Most of my budget for Vegas is slotted for airfare, hotel, wedding, meals, and entertainment while there. So I have to save every dime I can, wherever I can to be able to afford this trip.
Here I want to show you how to make your own wedding shoes (rather how I made mine, hoping it will give you some inspiration) Just to prove that you don't have to spend a fortune to have a personalized wedding that will make you happy.
Personalized wedding shoes that you order online can cost anywhere from $200 and up.
My personalized (and most comfortable shoes I might add) cost me about $14 total.
The shoes as they were...
These are the shoes I found at Goodwill for $4, a little dusty but extremely comfortable. Having a wedding in Vegas I wanted something I can wear for a while and be able to walk around in without thinking about the pain of my feet the whole time. These platform Keds fit the bill perfectly. But sadly are no longer sold. (sorry about the dishes in the background) They looked like the one on the right and then I applied bleach...
I scrubbed the shoes with soap and scrubbed the rubber with a scrub sponge. I bleached the bottom part a bit to lighten it because I want to paint it white and didn't want the black to show through.
The next step is to paint the shoes. Since my shoes were fabric and canvas I mixed some all purpose acrylic craft paint with water to thin it and applied it all over the shoes. This thin first coat helped the paint to soak into the fabric and stay stuck on. Paint $2
After the first coat was dry I did 2 more coats of thinned paint. You really don't want to just add one thick coat because that will cause your paint to roll up and flake off when you wear them. Lots of thin coats is the way to go.
Also I then painted 3 thinned coats of white craft acrylic paint onto the bottom section of the shoes.
The next step is to create some images and words with photoshop, or paint, or any other image software you have.
Measure the different parts of your shoe where you want graphics, and size your designs accordingly before printing. Then print out your designs.
I cut the designs into smaller parts and using a #2 pencil I colored all the lines on the BACK of the printed designs. Lay the paper over your shoe (you can tape in place if you want) and then trace over the design with the pencil to transfer the design to your shoe. This part can be tricky, there is a fine line between pressing hard enough to transfer the design and pressing too hard and making the pencil go through the paper. Just go slow.
continue tracing your designs for each shoe.
Next draw over the traced designs on your shoes with a fine tip black paint marker. Then fill in with paint and a very small paint brush. (2 paint pens, black and white at $2 each = $4)
We are getting there, these shoes are looking better already but they still have a little ways to go.
Next I added lots of bling (we are going to be in Vegas after all, and who doesn't love BLING!) I used hot fix Swarovski crystal rhinestones using a hot fix wand.
I chose to do a staggered pattern because it takes less crystals and because I like the polka dot effect. The crystals can be very expensive (these I have had in my craft stuff for years and years) so be on the lookout for them on the clearance section of your local craft store. Buy a few packs here and there and before you know it you'll have a ton. You can also do glue dots and glitter for a similar effect that can look just as cute.
Both shoes are almost finished but there is that problem of the pesky dingy rubber strip in the middle. Even though it was bleached it's still not that great.
A handy dandy white paint marker takes care of that dingy looking rubber and makes it all spiffy and like new!
With the finishing touch of cute ribbon bows these shoes are done! (you can buy ribbon by the yard, by the spool and make your own bows, or you can go the easy and cheap way of buying little girls hair bows at Wal-Mart for $1 each, I stacked a white bow on top of a red bow and I love the look) Sew them in place ( you could go with hot glue but I was afraid that there might be a chance they could fall off after walking a bunch, so I chose the more permanent way) 4 bows at $1 each = $4
Check them out! My fancy customized wedding shoes! for only $14 YAY!
