How to make glow-in-the-dark shoes

• A pair of simple canvas shoes
• Resene testpot paints in your choice of colours, Fleur used Resene Quarter Delta, Resene Surfs Up, Resene Wet N Wild, Resene Meteor, Resene Waiouru and Resene Blue Diamond
• Paintbrush, including a thin craft paint brush
• Resene FX Nightlight

Instructions

Step 1:  Start by removing the laces from a pair of plain canvas shoes. (Photo 1).

Step 2:  Paint the canvas parts of the shoe in a white paint. Fleur used Resene Quarter Delta. It doesn’t matter what colour your shoes are to start with as the shoes need to be painted white for the Resene FX Nightlight to work best. Fleur left the tongue of the shoe unpainted as she liked the original colour. (Photo 2).

Step 3:  Paint the area around the lace eyelets in Resene Surfs Up. (Photo 3).

Step 4:  Next, paint a small triangle of Resene Wet N Wild. (Photo 4).

Step 5:  Carry on painting blocks of colour around the shoe in Resene Meteor, Resene Waiouru and Resene Blue Diamond. Make sure you leave a gap between each colour block so that the Resene Quarter Delta shows. (Photo 5).

Step 6:  Finish by using a thin paint brush to apply three coats of Resene FX Nightlight on top of the Resene Quarter Delta, allowing each coat to dry before applying the next coat. (Photo 6).

Step 7:  Charge the shoes up in the sun and enjoy wearing them at night! (Photo 7).

Top tip:  For the best glow-in-the-dark effect use Resene White as the basecoat colour rather than a tinted colour. Fleur used Resene Quarter Delta as she preferred this as a contrast to her other colours rather than white. 

Project and images by Fleur Thorpe. Feb 2021.