Craft Time! DIY Comic Book Shoes

1. Amass an obscene amount of comic books. I absolutely loved Archie comics as a child (and still do) so I have a huge collection. Some of them are also my sister's and she did a pair of shoes too.

2. Collect the necessary materials. I used Golden Gel Medium (semi-gloss) and a large paint brush (not pictured). You could also use a matte finish or high gloss finish gel medium.

3. Cut out all of the pieces you want to use for your shoes. I found it best to use large-ish rectangular pieces for the base coat. We also cut out some "statement" pieces for a second layer.

4. Find a pair of shoes to use. It is best to choose ones that have a plastic/poly-vinyl finish. I found that if you use shoes that don't have a thick sole the comics near the base rub a bit. This problem can be avoided by using thick soled shoes, not putting the comics right to the edge, or sealing the base with rubber cement.

5. Apply some of the gel medium to the back of the comic strip.

 6. Line the strip up on the shoe, and then paint another layer of gel medium on top of it. Repeat this process until the entirety of the shoe is covered (or as much of it as you desire is covered).

7. Let the shoes dry for an hour or so. then you can choose to put some statement pieces on top if you like. I chose some standout images like people's faces and the titles from the comics. Let that layer dry for about half an hour, depending on how many you put on.

8. Paint a full layer of gel medium over the shoes and let dry. I put a pretty thick layer on mine so I left them to dry over night. If you so desire you can put another layer on the next day. If you want the comics to be really sealed in I would recommend doing a second layer. Let that dry for a few hours. Now would also be the time to apply the layer of rubber cement as mentioned in step 4. 

9. Ta-Da! You are all done and ready to wear your fabulous shoes out in public. Get ready for some oohs and ahhhs!