Friday, December 27, 2013

Cowboy Boot Refashion

Well howdy :]

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! And aren't too emotionally damaged over Matt Smith's departure from Doctor Who BECAUSE YOU KNOW I AM.


But beyond that I have one more refashion of sorts to share before 2013 leaves us for good. Or not for good if you have a Tardis and I said I was emotionally compromised OKAY.

Over the summer, my roommate and I went to this hella-big flea market and found a few treasures; one of which included these beauties:

Cowboy Boot Refashion

However, they did not exactly look this when I found them. Actually... they were a little more like this:

Cowboy Boot Refashion

Ooh girl.

Cowboy Boot Refashion

Dang.


Cowboy Boot Refashion

You nasty.

But when I stumbled across them, I knew I could not just leave these poor defenseless booties to suffer on their own. They had such potential. And for seven dollars? One does not simply pass up seven dollar cowboy boots-- I don't care who you are. So with a few materials and a little bit of insanity experimentation, I decided to refinish these puppies and give them the facelift they deserved.

What I used:
-Fine grit sandpaper (at least 220)
-Acetone
-Paper towels
-Painter's tape
-Acrylic paint
-Paintbrushes

Cowboy Boot Refashion

First, I taped off the edges of my boots that I wanted to be protected i.e. the fake snakeskin on the bottom portion of the boots. Because we all know that fake snakeskin is super dope. Then with my fine grain sandpaper, I started to take off the old finish of the boots. As you can see, the leather was already majorly coming off, so the sanding just edged it along.

Cowboy Boot Refashion

It really makes you wonder where these boots have been though, right? I like to believe that they once belonged to a shirtless cowboy.

Cowboy Boot Refashion

Eventually, I sanded them down to a point so that they were pretty uniformly worn. I used about medium pressure to try and take the leather off, but I made sure to avoid sanding over the stitching, lest I ruin the integrity of the boots.

Cowboy Boot Refashion

Then came the acetone, which is basically like a type of paint thinner [you can find it next to the rest of the paint thinners at the hardware store]. Yeah, acetone is an ingredient in nail polish remover, but I would not use that remover itself, mostly because it has dyes and whoknowswhatelse that would affect the leather. So working one section at a time, I poured a little acetone on a paper towel and rubbed the rest of the finish off of the leather...

Cowboy Boot Refashion

... until it was all shmooth.

Cowboy Boot Refashion

Next came the painting. I mixed up two tubs-- one was just straight paint, the other I watered down to make a wash.

Cowboy Boot Refashion

Then I just painted in stages. I painted three layers with the wash on each boot, then went on to paint two or three layers with the unwatered-down paint. The wash was really just to prep the leather for the thicker layers of paint, and I didn't really bother to let those layers dry in between. With the thicker paint, I did let those layers dry before painting on top of them again.

Cowboy Boot Refashion

And now I have a pair of brand new old boots! I thought about adding some sort of protective finish on the painted parts, but acrylic is plastic-based and waterproof anyway, so I didn't really bother. If anyone has any suggestions on what to use though, I'm open :]

This makes me excited now though because imagine all the possibilities... and how many other ugly leather Goodwill shoes this technique can be used on.... hmmmmm.

Well, have a happy Friday!


Linkin' up:
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18 comments:

  1. Ohhh gurl, this is genius!! You could use leather stain instead of paint if you wanted to. They should sell it at HobLob, if not, it will probably be sold at manmalls like Farm and Fleet or a Saddle shop. If...you know of a local Saddle shop. XD I think there is a scary ghetto "Leather and Western wear" shop run by some nice mexican folks downtown Dekalb. Like, on the way to the post office right before the train track intersection?

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    1. Oooh I have never heard of leather stain before! I'll have to look for some for future reasons...
      And yeah I know which one you're talking about! Kristy and I tried to go there not that long ago but then it looked kind of sketch so we bailed haha

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  2. These look amazing! I can never seem to find any old cowboy boots for cheap... it seems around here, vintage = expensive. So I just bought new ones instead!

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    1. Thanks so much! Yeah, half of the boots I have found have been super expensive, but I've also lucked out and found super cheap ones too :]

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  3. Wow! You worked wonders. Never would have known they were vintage boots you restored. You rock. I hopped over from Fab Fridays. Enjoy your weekend.

    Sharon
    http://www.afashioncrowd.blogspot.com

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  4. Wow, I don't think I would have been creative enough to see potential in those boots the way you bought them, but they sure look great now!! And you can get pure acetone as a nail polish remover, though maybe it's only sold in the pro stores--it's for dissolving acrylic nails. That stuff is scary strong, but it sure did a great job of removing the finish from the leather!

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    1. Thanks so much! And I did not know that about the acetone-- thanks for the tip!

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  5. I think it would look really great if you added a bit more detail to the top parts, by painting over the threads in a gold or mustard coloured paint. Just very finely over and between the threads to accentuate the pattern. It would give it a bit more depth. Brilliant job though, I would never have thought of this!

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  6. Those turned out awesome!!! Shareing on Twitter. Thanks for linking them up at Monday Fuday!

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  7. What?! I had no idea this could be done? Amazing! They LOOK amazing! Thanks for linking up at Tips and Tricks again! Always look forward to your post. :) Sharing everywhere and pinning!
    Gina @ Gina's Craft Corner

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  9. Bravo sister, Bravo! whoda thunk this was possible, you saved a perfectly,(now they are) good pair of boots! www.thtablackchic.com

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