Getting Crafty

Hey there its F & J!

Today we decided to try a Pinterest inspired craft. We have been wanting to do this for awhile but have finally got the time to do it. We attempted to make gradient tennis shoes. It didn't turn out just the way we hoped, though some may consider that a fail we'd like to think of it as a learning process, we're still undecided as to whether or not we will actually wear them. (let us know if you would)

A while ago we picked up a couple pairs of plain white tennies at Target for a killer deal ($4), and were trying to figure out what to do with them. Finally we came across a pin showing how to pull the dye from the tip to make a gradient, we loved it and knew we had to try it.

For starters, we are crafty girls to begin with, so any opportunity we have to embrace our inner crafters we will take in a heartbeat. Having already had all the supplies but the dye, we headed straight to Ben Franklin Craft Store and picked some up.

We will let you know how we did it so if you want to try yourself you will know how. But please be warned it's a lot harder than it looks and don't set your expectations too high (we did and it was disappointing).

First off, the supplies:

• a pair of white tennis shoes
• clothing dye in the color of your choice (we used RIT)
• make-up sponges
• Vaseline
• gloves 
• old rags
• waterproof spray (for after, this is optional, but we do live in Seattle!)

To start off with, we mixed up the dye (sorry it doesn't come already mixed) and we used the bottom of an empty plastic gallon milk container (because it stains).

We then applied Vaseline on the rubber portion of the shoes so the dye wouldn't stain it.

Now we can began the dying process. Remember to wear gloves and clothes you don't care about! (F got a little colorful!)

We dipped the tip of the shoe straight into the dye and used the make-up sponge to pull the color back. This is where it gets tricky. Because it's really hard to make the gradient even, gradual and the dye can become a bit splotchy. This is where the old rags come in handy! We don't have tips to make it easier because we struggled ourselves. We accidentally made them darker than we anticipated because once the dye has made the shoe darker you can't take it back. 

We are waiting for them to dry and then we will add some pretty ribbon as the lace. (of course we will post a photo of the final product later)

We hope you can try it or let us know if you know of a better way to do this because we would try it again! The whole craft cost us less than $10 per pair, thanks to our lucky deal! And an afternoon of laughter, and enjoyment! If you chose to do this yourself send us a pic via Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or email. We would love to see them and will post a few of our favorites! So stay tuned!

Love,

F & J