting.

You can't use paint mixed with water on cotton without it feathering. Instead, when painting on fabric you replace the water with Textile Medium.

Any place that sells craft paints also sells Textile Medium. It's a little milky and thicker than water and it dries fast.   

There's no need to be really heavy handed with your paint. You just need a consistent wash of color. I painted a thin coat, dried it with the dryer and then added another coat {or 2}. If you keep your paint fairly thin, you will be surprised at how soft the shoes will stay. 

After I painted in all the pattern, I went back with a Sharpie {of course} and added the details. This is when the magic happened and it really started to look like Chiang Mai Dragon! The paint has to be completely dry or the Sharpie doesn't work.

After the paint dried, I sprayed a few thin coats of a clear sealer. This will just help to protect it and seal it. This is not a special 'made for shoes' sealer, it's just one that I use often and had on hand.     

They are a little rough to the touch but they are completely flexible and feel no different on my feet than any other canvas shoe.

I hope I answered everyones questions!

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I wanted to share an mail that I received from a sweet blog reader:

:

{shannon berrey design}

{Diane Paschall}

{Diane Paschall}

Such a fantastic job, Diane! I see a side business in your future!

 Can you guys believe she painted all those PBN's herself?! I was not familiar with this PBN website that Diane used, so I checked it out.{the link in the letter doesn't work, so use this one--sorry} Any and all information about PBN's can be found here. It is a wonderful resource if this is a project you want to try yourself.

 I get so excited when you guys find inspiration here. Please continue to send me your pictures and stories.

Have a fabulous weekend, lovelies!