(Photo and project provided by F (plus) W Media, Inc.)
Kids and dads making cool stuff: It’s a dynamic trio that book publishers are finally noticing.
Evidence: Scott Bedford’s “Made by Dad: 67 Blueprints for Making Cool Stuff” (Workman); and Mike Adamick’s “Dad’s Book of Awesome Projects” (F + W Media), both new this year.
Bedford, who blogs at whatimade.com and writes a column for Make magazine, has two sons and fantastical projects that range from steampunk robots to shark-bedeviled paper plates to Martian door decals. And Adamick’s book has a few projects that are 100 percent perfect for ComicCon, coming up next weekend, including instructions for home-made superhero capes and these comic-book shoes.
Comic Book Shoes
Excerpted from “Dad’s Book of Awesome Projects” (F + W Media, 2013). Makes 1 pair.
Materials
Old leather shoes— patent leather works best for smooth surfaces (you can also find a really cheap, new pair at discount shoe retailers.)
Comic books
Mod Podge glossy glue
Art paintbrushScissors
Instructions
Round up some unwanted comic books and start cutting. Cut out small characters, cool drawings, all the POW!s and KaBLAM!s and whatever else you want. Cut out a lot of snippets and words and small characters that won’t get lost or won’t, conversely, take over (looking at you, Wolverine). Make sure a lot of them have straight bottoms or tops. You’ll need these to glue on where the shoe leather meets the soles.
Once you have a sufficient amount of pieces, start sort of mapping them out on the shoe. You don’t have to be precise, just make sure that really cool cut-out of Spiderman, say, will work on the toe or the heel or the side — wherever. If you find you need more pieces, keep cutting.
Glue on the pieces with Mod Podge. Place the cut-out pieces on the leather, starting at the edge of the sole, using pieces that have flat bottoms. Go around the whole thing. Now go around the tops of the shoes with pieces that have flat tops. When finished, start filling in with pieces.
Don’t be afraid to get messy. You can use your fingers to smooth pieces out or hold them in place. Don’t worry if some of the paper bends or folds. Just add more Mod Podge and all your problems will be solved.
Once you’ve slathered up the shoe and filled every spare inch with comics, lightly brush the whole shoe with a coat of Mod Podge. Then, wait an hour or so and do it again. It will make sure everything stays on just right and you’ll get a high-gloss sheen that looks professional.
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