DIY Painted Military Combat Boots

DIY PAINTED MILITARY COMBAT BOOTS

 

 

A few days ago I was shopping at Payless, and they had a great sale going on. I was able to get these babies, plus three other pairs of shoes, all for $5 each (saving almost $150)! But I realized, I already have two pairs of combat boots almost exactly like this. So what to do with my great find? Customize them of course!

 

 

Before:

 

 

After:

 

 

 

 

What You'll Need:

+ Boots, or another type of shoe you will be able to paint

+ Metallic Rub (as many colors as you want, I used two)

+ Soft paint brushes, in a few different sizes

+ Varnish

+ Q-Tips/ Paper towels and water for clean up

+ Newspaper to keep your space clean

Optional:

+ Masking tape (for if you want to boarder the area you are not painting, I didn't use tape, the rub is easy enough to clean off with water)

+ Metal studs for added deco

 

 

 

These are the rubs I used, red and silver. I found them at Hobby Lobby for about $8. There are a few options as to what to use for the "paint". I just don't suggest acrylic. Liquid leafing would be a good choice if you don't want to use the metallic rub. But out of everything I tried, I liked the rub the best. It's thick, but it is easy to paint onto the boots and easy to wipe off. I just used paper towels or Q-tips with water.

I also got the varnish from Hobby Lobby. I got a bottle of Delta Satin Varnish, 8 oz. for about $10. You can find it in the acrylic paint aisle.

 

How to do it: 

 

Step One:

 

 

I started by putting my main color, silver, on the tip and the heels of the boots. After I had the first layer on both shoes, I went back and added a second and third layer just to make sure every bit of the black was covered and to make the silver extra strong.

 

 

 

Step Two:

 

 

Add the accents! There are lots of options for accents (lots of color combinations, places to paint, or even patterns, etc), that is if you want to add them. Like with the silver, I did two or three layers of red.

 

 

 

Step Three:

 

This is probably the most boring part.

Cleaning.

Wait about an hour to make sure the rub is nice and dry before you do any cleaning with water.

In some places I got some of the rub on the boots. Luckily, this is very easy to clean with a damp paper towel. Also grab a dry one to dry the spot that was cleaned or to wipe away any remaining color.

As for the edges of the boots, like the small little corners, I used a wet Q-tip, then a dry one, just like with the paper towels.

Easy but boring.

 

 

 

Step Four:

 

Touch-ups and varnish.
I let my boots dry over night. In the morning I checked to see if there were any spots where the black was showing through and then added more rub to it. I let them dry for about another hour before I put two coats of varnish on the painted parts.

If you add any studs or anything like that, do it after the varnish has dried.

I added a star on each side of the boots where there is an indent.

 

 

 

 

 And ta-da!

You have your own personalized military boots!

Though, I don't suggest wear them out in the rain or snow just to keep the paint protected.

Enjoy!

 

Any questions, feel free to ask!

 

Create yourself!
Ally