Mod Podge Comic Shoes!

Every pair is different and amazing!

I was inspired by some shoes someone posted up on my newsfeed on facebook, and thought I would try it myself. After much googling, I found several adaptations of this design. However, most of the designs I found were for really super high heels or for close-toed ballet slipper flats. Well, those are all good and everything, except crazy high heels are not acceptable at work or school, and I like the close-toed ballet slipper flat look, but it is summer still. I live in Florida, and we have to have our sandals when going to work/school or anywhere. I've gone through entire winters without breaking out my closed-toed shoes and socks. Made it through winter with just my sandals and flip flops. All toes intact.

Anyway, I wanted a pair of shoes that I would wear more often...

Because what's the point of an awesome pair of custom comic shoes if you don't wear them?

Step 1: Gather Your Supplies!!!

Supplies needed:

1. A pair of shoes that you want to make AWESOME! ($7.00 clearance Wal-Mart.)
2. Mod Podge. (Regularly $8, sale at Michael's w/40% off weekly coupon... uh cheaper than $8... don't make me do math...)
3. Scissors (I had a pair already.)
4. Comic book (Goodwill Bookstore $1.)
5. Towel (Or similar work surface.)
6. Paintbrushes ($1 for the pack, I used 2.)
7. Some sort of Mod Podge holder. (Paper plate, cup, lid to a shoe box, piece of cardboard, etc.)

Total cost: $13.00 or so.

Total time: 4-6 hours or so (I was watching TV while doing it and therefore got really distracted several times.)

Step 2: Type of Comics/Comic Selection

There are tons of different comic book prints out there.

When I went to look through some comics, I found a comic that was made to be in a very similar style to the older style comics with the fun words in it. ( Like "WHAM" "FLASH" "BANG" etc.) Which is what I wanted for my shoes.

However, it took searching through a pile of comics about 3 ft deep, in order to find it. I wanted one with really bright graphics, and really fun words, and I finally found one.

According to the look you want to achieve there were also duller color comics, more well known characters, and different artwork styles.

Be careful that the ink doesn't react funny with the Mod Podge. I haven't had this problem much with Mod Podge, because it is a fine and wonderful product. However, you do want to test it before fully committing to a project. So, I took some Mod Podge, and a strip of my comic and tested it on the box my shoes came in.

The lid of the box also served as my Mod Podge holder.

The colors of the comic didn't run into the Mod Podge, and the paper wasn't too thick to not soak up the Mod Podge. Perfect!

Step 3: Searching for AWESOME!

Go through the comic and look for words, images, though/speech bubbles, characters, pictures, etc that speak to you.

I took that literally and found all the awesome Onomatopoeia words!

Just look for images that you want to feature on your shoes, and cut them out carefully.

Set these aside.

(On a side note: make sure you don't have a fan on when setting these aside. Personal experience.)

Step 4: Cut It Up!

Cut up several more pages of your comic.

I tried to cut the more colorful pages out first, but after everything was said and done it was easier just to cut it all up. The smaller pieces were the easiest to work with. More on that later. However, you do want several different size pieces due to the different areas that need to be covered.

Step 5: Start Mod Podging!

If you have never Mod Podge'ed before. It is very similar to paper mache'ing.

Basically, you brush on a coat of Mod Podge stick paper to Mod Podge, brush on more Mod Podge. Repeat.

Alternately, you can brush on a coat of Mod Podge on the piece of paper you are sticking, then Mod Podge over it.

Mod Podge dries clear, so don't worry when you get a big goopy white mess.

Step 6: Tips on the Work-In-Progress

1. It is easier to work on each section, one at a time, and then alternate shoes. This is beneficial in several ways. It lets the other shoe dry, and is easier to handle, while working on the other shoe.

2. I found it easier to do all the edges of the sections I was doing first, then fill in the middle. I tried having the pieces fall off the side and then cut them, but it didn't give a very clean looking finish product. Think of it like a puzzle and you have to put the outline together first. The inside is then filled in with the larger pieces.

3. The edges are best done with the small pieces, they can get into spots the larger ones can't and they are easier to fit the curve of the shoe.

4. It will probably take more time and more comics than you think it will.

5. I ended up changing paintbrushes midway through due to the first was getting dried Mod Podge in it, and was clumping up. Not a big deal since these are throw-away cheap paint brushes anyway. If you don't want to throw them away, or have a more expensive brush you want to use. You will most likely need to thoroughly wash out your brush about midway through this project.

6. Be careful not to stack pieces that are dry on top of one another. This will weaken the piece. Make sure everything is coated thoroughly with Mod Podge.

Step 7: Progress Photos

Working on one shoe and then the other, let one dry before I continued. This made handling each shoe a lot less awkward, since I wasn't balancing it in a weird way to not touch an area.

Tip#1- Don't pour out too much Mod Podge at a time, it sort of dries if left out for too long and forms a skin that is unusable in your project.

Tip#2- Be on the constant look-out for missed areas. After the section you are working on is white and goopy, you may think you covered an area when you didn't. I had to Mod Podge several areas that I missed.

Tip#3- Make sure you don't interfere with the wear-ability of the shoes. The black straps on the top of the foot are elastic. I didn't Mod Podge over those because I wouldn't have been able to get in and out of the shoe without the elastic straps. All the rest of the shoe is canvas and could easily be coated in Mod Podge comic awesome-ness!

Step 8: SMASH! Sputter! Cough! SWAT! Splorsh!

Once the shoes are completely covered with a base cover of comics, get out those images, words, thought/speech bubbles, that appealed to you!

Place them around the shoe to see where you want to put them.

Step 9: MOD PODGE!

Mod Podge the featured thought/speech bubbles, words, characters, etc where you want them.

Wait for your shoes to dry, and coat in as many coats of Mod Podge as you like. I think 2-4 more coats would be good, just for wear and tear purposes. Also, in case of puddles.

Wait for the Mod Podge to dry between coats. Shouldn't be more than 15-30 minutes, probably according climate, and how thick the coat is.

Let them dry thoroughly, not touching anything. I recommend at least 1-2 days, to make sure they are completely and totally dry.

They might remain slightly tacky to the touch, as some Mod Podge projects do. However, Mod Podge makes a finishing product that you can buy and do a final top coat on, if you wish. This is totally optional.