Last month when I went to visit my sister in Georgetown, we made a stop at the Rag and Bone location there.  I’m always sad when I go into that store because everything is so beautiful, but ridiculously expensive.  This trip I totally fell in love with these canvas ballet flats!

Hanalei Ballet Flats by Rag and Bone – photo taken on my iphone =)

Hanalei Ballet Flats by Rag and Bone – photo taken on my iphone =)

Hanalei Ballet Flats by Rag and Bone – photo from shopbop.com

They cost a whopping $295.  I wouldn’t even spend that much on leather dress shoes, let alone canvas flats.  That’s when my DIY gears got turning.  I found these Kenneth Cole linen flats for only $56.05 and decided to paint that stripe on myself!

Here’s what you’ll need to do this project:

– Any pair of reasonably priced canvas or fabric ballet flats (like the Kenneth Cole ones above!)
– Masking tape
– Paint (I used Jacquard brand Fluorescent Textile color, but you can also use acrylic paint or puffy paint)
– A paint brush
– Water, for thinning out the paint

Start by masking off the area you’d like to paint.

Next mix your paint color.  I mixed fluorescent yellow and pink to make a nice hot orange color.  Then I thinned it out significantly with water.

The reason you want it thin is so that it paints on with transparency.  To get that rich painterly look that the original Rag and Bone shoes have, you’ll want to paint several, thin, uneven layers.

After your first thin layer, wait for it to dry. Then you can increase the thickness of your paint for the second layer.  Two or three layers should do it.  Remember, you still want to be able to see the texture of the fabric under the paint.  Don’t go too opaque.

Once you are happy with the look of your paint, allow it to fully dry, then remove the masking tape.  Now you’re all done!!  Easy peasy.  They are not quite as sophisticated as the original (I wish it could have the leather trim and wooden heel), but it totally achieves the same look! In total, I spent $62.63 on this project.  I feel like I could have found even cheaper canvas shoes, but overall, its way better than $295.