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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

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:

35 comments:

  1. I so love the boots!!! What a great idea!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
    I am off to visit Polly at Helping Little Hands next!

    I am your newest follower! I hope you will drop by my blog sometime!! I am brand new; therefore, I am just learning!!

    ~~~rhonda~~~

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  2. Wonderful! Such a great idea and so cute!

    ~Nike
    choosetothrive.blogspot.com

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  3. super cute! I love wellies! I wore mine all the time up in Ithaca

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  4. These turned out adorable!! Thanks so much for sharing. I'll get my linking post up...as soon as I go put the kiddos down for a nap...

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  5. How super cute! We don't get enough rain out here for rain boots but if we did, I'd totally try this!

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  6. Jen, you are BRILLIANT. I am utterly impressed! If only my cooking could be so darn cute. You did a fantastic job and should be so proud. Congrats on your brilliant blog.

    Lins

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  7. I love this post. My boys are addicted to their rain boots. I think this would be fun for slightly older kids than mine... Thanks for linking where to get the plain ones. I was just going to ask that...LOL...

    I'd LOVE if you could share this with my readers tonight @Creative Juice Thursday. Party starts @ 7pm CST. Get your crafting shoes on. Hope to see you there...

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  8. I have coveted the cute little boots for little children for years. I have my dad's old (uncoated) boots in the basement...I can see a new future for them! Thanks for a wonderful post. (I came over from Helping Little Hands.)

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  9. This is SO CUTE!!! And such a good idea!!!!!!!!! I love rain boots, especially ones with fun designs.

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  10. WOW! Great job! I'm super impressed that you free handed those. You're very talented!

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  11. These are super cute! Thanks so much for the tutorial. Guess who's going to be boot shopping today?

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  12. I have a pair of ugly black boots just waiting for this treatment! What a great idea! aimee

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  13. I love both pair!!! I highlighted this at somedaycrafts.blogspot.com yesterday.

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  14. Love the boots! Great idea! Stopping by from Creative Juice.

    Kerri

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  15. I have been wanting a pair of rain boots for so long now. Instead of just buying a patterned pair, I am now going to make my own! I can NOT believe how amazing your boots look. Those flowers are so detailed! I wish I could doodle like that! Thanks so much for the tutorial.

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  16. I want a pair. I know a way to make designs symetrical. Use premade stencils, cut your own stencils out of paper, or use french curves, etc. Trace around outside or inside with a Sharpie. Trace over with Tulip paint. Fill inside as you wish, or not; and embellish around the outline.

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  17. Oh my goodness, the black and white ones are SO CUTE!

    (Thanks for stopping by my blog :0)

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  18. Those are amazing! I would have never even thought! Great idea!

    I'd love to have you share this at my For the Kids Friday Link Party (going on now)! Come join the fun!

    http://sunscholars.blogspot.com/2011/03/for-kids-friday-5.html

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  19. Inspired by (and linked back to) you, I just posted the boots that I painted yesterday. They aren't as cute as yours but I like them so much better now! Thanks again for the great idea!
    aimee

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  20. Love this one. Put a link on my blog back to yours for the tutorial. <3 your idea!http://joyfuldiscoveries.blogspot.com/2011/04/painted-rain-boots.html

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  21. I have actually been wondering about painting rain boots, but didn't know the first thing about what to do or what to use. Thank you for this cute idea. I love it!

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  22. I have a shiny pair that need a new life. Do you think priming them would work if I scuffed them up???

    Glad you stopped by at the Creative Juice party. Thanks for linking up!

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  23. Seriously awesome project. LOVE the boots.

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  24. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your boots. What a great "doodle" pattern you did. I just might need another pair of wellies after seeing those! :)

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  25. I am wondering what type of sealant you used on the boots. They are soo cute!

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  26. I used Mod Podge to seal them and keep the paint on, but I've had some problems with it flaking some. Maybe there's a better sealant out there?

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  27. What a cute idea!
    Saw this in pinterest and selected it for the upcoming Pin It Wednesday, on my blog!
    :D

    Hannah

    www.mmkayhanner.blogspot.com

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  28. I'm painting a bunch of shoes pearlescent green, and I'm at the point where I seal them. I have Mod Podge (matte and gloss), all sorts of Krylons, and pints and pints of paint-on polyurethanes, etc. But I'm terrified to use any of them because everyone's painted boots and hard shoes tend to crack at seams. Have you found any flexible sealer? I was wondering whether I could paint with fabric glue...then seal with Krylon.

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  29. I haven't found a good sealant unfortunately :( I've tried acrylic sealant and Mod Podge separately, but not together. I've experienced some cracking with both along the natural places where the boots bend while walking :(

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  30. I'm so glad this article exists. I'm in my twenties but I had a sudden urge for rain boots the other day decorated with art from a game that induces a lot of nostalgia for me: Pokemon. I found someone willing to make them, but the only issue was how she was actually going to manage do decorate rainboots. Thanks to the existence of this article, she's going ahead with the request :)

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  31. Perhaps to fix the "breaking" of the lines issue you could use white sharpie marker? I wonder if it would stay on. :-)

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  32. Do you modge podge the whole boot, or just the parts that you drew on?

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    Replies
    1. I was at my local Goodwill store just before I read this. There were several pair of rubber boots just waiting for someone. They were about $3.00. I'll bet your thrift store has some, too.

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  33. Loving what you did to those rain boots! They surely spice up and brighten up rainy days. Yup, we say goodbye to gloomy days!

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