I love shoes, especially ones that make a statement. So, when my friend showed me these Americana boots, I knew they would make a great addition to my closet. Unfortunately, a $650 price tag is just a little out of my reach. The DIY-er in me said, “Hey, you could make those!” For less than $60, I created my own version of this patriotic footwear with a flair!
Here’s a picture of my inspiration boots:
And here are mine:
Not bad for almost $600 less than the retail cost! I started out with these plain brown cowboy boots:
Supplies:
GOLD brand acrylic spray paint {color: Stock White}
Acrylic Spray Sealer {matte finish}
Red & blue acrylic paint
Rustic Accents metal stars
Silver spray paint
Black glaze
foam brush
natural bristle paint brush
paint brush pen {for fine lines}
mini circle scrapbooking embellishments
E6000 adhesive
lots of baby wipes!
This project was really easy, just a little time-consuming. The end result is totally worth it! I started by taping the soles of my boots to prep them for painting. Then I tried this Acrylic spray paint for the first time, and I loved it. It is specially formulated to use on flexible surfaces, it is weatherproof, and the coverage is great. It came in a ton of colors too… I’m thinking next time I might go for some yellow boots!
Next, I added my first coat of blue paint — any acrylic paint will work. When it dried, it was a little darker than I wanted, so I grabbed another color of blue
and dry-brushed it over the top. It created great texture and dimension.
Then, I was ready to paint the stripes, which turned out to be the hardest part for me… luckily, you can learn from my mistake!
First, I free-handed all of the stripes, but they were a little too thin and didn’t look great. So I decided to tape them off and try again. The painters tape worked much better! I peeled the tape up when the paint was wet and cleaned up any mess on the edges with a baby wipe.
When the paint was dry, I started distressing the boots to make them look more aged. I used a nail file to get the edges of the boots… it works great for sanding in tight spots! Now I was ready to add my metal “stud” stars. I found these metal accents and painted them silver.
The stars still needed a little something, so I added some black glaze. Much better! I attached them to the boots with E600. {Make sure you let them dry for at least 24 hours!}
The final step was to add some spice to the red stripes. For added depth, I brushed the same black glaze over the stripes, and wiped most of it off with a baby wipe. Then, I created my own metal “studs” with some scrapbooking embellishments I had on hand.
What do you think?
Here is a look at the before & after:
What a fun way to show that I’m proud to be an American… especially with the Olympics under way! Check out our other Olympic projects at My Sister’s Suitcase.
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Omg! I truly love these with all my heart!!!! Amazing!
Brilliant! And you did an amazing job making your vision happen! Angie xo
GIRL,I knew their was a reason I had you on my sidebar….I love these….I could see you hitting a Junk Gypsie…party in these…..AND I would not hide…I use my dad’s and my Hubs Baby boots along with my sweet Mom in law who was a size 5….the look so good with some of my collections…you need these worked in to your house…don’t hide them….if nothing else some pretty Daisys would look cool peaking out of these….darn you are clever
Sweet!
Those boots are adorable! I’m always ready to paint most anything, but would have never thought of doing this- brilliant! Where do you find that flexible spray paint?
Sheila – thanks for your sweet comment! I got the Acrylic spray paint at a local craft store, it is called, “GOLD Acrylic Professional Spray Paint” and the company that makes it is “Montana.”
It worked really well, and I am actually going to try it with another pair of boots and paint them in a bright color!
These are incredible!! You did an amazing job!
You listed acrylic spray sealer as one of the supplies needed – did you apply this after the acrylic paint or after you’d completely finished the boots (including the studs & stars accents). I’m making a pair right now for my mom using your tutorial & I’m so excited to see the finished product! And I can’t wait to see her reaction!
Hi Wendy, Holly from My Sister’s Suitcase, one of my past contributors, actually made the boots. You can contact her directly (http://www.sisterssuitcaseblog.com/) to ask about the sealer. I hope your mom loves the boots!