The CHA show in Anaheim is just a few weeks away, and I’ll be saying hi to everyone at the Craft Attitude booth, which will sport a hot air balloon theme of “Around the World in 80 Projects.” I’ll be all decked out in steampunk, and here’s a little tease of part of my outfit – the spats that I decorated with Shoe Attitude printable film.

I bought some white spats on eBay. I knew they would be easy to decorate because they’re vinyl, and Shoe Attitude goes on vinyl like buttah. The spats had three sections divided by stitching, so I decided to create three different digital collages on Photoshop, sized to fit each section. I created the collages with a Victorian grunge background designed by freaky665.deviantart.com, and vintage images from the Graphics Fairy. I printed them out on my inkjet printer in reverse, since I would be flipping them over ink side down.

Then, like I do when I decorate shoes with Shoe Attitude, I rubbed a glue stick on the surface of the spats. I worked a section at a time, and used a finger to even out the glue and get into the nooks and crannies.

Peeling the film from its protecting backing, I placed the film ink side down onto the glued surface. I rubbed the film down with my fingers, and then removed the excess film with an X-acto knife. I used the stitching as my guide when cutting.

One of the sections had snaps, and the film would not lay flat, so I removed the film around the snaps, and all was well with the world.

Then I did the same with the other spat. (Is that singular for spats? Or Spatus?) These look awesome with my Cole Haan wingtip boots. And be sure to come see these in person (and me, too, of course) at the Craft Attitude booth if you’re planning on going to CHA.