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How to Decorate Canvas Shoes for a Custom Look

Use this fun and simple tutorial to revive your old kicks! Learn how to decorate a pair of canvas shoes with iron on paper and a pretty pattern.

Skills Required: Beginner. You’ll be trimming out iron on material and then affixing it to shoes. It helps to be an ironing whiz, since that’s your main tool for this project.

Woman wearing decorated canvas shoes

Today I have the fun-est fashion craft to share with you! It’s so simple, the possibilities are endless, and the final product is so so good. You can make these floral canvas shoes, and it’s really easy.

They’re a perfect teen project for back to school . . . but adults will love this idea too! Buy yourself a cheap pair of canvas shoes and dress them up.

White canvas sneakers and a pack of t-shirt transfers for light colors

I found some white canvas shoes in the back of my closet the other day (when did I buy these?), and I decided to revive them to make them more wearable. You can get the same type of shoes from Amazon and other shoe retailers like Keds who always have the basics.

After searching and searching for an idea, I stumbled on this perfect tutorial by Always Rooney (who is a total genius) to use. I love how these DIY floral canvas shoes turned out!

White canvas shoes decorated with a floral iron on transfer

Didn’t these kicks turn out great? And you will never have to worry about seeing someone with your same shoes!

Get the printable how to below:

How to make canvas shoes
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5 from 3 votes

Decorate Canvas Shoes

Learn how to apply a pretty floral pattern to canvas shoes using iron ons! It's way easier than you think.
Prep Time30 minutes
Active Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 15 minutes
Type: DIY Fashion
Yield: 1 pair
Cost: $15

Equipment

Materials

Instructions

  • Decide on your pattern. Print the floral pattern on the iron transfer paper. Use as many sheets as you need to cover the shoes.
    Floral pattern printed onto iron transfer paper
  • Cut the paper in small pieces. You can trace pieces to fit the shoe, or what I found to be easiest was to cut around small sections of flowers and iron little pieces at a time.
    Iron on paper cut out to fit a canvas shoe
  • Iron the pieces all over the shoes (following the instructions for your paper). Peel the backing off. Gently tap down any areas that aren't secure especially around the edges.
    Ironing a floral design onto a white canvas shoe
  • Replace the laces with something more fun, like leather, to go along with your new kicks.
    Replacing sneaker laces with leather laces

Video

Notes

Step 3: The iron transfer paper instructions will tell you to put a pillowcase or something thin over the paper while you iron, but that made it difficult to see where I was working. So I didn’t really use it!
After peeling the backing off, I tapped the tip of the iron on any areas that looked peel-y, and washed my iron afterward.

Happy crafting! And be sure to come visit us as we blog about style, food, and the things we love over at the Pretty Life Girls.

If you like fashion DIY projects, check out these other posts I’ll think you’ll love:

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5 from 3 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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