Altered Figure Skates – mixed media upcycling

Hello! It’s Connie Hall here! I’m so excited to be sharing my project with you today.

Living in the north country has many natural benefits to it. I love having four seasons. I love the snow and recently my village had an extremely cold spell followed by more snow and then a January thaw followed by a snow storm that has left me housebound. So unpredictable!!! …but… it’s the perfect weather for staying home and getting creative!

My first project for 2018 is an altered pair of figure skates, which I picked up a pair at my local thrift store.

I will give a detailed tutorial so you can alter an old pair of skates or roller skates too. Or maybe alter something completely else…

Step 1

I gathered all the supplies that I thought I would need for this project.

• An old pair of figure skates
• Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Blue Moon and Fully Purple
• Tattered Angels Calendar Kit Mists Organic Garden ,Vine and Party Pink
• 7gypsies Lace
• Floral satin and sheer wedding flowers x 2
• White seed beads
• Tim Holtz Crackle paste
• Glue dots
• 3 in I glue
• Gesso
• White Acrylic Paint
• Sponge applicator
• Water container
• Small paint brushes
• Scissors
• Ribbon
• Needle and thread
• 4 wire bracelets and 4 chain bracelets
• 6 charms
• Vinyl gloves if you don’t want your hands to be stained during painting.
• Work mat

Step 2

I then prepared the area for painting flowers. I put skates to the side along with trinkets and adhesives. I kept the skate guards on for safety.  This is where you could also put down your work mat. I wanted to make sure that I don’t make more mess than absolutely necessary.

 Step 3

I started painting the  leaves. I bent each leaf and flower away from each other so the color would not transfer. Shake Tattered Angels bottles well and put small amount in paint tray or paint right from the bottle. I used Vine green from the calendar kit. The satin will soak up the color quick. Make sure you let the leaf dry and if needed, you can later add more detail with Organic Green mist.

Step 4

 I used Party Pink mist from the Easter Calendar kit  and a #2 brush. I started at the center of the flowers and went towards the middle of petals. This is to allow the color to be soaked in by the fabric, it will also create an ombre color effect.

Step 5

I  added a secondary color Fully Purple Glimmer mist to tips of flowers. It will bleed into the pink but that’s ok.

Step 6

Painting the sheer rose, I scrunched the rose together with my hand and added the Bluemoon  Glimmer mist.

Step 7

 I used Tim Holtz crackle paste on the petals and the leaves. I used the brush to pick up beads and place on the medium to hold beads in place.  I placed the beads on the bottom of an ink pad to keep them from going all over the table and ending up on the floor.

Step 8

Creating the cuff while flowers dry.
I used a pair of homemade mittens, 7 Gypsies lace cut in half and sewed on top of cuff and folded over.

Here are the completed cuffs.

Step 9

  I gathered the embellishments that I wanted to add to the skates. I was originally going to paint and stencil the skates but I like the raw beauty of the aged skates and decided just to add the items.

Step 10

I  started embellishing boot of the skate. I kept skate guards and soaker on to protect surface and myself from the sharp blade. I added the cuff at the top and put the laces through the yarn so it could still be tied to the other skate. I also used sticky glue dots first so I could move items around to reposition easier. I built up layers of embellishments to the outside of the skates.

Step 11

  Once I was happy with position of the embellishments, I applied glue with 3 in 1 liquid adhesive.
You could also use hot glue and glue gun if you prefer.

Step 12

I repeated or the design and applied embellishments to other skate.
Make sure you add embellishments to the outer side of the skates.

Here are my finished skates displayed on my vintage weathered bench in the garden.

I love how they turned out. The colors pop out and add make me happy.

Skating was an activity I enjoyed as a child and I thoroughly enjoyed altering these figure skates.

Thanks for joining me and I hope you got inspired to alter something too.
There are so many possibilities Tattered Angels mists and paints are perfect mediums for altering and upcycling a variety of projects.

Have a great day!

– Connie –

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