Fancy Shoes: DIY Project for about $5

Why is it so hard to keep kids in shoes? It seems like as soon as they get a pair they out grow them! I particularly hate shoe shopping with the girls in tow because they pick out hideous, sparkly shoes or, even worse, shoes with characters on them. All of these for the low, low price of (roughly) $40.

After spending money on some shoes to put up for the school year my kids promptly outgrew their current shoes so it seemed I would be spending even more money on shoes. We walked aisle after aisle in store after store, striking out on finding the right size, color, and comfort level. (Are everyone's children this picky??) I gave up and went to walmart and bought two pairs of plain white canvas shoes for $5 each. My children cannot be trusted to keep white shoes clean for more that five minutes so we took those shiny white shoes home and broke out some sharpies and my knowledge from the short stent of being on the pep squad in middle school. The result was their "fancy shoes" that they helped make themselves.

To make your own fancy shoes (which I'm tempted to do for myself!) you need a pair of canvas shoes, sharpies, rubbing alcohol and about 30 minutes of your time. Start by coloring basic designs in the color(s) of your choice. We did hearts, stars, flowers and butterflies. These are just rough shapes that need little thought because they will change in the next step. Once your shapes are drawn,  drip rubbing alcohol onto the colors and watch them spread out onto the canvas. (I helped ours along a little with the use of a cotton ball to drag the colors onto all the white areas.) Once you have the color you want achieved you let the shoes dry. You can do this by setting them outside in the sunshine or with the help of a blow dryer. Once they are dry use a fine tip black sharpie to draw the outline and design into your shapes. Then all that's left to do is proudly sport your new, fancy shoes.