A Tale of Boots and Paint

     I've had boots on the brain (well not literally, no one is standing on me or anything), which resulted in this post. It all started when I had the fabulous notion to wander into town the other day in the middle of a torrential downpour. As I shivered my way through the store in my soaking wet, flip flop clad feet, I happened to notice all the more intelligent beings around me wearing boots or other some such appropriate foot wear. I came to the conclusion that I needed some boots for wet weather...pronto. Obviously, I couldn't just do the easy thing and settle for one of the perfectly nice pairs of boots available at said store...oh no, not me, I have to be all fancy pants and do things the hard way. I swung by the outdoor store and picked up a pair of $12.00 rubber boots.

      I stuffed them with paper and taped off the tops like so.

      I doused them with several coats of the this fabulous colored spray paint. (Notice, it is "watermellon" not "pink"...there is a distinct difference)

      And we lived happily ever after!

     Not quite, because, when I put them on to admire my new pretties, this happened! (Insert long wail of despair here)

       Oh the sadness! Wherever the rubber bent, the paint just pealed right off. So, back to square one we went. I scrubbed off all the paint with steal wool that I could get off. (All the while giving myself great speeches as to why I should really just try being normal for half a second and not make life so difficult!)

      And there they sat for several days, and I glared at them every time I walked out my back door. On my next occasion to go to town, I was told by the friendly paint man that he didn't know of any spray paint that would stick to rubber, because rubber was slick and paint wouldn't stick to it. As I walked dejectedly away, ready to surrender my scheme, this caught my eye on the shelf.

      Well now, if the rubber is too slick and not sticky enough for paint to stick to it....surely some glue should fix that right? It couldn't hurt to try and it said on the can that it adhered to rubber. (I think any spray adhesive you have lying around would work just as well) I covered the boot pretty generously, and let it dry for just a minute or two.

      It was still very tacky and sticky when I sprayed it with the paint.

      It makes a pretty rough, almost spackled finish when it is all dry. After I was satisfied with the paint job, I stenciled on a design with a black sharpie. I didn't want to risk more messing with paint. After that was all done, I finished it all off with this stuff.

      And here are my lovelies all finished!

      Just perfect for any season, spring and summer...

     ....Fall...

     ...or winter!

      Wanna know how I made these super cute boot liners?

     Well, seeing as how I've already written a small book, I think I show you in the next post.

      These have not been tested through rain, sleet, snow, earthquakes or mudslides..incidentally, I actually only walked around the yard in them, but the paint didn't crack so I decree them a success.  I am not going to claim they will last through next decade or anything. Mine did end up costing me more than $12.00 due to my paint misfortunes, but I still am sure I came out cheaper than just buying a pair from a big box store...and, I am totally assured not a single soul has my boots and that my dears, makes me a very happy lady.
     Boot liner tutorial coming soon!


"Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him." Isaiah 43:7

Linking to:
Sugar Bee Crafts
Confessions of a stay at home mom
Home Stories A to Z
The Southern Institute
Goodbye City Hello Suburbs
My Girlish Whims
Laugh Love and Craft
Sew Much Ado