So a few weeks ago, the kids and I actually found some time to do a fun craft. We made personalized umbrellas, and I shared our experience over at Kids Crafts Fun and Games.

I will be the first to admit that I actually had a good time doing that with them. It wasn’t extremely messy, we ended up with something functional that they’ll be able to use for a while (or until it gets broken when it’s being used as a boat or something), and the kids were super proud of their creations. And that made my heart happy.

So I’ve been looking for something else to do with them that sort of fits the same bill. And yesterday, I found it: handpainted sneakers. I’m not sure why I didn’t think to do something like this on my own, as I was a huge decorate-your-own-clothes-with-puffy-paint kinda girl in middle school. Oh yes, that girl walking around with neon-colored handprints on her ass. Yup, that was me. (Hey, don’t judge, it was the early 90s.)

Anyhoo, I came across the idea from Jen at Jen Loves Kev and decided to add it to my I’m-actually-going-to-have-to-find-time-to-do-that list. (Wow, two longly–yes, that’s a word–hyphenated modifiers already. I promise I’m done.)

I mean, c’mon, look at these cute little things . . .

What you’ll need:

• White canvas sneakers
• Craft paint
• Paint brushes
• Containers to hold the paint
• Smock
• Water (optional if you want to thin out the paint some)
• Permanent marker (optional)

Then, let your kid unleash his or her inner arteest and go to town! (To see Jen’s full post, complete with instructions, and some more adorable photos, click here.)

Looks fun, no? I bet it’d also be fun to add other embellishments like, say, puffy paint!! The one problem I can see encountering with this is the necessary drying time. I have a feeling my kids won’t want to wait to wear their pedi-art. Looking forward to giving this one a go, though.

As always, if you try it, let us know how it turns out. And send some pics!

I’m no cooking or crafting guru, so I started these Too Tired to Try Tuesday posts to share craft and recipe ideas that I’ve come across and would really like to try but am just too damned tired (that sounds better than lazy, right?) to get around to. In addition to ideas that I find, I am open to submissions from you–either something tried and true or something you want to try but haven’t had the time to. Just send me an email at raisingwildthingsblog@gmail.com with your ideas, and I may share them here. (And by “may” I mean “will definitely”! I just confessed how lazy tired I am, so if you take the time to send me something to share, I’m going to share it!)