DIWhyNot: DIY Snakeskin Sneakers

Very excited to debut our new DIY series DIWhyNot! I called it this because I often use the slogan "because...why not!?" regarding the creative motivations behind style and design projects. In my opinion, there is no wrong way to express and feel good about yourself when it comes to style and design. After all, it is subjective! This series is all about sharing ideas and techniques with you all to DIY your life and flaunt your inherent creativity...because everyone has it, I promise!

First up, I made some DIY Statment Snakeskin Sneakers out of some dirty, old white sneakers. Statment sneakers were seen all over the runways for this Fall season and I love them as a way to add style and comfort to any outfit. The technique is easy using a fishnet stocking! Thank you to the sponsor of today's episode Tophatter where you can bid on name brand item like I did with my Michael Kors wallet! Go to Tophatter.com and enter code MRKATE for $5 off your first purchase! Boop!

DIY supplies and steps are below for both the neutral and colorful Snakeskin Sneakers. If you do this project please share a photo with #mrkate and @mrkatedotcom on Instagram or Twitter!

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Prep It:

old white sneakers
fishnet stockings
fabric paint - in the colors of your choice, I used black, glitter silver and gold on the neutral pair and bright colors for the colorful pair
spouncer
masking tape
paper plate

DO IT!:

Shove one shoe down inside the fishnet stocking and make sure your fishnets are pulled taught over the area you're going to paint. Tape stocking in place to secure. Tip: stuff the inside of your shoe with newspaper to fill it out and make it easier to paint.
Use your spouncer and lightly dab your paint over the fishnets and onto the shoes. (Don't rub or do a brush motion, just a tapping motion to not move the fishnet around.) I spounced until the spouncer was out of paint to let the pattern naturally fade out.
Repeat step 2 with as many colors as you like until the entire shoe is covered. Make sure to let each color dry before moving on to avoid muddy, runny colors.
Let dry and wear!

COLORFUL OPTION:

If you want to get the look of the colorful shoes, do the snakeskin pattern (like in Step 2 above) with only one color in sporadic areas around the shoes and let dry.
Lay out various bright colored fabric paints on your plate and wet your spouncer before dipping it into your fabric paint (this will make it easier to blend) and brush it over the areas you think would benefit from a solid color. Repeat with as many colors as you like. Tip: the watered down paint wash will allow the underneath snakeskin pattern to show through - or you could reverse the process and do the snakeskin pattern last, after the color wash dries.

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