Upcycled Adidas Superstars

I wanted to see if I could paint a pair of Adidas superstars with a custom pattern, so I bought these guys on Mercari for super duper cheap. I bought them because the shell toes and the soles were still white and hadn’t yellowed yet. I cleaned them up with a nice bleach bath and…promptly forgot about them for a number of months.

During the time that I abandoned them to the elements (I left them on the porch), the previously white rubber turned the yellow color I had avoided.

Sorry I don’t have a before-before photo. I got really excited to start this project that I just busted open the leather paint and started going to town before I realized I should photograph them first.

Anyway, I had previously purchased a variety pack of Angelus leather paint and after a quick Google search, realized I could use it on rubber as well.

Step 1 was to paint the discolored parts white again, which I started doing in the above photo. I particularly love the Angelus leather paint because the little paint bottles come with built-in brushes like nail polish so I don’t have to worry about washing them as soon as I’m done with a coat.

Seriously, all paint should come this way.

My first step was to paint all the (now) discolored rubber back to white. I used the conveniently included brush and painted them in my lap during a long conference call. I let them dry completely before doing the next step.

I wanted to paint not-quite-red-but-kinda-pinkish cherries all over the leather parts because the stripes were sort of a shiny magenta color. The Angelus variety pack did not come with a magenta color, so I decided to make one myself. It did come with light pink, red and white, so I mixed those together until. I got the color I wanted (more or less). I mixed it in one of these little condiment containers I always buy because I don’t like my food to touch.

The next step was to prepare the cherries. I used a small brush and painted random “polka dots” that would later become cherries. The key is randomness; paint big dots, paint small dots, just fill in the space until it looks relatively uniform.

Dots on dots…

…on dots.

So I waited an excruciating 24 hours for the dots to dry before I started the next step.

The next step, of course, would be the stems.

I’m not that great at painting tiny things and I basically mainline caffeine all day, so tiny, thin painting is not my jam. I was prepared to get a tiny brush with a tiny tip and paint tiny stems on these shoes. I opened up my painting desk though, and got a flash of inspiration. I had a bunch of fine-liner sharpies. I did a quick scan to see if I had a bright green one and…I did!

This, but green.

Sorry, I have since misplaced the green one I used for the cherries, but you get the idea. I’m sure you know what green looks like.

Since I have to prior experience and very little clue what I’m doing, I decided I’d just do this the easiest way I could. Sharpie stems it was!

I found myself having to watch a video for work so I decided that would be the perfect time to keep my hands occupied drawing cherry stems.

I did not worry about direction or consistency'; I just sort of filled in the white space in the way that seemed like it made the most sense.

Liking it so far!

My sharpie stems came out pretty cute and were relatively easy, so I did all four sides of the shoes the same way.

Cute as they were, I knew they weren’t quite finished.

I tend to get really excited and want to wear/use my creations immediately, but I’m trying so SO hard to get over that. I knew I needed to finish them with a final coat of protectant, but I wasn’t quite sure what to do.

Google to the rescue!

My boy Angelus makes a product specifically designed to make their paint permanent and waterproof, so I ordered a bottle on Amazon and then did more excruciating waiting.

There was no next day delivery. I had to wait FOUR WHOLE DAYS.

I waited the four excruciating days and then painted a perma-coat onto my new shoes.

Now there was the issue of laces. I couldn’t put the old, dirty white laces back in these beautiful custom babies. I knew I needed shoe laces that matched my cherries. So again, I ventured into the Amazon. I found a listing for “magenta” ribbon laces, ordered them, and again did more painful waiting.

When I got the notification that they’d been delivered, I practically ran to the mailbox. I brought the bubble mailer in and excitedly tore it open…only to find out that my definition of magenta and this seller’s definition of magenta were….different to say the least. They were MAROON.

I went to Texas A&M. I know f**king maroon when I see it. I was disappointed. I ventured back into the Amazon jungle to find magenta laces….and came out empty carted.

I thought maybe green laces would be an excellent accent to this labor of love. But they were $7.99 ,and I’d already invested more money in this project than I’d intended so I did not purchase the green laces.

I just decided to put the maroon laces in the shoes and call it a day. After all, the stripes weren’t the same color as the cherries, so why should I try so hard to match the laces?

I decided to embrace the many colors of “not-totally-red” and put the maroon laces in.

I really love them. There are definitely three different colors of pinkish-red here, but I think it works. Green would have been cool, but it would have cost me an additional $8 I was not willing to spend.

They’re not perfect, but they’re pretty darn cute and I love them.