Painted Rain Boots

*****Updated on April 18, 2011*****

Polly at Helping Little Hands has been hosting a Read Along on her blog this month to celebrate National Reading Month, and I'm so thrilled to be a part of it!

It wasn't hard for me to choose which book I wanted to use for the read along. My 2-year-old is still learning how to read books and not destroy them, but every once in awhile there's a book she'll actually sit still for.  The Rainy Day by Anna Milbourne and Sarah Gill is one of our all-time favorites!

My favorite thing about The Rainy Day is how it encourages kids to go outside and explore. My daughter loves being outside (she is so much like me!) and that includes being outside on rainy days. What's more fun than jumping in the biggest puddle you can find?

And with all those fun puddles to jump in, you have to have rain boots. So why not make some cute rain boots your child can decorate themselves? And while you're at it, make some for yourself!

Ok, so my daughter didn't actually decorate these, I did. The problem is that she has the attention span of a 2-year-old. Probably because she is a 2-year-old. If your kids are old enough they would have a great time decorating these! Otherwise, just grab some supplies and make whatever design you want!

 All you need is some of tubes of fabric paint a pair of rain boots, and some clear, flexible sealant. The greatest part is that you have the freedom to paint whatever pattern or picture you want on your boots and if you don't like what you just drew, just take a paper towel or a Q-tip and wipe if off!

After you're done, cover your boots with a couple of coats of clear sealant, like Mod Podge, and let dry (there may be a better sealant out there - any suggestions??). This project can be as short or as long as you want it to be. It took me under an hour or so to decorate my daughter's boots with lady bugs. And obviously, you don't want to heat set the paint or it'll melt your boots! Just let the paint dry in the open for as long as the bottle states then cover with your sealant. Let the Mod Podge dry for as long as the bottle states, then add a second coat. I found the uncoated kind, like the black ones below, work best for this project.

When you're finished, just find the nearest puddle and....

 I made myself a pair too. These took MUCH longer (probably around 5 hours or so spread out across a few days) because I chose to doodle a bunch of intricate flowers on them and let them dry in between. Then (because I'm a self-proclaimed perfectionist) I had to copy the pattern on the other boot to make them look symmetrical. But if you're not anal like me, you can always just doodle all over your boots to your heart's desire.

Now go outside and explore with your child on a rainy day!

It's hard to find plain, affordable boots out there! These are the rubber boots I purchased for myself on Walmart.com. I did a search for some plain rubber kids boots and found these, which look like they'd be perfect.  

When applying the paint, paint it on pretty thick to lessen the chance of your drawn lines breaking during the natural bending of the rubber as you walk. I painted some of my lines on too thin and they broke so I had to repaint them. 
 
**I've had some problems with the paint peeling on my boots because of the natural bending of the boots as I walk. The Mod Podge helps contain most of the paint, however I'm wondering if there is a better sealant out there, one that's more flexible? There's a tutorial HERE at Morning by Morning Productions where she sprayed a spray adhesive to her boots before painting, which would probably be more effective, then coated it with a clear sealant.

Thanks again to Polly at Helping Little Hands for hosting the Read Along. You can visit her blog to see all of the books and corresponding projects that people chose to celebrate National Reading Month.

I'm linking up here:

• Craft Gossip
• Be Different...Act Normal
• One Pretty Thing
• U Create
• Sew Much Ado
• Someday Crafts
• Tip Junkie
• Tatertots and Jello
• Skip to My Lou 
• Momnivore's Dilemma