Doctor Who inspired Converse Upcycle Tutorial

We all have a pair of Converse kicking around the place, usually that are at least 5 years old. Ive owned a pink ankle boot pair for almost 10 years now and to be honest (i did wear them everyday for almost 3 years!) still look like they have at least another 10 years in them but in all honesty, i was sick of the sight of them!
And after lusting after these babies for almost 6 months

And after the success of my Dorothy inspired brogues a few birthdays ago.. ( you can find that post here http://insideemmasattic.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/tutorial-dorothy-inspired-shoes.html )

I knew there was some way i could create my own, unique pair of Doctor Who inspired converse but without breaking the bank!

And voila... I did! It was a lengthy process but here's how it went!!

Supplies:

Blue glitter glue

Old converse

paint brushes

Method:

I basically took out the laces, they had seem better days even with Hello Kitty on them! And grabbed a small paint brush about began around the sole and any other areas i didn't want to get paint on.

(i chose glitter glue as apposed to glue and glitter and the issues i had with the Dorothy ones was that after wearing they would crack, i had my fingers crossed that this wouldn't happen with the glitter glue)

As you can see this was going to be a LOOOOOONG process as it didn't really cover well.

I continued to be careful around the sole but gave in and just painted over the eyelets, with them being metal it didn't adhere well so it does simply peel off, however if you are not as impatient as me then do take care around them.

A few more days and layers later, they began to look a little more like what i had in mind. Do bare in mind it took well over a week for me to complete the painting as with them being canvas they needed the full 24 hrs between layers to allow for full drying or you end up just spreading the glue and glitter around and that's not really what you are going for!

As you can see they are starting to cover well but the colour clumps in areas, don't worry it does all fill in in time.

This is near the end of the painting, i think i put on an extra 2 or 3 coats just to make sure no pink was showing anywhere. they do go stiff but are still comfy to wear, they do move and give they just aren't as 'soft' as they where before the glue but you cant expect them to be.

And finally after a week of painting and drying and some 1" wide blue ribbon they are finally finished!!

Yeah i squeed a bit when i had finished them!!!

You don't have to do your blue, they could be rainbows, or pink or whatever your imagination tells you they should be! 

Go, have fun, be glittery!!

L x