DIY clearance shoes, how to paint them for fall

I LOVE the frugal life. So when my friends tagged me in a post about our local Walmart putting select kids clothes and shoes on the $1 clearance rack I couldn’t get there fast enough! Thank you sweet friends btw! Boy did we find some good deals! Including these adorable little black shoes for my 3 year old daughter.

I had never painted on shoes before but I was up for the challenge. Such a perfect blank canvas and even if I mess them up they were only a DOLLAR so it’s totally ok and I wouldn’t feel one bit bad lol.

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I’m sure I didn’t use the right kind of paint {I used straight acrylic paint, not watered down} but that’s ok. My daughter won’t be wearing them very long, she’s three after all lol so she’ll outgrow them in no time.

Here’s what I used

• acrylic paint

• clearance canvas shoes from Walmart

• paint brush

• round sponge brush

• assorted orange and black ribbon

• E6000 glue

• paint pens

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How to paint on canvas shoes for fall

1. REMOVE THE LACES before you start painting so you don’t get paint all over them.

2. THEME unless you are just going to let the creative juices flow as you go along it is best if you have a plan prior to painting on your canvas shoes. I had an idea right before I started painting and I ended up changing it up as I went because I wasn’t totally loving the way it looked. I painted more on the back and sides and moved the bows and added the front dots after I filmed this tutorial. I LOVE the way they turned out and more importantly my toddler does too!

3. PAINTING TIPS

• if you are painting on black shoes it is best to paint a base layer of white then once that’s dry paint the actual color you want. So on mine I wanted the backs orange, I painted them white first then after they dried I painted them orange. This will help your colors to not be dark and diluted.

• use a variety of brush sizes to fit your painting needs

• don’t use too much paint. Paint in thin layers and if doing more than one layer only paint over dry paint.

• paint pens are your friends <3 ! I used paint pens to add the lines on the candy corn and pumpkin after painting them their main colors.

• use both end of your paint brush. I used the non brush end of my brush to make the small dots on the front of the shoes. This was the perfect size for these cute little dots.

4. ADDING ACCENTS if you add any accents E6000 works great to have a long lasting hold. I’ll warn ya though, it doesn’t dry fast at all.

5. LACES I opted for a more untraditional lace for these shoes but you can keep the original laces in. I thought they would be too white for this pair so I traded them out for 2 thin pieces of ribbon in orange and black on each shoe. They actually hold up pretty well too! And this type of ribbon is really inexpensive so it wouldn’t cost much to replace if I need to.

Didn’t these clearance shoes turn out sooooo adorable?!!! I wasn’t sure how I’d like that they don’t match on the fronts but I actually do love it. It screams “I don’t have perfection issues” lol!!!

I hope you find this tutorial helpful for your shoe painting adventure! I’d love to see how yours turn out! Share a pic in the comments.

Check out the video tutorial below

Top 15 craft supplies you should be buying from the Dollar Tree

The DOLLAR TREE!! I love this place and I actually buy lots of supplies here, especially ones for the kiddos to use. But don’t be fooled by that $1 price tag, not all supplies are a smart buy there.

Here are my top craft supplies that I personally most of the time buy from the Dollar Tree.

CRAFT ROCKS Usually they have a wide variety of rocks. You can find them in the ribbon section. I made some adorable UNICORN PARTY CENTERPIECES using these inside the buckets.

FAUX FLOWERS They alternate these out with the seasons and every year they get prettier! Our girls especially love the ones that have butterflies in them. Check out this DIY LIGHT UP FAIRY JAR and we used flowers picked up from the Dollar Tree on the outside. Super cute!

TISSUE PAPER You can use this for SOOOOOO many different crafts. This is what we use on the outside of those fairy jars.

WOOD SHAPE CUT OUTS this is a must buy here. I have yet to find any place that compares in price to the amount you get per package. Granted, these are thin but for kids crafts these are perfect. These little guys will keep our girls busy for a long time without the ouch effect on the wallet. They can add these to all kinds of arts and crafts projects.

GLUE Our house goes through a ton of glue. We let our girls experiment and explore their creative side often and they use SO much glue during their process lol!

MUFFIN TINS ok, I know this isn't a typical craft supply but read this post on the craft hack you need for your kids and you’ll understand.

SEASONAL BLANKS Every season the Dollar Tree comes out with super trendy, and actually cute, craft blanks. These are inexpensive and you don’t have to pay for shipping. Woohoo!

POM POMS they are all the rage right now and our girls go through them like crazy. Their colors are limited but they are super cheap.

SEASHELLS you can find these right next to the rocks and ribbon. You’ll be surprised what you can use these for. And you don’t feel the pain when your kiddo paints it up unlike the ones from your last beach vacation.

CONDIMENT BOTTLES I use these to hold my acrylic paint. They are half the price of buying them from Walmart and I’m sure WAY cheaper than buying them online. They have held up pretty well too. We originally bought these when we had our brick and mortar craft store, just to see if I’d even like using them for paint, and other than the caps being picked off by little hands they are in perfect working order.

WIRE WREATH FORM I have yet to find these cheaper any where else. These little guys can be used to make all kinds of different wreaths. Here is a 4th of July rag tie wreath I made using one of these wire forms.

WASHI TAPE the Dollar Tree has all kinds of different prints of washi tape. Our girls love love love to use this to decorate different things. One of their favorite things to use this for is decorating the front covers of notebooks.

STICKERS if you have a toddler who is sticker obsessed the Dollar Tree is the only place to buy these lol. And a side note if your kiddo gets these stuck to your floor a steam mop takes them up effortlessly {just a tip from one mom to another ;)!}

CRAFT STICK aka popsicle sticks. They have a fun colorful assortment too! You can use these for anything from applying AMOUR ETCH to etch glass to letting your kids just go crazy and make whatever their little hearts desire out of them. We always keep these guys on hand.

POSTER BOARD There are so many different uses for this outside of the school project. You can even use this to make a DIY light box for taking pictures in your own crafty business.

Now get to your nearest Dollar Tree and explore all it has to offer. Remember to go beyond the craft aisles as there are so many different things you can use that aren’t considered “craft supplies”.

Let me know below what your favorite Dollar Tree crafty supplies are ;)!