DIY Sharpie Shoes – Free Tutorial
Last time I visited my friends in the south of England I sort of “accidentally” got myself a set of Sharpies. At that moment I never would have thought that this lucky moment would lead to my wonderful pair of Sharpie Shoes I am wearing day in and day out ever since I made them…
Huh, you say? How can someone buy something by accident?
Well, let me tell you: You all know those “buy 2, get one free”- kind of deals, right? So I bought some things in a stationery shop (I can’t even remember what it was, but I can tell you that I go mad when in foreign shops.) and accidentally bought two pieces out of this promo. The lady at the cash register asked me if I want to get one other thing for free. I think that was suuuuuper nice of her, don’t you think?! #EmployeeOfTheMonth. Right next to the check-out was a booth with Sharpies and I quickly grabbed a package in order to not make the line wait.
How to brainstorm a crafts project when getting the supplies first
As I was now a proud owner of Sharpie pens, I needed to start thinking about ways to use them in my crafty projects. I am sure, every one of you knows Pinterest, right? If not, you’re really missing out! Officially it’s a social network. But really it is a digital pin board where you can store all your ideas, motivational quotes, start a mood board for your new room make over, brainstorm whatever basically. If you’re interested, go check out my huge collection of pins and follow me on Craftify My Love on Pinterest.
I love Pinterest! And so will you!
Being on a mission, off to Pinterest I went: Once I typed “Sharpie” into the search form, I was literally flooded with wonderful craft ideas! Now I had the problem of selecting ONE! #TheStruggleIsReal. I started pinning several ideas and inspirations and left it at that for the moment. A couple of weeks later I stumbled over a pair of white canvas shoes for only 5 Euro (which is less than 6 Dollars) in the super marked and I figured “no harm done” when this project won’t work out.
On a lazy Sunday afternoon on my couch I decided on a style for my Sharpie Shoes and got to work…
Supplies and time needed
- A pair of white converse shoes
- black artist pen (I used the M from Faber Castell)
- Sharpie markers (various colors)
The outlines for both shoes and the coloring part of one where done in one afternoon. It’s addictive – beware!
How to make DIY Sharpie Shoes – 3 simple steps
For inspiration I found an image of a pair of Sharpie Shoes I liked on Pinterest (try if you can find them on my board TieDye and Sharpie Stuff) and my two coloring books for adults by Johanna Basford (Secret Garden and Lost Ocean).
And after only a nano second of pressure to perform – yay me – I let my creative juices flow…
Do you suffer from pressure to perform, too? You guys, I hate it!!! I totally do. And I suffer from this a lot. Sometimes it takes me ages to start with a craft project because I don’t want to mess things up and waste time and money. Madness really, because messing up hardly ever happens. But creativity happens a lot and that gives me soooooo much energy!
1. Motive
I decided to make two different shoes, as I love being surrounded by flowers and I love spending time at the beach: #DareToBeDifferent.
2. Outlines
Using my artist pen in M, I started with the flower-themed shoe. I found it easiest to almost copy the first flower from my inspo photo I found on Pinterest. After that my blockage was gone and the design began growing in my head. A glimpse every now and then into my coloring book for adults “Secret Garden” by Johanna Bamford, helped, too.
Just wait till the energy rush from creating stuff that actually rocks kicks in!
When you start seeing your vague idea turning into something BOOOOM, this is the moment when you get rewarded with a big energy rush! And after that, your art will become even better and you won’t stop, ever!
Off to the second shoe – ocean-themed – I went. Literally the same procedure. I started off transferring my inspirational motive (the big jelly fish) on the pointy end of my left shoe and let my imagination run wild for the rest.
3. Coloring
Now find your lovely Sharpie markers and get to work. Be creative. Choose whatever colors you like! Who is going to stop you, anyways? 😉
ProTip by Habiba:
The color tends to bleed. That means if you start coloring right at the edges of your outlines, you might end up having shoes that look as if a toddler made them, who doesn’t yet know how to color within the lines. And we don’t want that, right?
The solution:
Try starting coloring from the center of your motive (say one flower) and give the color a couple of seconds to run. You’ll get a feeling very quickly on where to stop, so the color will stay within your outlines.
Spread the love
What do you say? Will you make yourself a pair of Sharpie Shoes? Do you already have a motive in mind? I already stocked up and bought two more pairs of canvas shoes 😉
If you liked this tutorial, please share it with your friends!
So hübsch, Habiba! Ich hab ja immer Angst bei sowas, dass das, was ich verschönern möchte, total grausig wird. Bei Dir sieht immer alles so toll und einfach aus…
Liebe Grüße <3
Julia
Meine liebe Julia, ich hab die gleiche Angst! Ganz oft sogar, aber in 99 % der Fälle klappt alles. Ich hab beim ersten Mal Schuhe aber ein gaaaaanz günstiges Paar gekauft 😉 Vielen lieben Dank für den lieben Kommentar. <3
Love this idea.
Thank you my friend!
Oh My Habiba how sweet are these!!! My favorite are the ocean theme ???
Thank you Shauna, I couldn’t decide on my favorite theme, so I did them both 😉
I can’t believe you hand drew that – I’m amazed!
I was amazed, too. Didn’t think it would turn out this lovely <3 Thank you Lyne <3
Love it, these are so fun and colorful!
Thank you Jessica – I get many compliments when wearing them and kids love them very much. They comment on “you have two different shoes on, are you allowed to do that?” lol
Oh Habiba! These are wonderful! You’re so creative!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I am blushing 😉
These turned out so good! I love the patterns you drew.
Thank you Valerie, I had much fun making them 🙂
Love this! These are so fun and you are so talented!
Xo
Elaine
Awwwwww, thank you Elaine. Really appreciate your love <3
These are so freakin’ cute! They came out terrific! I’m posting to my DIY board on pinterest. My friend and I keep threatening to do a girl’s craft night, and i think this would be perfect!
Hahahaaaa, they would! Get your craft on together and have fun! I’d love to see pics once you’re done ???
Those look amazing. I have seen some of these type of shoes in stores and I like yours so much better. If I worse these type of shoes I would try this but maybe I can make some for my oldest son, or friends or family. Thank you for the inspiration.
You are very welcome! I’d love for you to give this idea a go. You can paint any type of canvas shoe, I think boys like All Stars or Vans. You just need to find white ones and you’re good to go!
I need to make Wonder Woman shoes this way!!! I love this idea. I do this with my daughter, nieces, and I as a summer project for us all!
Bridgette, what a WONDERful idea <3 Please find the time, sharing a photo of your creations - I would so love to see them, once you're done!!
These shoes are awesome! You are quite the artist. I would be too worried about messing something up, and not being able to erase. Pinned for inspiration to others
Thank you Alexandra, if you read my posts, you’ll notice that I am worried about the same exact thing over and over again! I don’t want to mess up. But in my experience 99 % of my crafts work out! Sometimes not exactly how I planned them to be, but they are wonderful none the less. Thank you for sharing!! <3
Lot of colourful stuff. That makes your blog look really cool. I liked it.
Thank yo so much! I appreciate it 🙂
Those look wonderful! Your designs are beautiful and I think that is what makes it your shoes AWESOME!
Thank you so much Erlene!!
What a fun idea! These are so colorful and unique. I think this would be a fun project to try with my 10 year old niece.
Hey Megin, yeah, I think you two would have a lot of fun making a pair! If you have any questions, just ask away. I’d love to help you out!
These are so cool! I was just wondering, can you wear them in the rain? Or do you need to do something else to them before hand?
Thank you Katia. So far I’ve only worn them in drizzling rain, but that was ok. I recommend you try your sharpies on a piece of white fabric and soak it in water.