You love those shoes, but the color?
Time to take matters into your own hands!
DIY Expert, Michelle, demonstrates how to paint the shoes you love in order to fit your unique style of beauty.
Before you begin, you’ll need the following items:
- Shoes
- Lumiere Paint
- Angelus Paint
- Acetone or alcohol
- Q-tips or cotton balls
- Paint brushesRubber gloves
- Small cup of water
- Small paint jars for mixing
Step 1: Prep your shoe.
Use alcohol (for real leather) or acetone (for man-made leather.) Allow it to dry and then tape off the portion you will be painting.
Step 2: Cover dark shoes with white Angelus paint.
Step 3: Using a fan brush, paint on the first thin coat. Let each coat of paint dry fully between applications.
Step 4: Remove any unwanted wet paint with a Q-tip and water.
Step 5: After waiting 15-20 minutes, apply another coat of paint.
Step 6: Let the paint dry and then brush on one or two coats of the Lumiere paint for a shiny, metallic finish.
Hi! I love the thought of painting shoes, but could you please list the colors you know work for each type? I found that turtle feathers has alot of options and I’m not sure which color pink/navy/brown is really type1
Michelle did a Refashioning Your Wardrobe club night a long time ago, and there was a handout included! I downloaded it from the website before they retired the old club nights! Don’t forget! If the color is Type 4, you can still use it. Just mix in some white! Here it is! https://www.dropbox.com/s/lv2w3y3b3cbpnkv/Refashioning%20Your%20Wardrobe%20Handout.pdf?dl=0
Thanks! 🙂 I miss the old club nights, wish I could still watch them.
Leslie, if you missed seeing the Refashioning 202 Club Night, they have kept that one for people to watch. Here is a link. https://my.liveyourtruth.com/dyt/refashioning-202/
Hi Leslie. It looks like Laura already posted her copy of my notes below, but for anyone wanting it, the link is listed under the Refashioning 202 Club Night where I first talked about painting shoes. It’s still available to watch. Here is a link to that Club Night to make it easier for you to find. https://my.liveyourtruth.com/dyt/refashioning-202/
Do you have to paint it with the Angelus before painting with the Lumiere? I’m not sure why you would paint them a luminescent purple on top of a matte purple if you could skip the first purple. I understand painting the white so that the purple is more vibrant, but why two separate purples? Is it a suggestion?
Hi Kate. That’s a great question. The Lumiere paints are opaque, so if you were to just paint the shoes with them and not over the solid Angelus colors you will get a lot of the original shoe color coming through. If you just want a thin coat of the metallic color it won’t be as bold or vibrant as you may want it to be. I’ve used them plain with great results over leather that is already my type. It just depends on what you want the final result to be. Because I was doing a T4 shoe as the example, I wanted more of a bold purple and it wouldn’t have shown up had I just done the Lumiere without the Angelus. I hope that answered your question.
I have a lot of nice shoes, but they are all black or brown, and not even the right color brown for my type 2. I was freaking out about having to spend a lot of money on getting the right colored shoes. Especially boots. I was searching for a weeks to find the right shoes to replace my existing ones without having to shell out lots of money – I already did that the first go around. LOL
I did a search on painting leather shoes and I saw Michelle’s blog post about this and ordered some Angelus paints last week. I just got them in the mail today! I got 8 of them! I went a little bananas with all the options. And that was after I cut down my order. My mind is swimming with possibilities! I’ve been patiently waiting for this tutorial video since ordering the paint. I’m so happy to see Michelle in action on how to get great results.
Thank you Cris! You’ll have to post pictures here and let us see your creations.
I love this video!! Thanks, Michelle!
You’re welcome, Laura. I’m so glad you liked it.
Michelle, your detailed projects always amaze me! Could you please list some of the T2-compatible paint colors that you have had success with? Going by that tiny chip on the website is daunting. It’s hard to tell what “type” color they really are. xx
Thank you Kate. As a T2 you can really use any color you’d like as long as you add some gray to it. I always make sure I have gray paint on hand so I can mix with whatever color I’m wanting. 🙂 I love Burgandy, Dark Bone, Mauve, Shell Pink, Taupe, that are T2, but almost any color will work adding gray. I’ve added gray to turquoise, purple, and dark green before and they turn a beautiful dusty T2 color. I hope that helps!
Is it acetone for vinyl or leather? I thought I heard it differently in the video than is listed in the steps above. Thanks! 🙂
Rachel, thank you for noticing that! Yes, it is acetone for man-made leather and alcohol for real leather. I will email them and have them correct that.
Looking forward to more videos. 🙂
Hi Michelle, I loved the video. Any chance you could type the colours for us a it is difficult to tell online. I live in New Zealand so with the costs for freight it can be a costly exercise to get it wrong. Thanks again Michelle.
Here are the notes that I posted for the Refashioning 202 Club Night that have some colors listed (it’s the last page) ….https://my.liveyourtruth.com/dyt/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/Refashioning-your-wardrobe-handout-2.pdf
This is great! I’m T1 and have lots of black shoes. This is a much cheaper option than going out and buying new shoes and you have more color options with the paints than you would normally with store bought shoes. 🙂
Karla, I agree! It’s been great to get some fun colors in my shoe collection.
I’m getting ready to paint some leather boots. Which of Lumiere’s gold colors would you say is type 1? Is Bright Gold a tint?
Laura, I’ve never seen the Bright Gold in person (I think it’s a fairly new color), but I would assume it is. I know that the Brass is T1.
Thanks!
I just saw this video posted on the Dharma Trading site. It shows the paints in person and what they look like painted onto a white background and a black background. I thought it showed the different golds really well. https://vimeo.com/65834642
Amazing …!
Thank you Michelle very interesting and helpful I’ve looked at paints in Craft Shops now I know how they work.
Kind regards Ally Cains.
Thanks Ally!
This is great! I have some shoes in mind 🙂 Would this paint work on purses?
Yes! It will work on purses as well.
Woo hoo! I thought I was going to have to donate a tan purse.
Thanks so much for the inspiration and tutorial. So easy. I did not even have to put on the white coat. I still liked these booties, but not in black. Note the flash makes them brighter than they are. Also fixed my leather car seat that had some scratches with a perfect gray. Once again DYT rocks!!
They look great, Kim!
I just received an order with a few of the Angelus paints and I wanted to show a picture for anyone interested in the Dark Taupe and Beige. They look very different in person than they do online unfortunately.
My best yet! The funnest part was mixing the green and white to get a tint. Thanks for telling us about this. The perfect T1 craft. The hardest part was getting the paint.
Oh those turned out so cute!! What paint did you use?
Leather Studio from Joann (online only now). I have only used that brand and it has held up very well on the blue booties I did first (see below) http://www.joann.com/leather-studio-2.0-oz-paint/zprd_13450259a.html
My collection–so far!!
Those look great Kim!! Thanks for sharing.
Aren’t you feeling creative! They look great..
Also painted my black Fitbit.
Has anyone tried painting black suede another colour? I’m T1 and still have a pair of black suede heels and black suede shoe boots that I haven’t parted with yet because I was hoping to dye them navy. Is it possible to cover black suede without ruining the nap?
I haven’t found anything that will take black suede a lighter color and still keep the softness of the suede. There are suede dyes to go from lighter to darker though.
Amazing!
Michelle, ty for sharing this video. I had never though of painting my shoes.
I have some flats that have a thick sole (they are “dress” shoes intended for people who are on their feet all day. Do you know if these paints will work on the rubbery sole that shows on the sides of the shoe? I’m a T1 and would hate to paint the leather only to have black soles (soles that show I mean, I don’t care about the bottoms).
If you put a primer on the rubber part it may work, but just doing the paints over it won’t stay, unfortunately.
Michelle, I painted my black clogs with pewter paint. Unfortunately, the paint cracked in the place where my foot bends. How can this be prevented? Also, the pewter seems a bit too reflective for me. Do I need to remove the paint before re-painting them in matt grey? Thank you for your advice!
Melissa, I’m sorry that happened to you. I’m not sure how to prevent that. That’s happened to me on a pair of shoes that already had a crease in them. I sanded that part down with a nail file and prepped it again with the Angelus preparer and deglazer and repainted it. As for removing the paint first before repainting them, I’d probably go over them with either the acetone or alcohol (or my favorite – the Angelus preparer) first and then paint them again. Let me know how they turned out!
Thanks so much, Michelle! I’ll pick up some of the Angelus preparer. I’m lucky enough to live near a Dharma Trading Company store 🙂
Hi, Michelle – and happy new year! I sanded and repainted my shoes with the dark grey paint and I’m now much happier with them! Thank you for your kind support.
Oh, that is great news! I’m glad you’re happy with them.
does anyone know what type of dye is best for suede shoes?
Lesley, I have used this with nice results…. https://angelusdirect.com/collections/suede-dye
Thank you Michelle – I will give them a try!
Thank you for your tutorial. I haven’t painted any shoes yet. My first attempt at leather painting is a beautiful Coach bag that I rarely used because it was a dusty blue color. It has been sitting in my closet for over four years, since I joined DYT. Now it is a rich, dynamic avocado green. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/b82fcbde8ae7941d2881affba0498094b98ec963d690dbfe9acee9dfe18fd0a1.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/7c555b18ed42e09f9d434ee6f341d8d4fc50aa35bba94119de305942af7be875.jpg
Love it! Thanks for sharing Christine.
Nice job!
Thank you! I never would have attempted it, were it not for this tutorial. I am definitely a visual learner and Michelle covered all the details.
Hi Michelle,
Another great tutorial; my secondary type 2 appreciates your attention to detail!
HI Michelle. Did you wet your brush? And, is the paint water clean-up? Thanks
Gaye, the brush was dry. And it is super easy to clean up with water, thankfully!
Another really easy method to change the color of shoes with this paint, is just to dab or rub a small amount of the paint into the leather using a cotton ball or rag. I’ve done several pairs where I just wanted to add a top color but not have the whole thing be painted over and look like a solid color. It gives it an aged appearance. This method is especially good for T2 and T3’s who want to either soften or edge up an already great pair of shoes. Here are several examples for you to see. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c1bccc32168716fae189859d5b5837db107f820aa3dc4c7497b33a0838edc85f.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/be1cfa01449d6388cb6f23a2bbb0110c50dc8ab2bda5fdb99aebec3fc68776ec.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/43bd54430d7eb61c123181b4ad7630c2adb91185f70eeda4ab770dec039cc810.jpg
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/330514f338154c9037d511b4ca4945a013cb910a3c25d086fd75eee58bfa6b3f.jpg
Wow, that sure is a Type 1 background. Just noticed “the chair.” ☺️
Those are SO darling!!! I can’t wait to see more of your creations.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/099f5af7d8667b0b8c36006fb0840541c0df6d1432489fba8728cdf844bdd2a3.jpg
Thank you for this video and images at the bottom of this string. What color did you used to turn the black boots to an olive green/gold?
Hi, Michelle & the DYT team, Will this method work on canvas shoes? Would spray paint work better for them? Also, any recommendations for painting my silver Apple Watch face a type 1 gold and the paint that would work best? I can’t wait to start painting my black, silver and taupe shoes to T1 colors!
This is to give you an idea of what some of the colors look like….. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/613701d11daf0ffab0edd51374eb1f660c0fa03f9fa9676055e9f8a205a0c2b7.jpg
Hi, Michelle, Thanks so much for the feedback! I did spray paint a pair of taupe Tom’s canvas shoes a T1 navy blue and they turned out great! I carefully taped off the white brand tag and soles and stuffed the shoes with newspaper before spraying. It took a couple of light coats. A pair of shoes that I would have never worn have become my go-to casual shoes. They look great with jeans. I also painted by silver Apple Watch with Essie #941 “good as gold” fingernail polish. It turned out awesome. I love your tutorials. Thanks so much!
Oh I’m SO happy to hear that! Thank you for the update. That’s good to know about the spray paint working so well on the canvas shoes.