Here are some photos from our fun time at Lumi in LA last week, ew customized some tees and shoes using different processes with Inkodye. Watch the DIY video to learn how to make your own! -amanda
The lovely folks at Lumi had us over to their space yesterday in LA for some DIY projects using their product Inkodye. It’s a sunlight sensitive dye that works to permanently print on fabrics like t-shirts & shoes. Check out what we came up with here & stay tuned for some photos of our finished products soon. We can’t wait to try Inkodye on more stuff, our closets are in serious danger! -amanda
Our friend Charlavail has been busy painting away on some Vans Classics for the winners of our Classic & Charlavail contest the last few weeks. This week she is also showing you how to make a pair of cute vintage inspired lace trim socks to wear with your Vans. Here’s the tutorial from her below, and be sure to enter the contest to win custom shoes, tees, patches, and stickers over on our Facebook Page. See more about the contest at vans.com/charlavail Good luck! -amanda
Supplies:
Scissors
Needle
Thread
Lace
Socks
The most important thing is to make sure the sock is stretched out at that top when you sew the lace to it. You can stitch it by hand or using a sewing machine. If you use a sewing machine just pull the sock elastic as you go.
Classic & Charlavail: Week 4
We’ve contacted another round of winners for our Classic & Charlavail contest this week and reset the entries, so be sure to check your emails! You can now enter again for custom shoes, tees, stickers, and patches all designed by Charlavail. Enter here from your computer, sorry no mobile devices.
Plus, we’ve got the final downloadable art section from Charlavail for you guys to finish your DIY 3D Hansel & Gretel piece. If you missed section one or section two grab those first then download today’s new section below and follow the instructions. In the photos above you can see how she made the pieces for you guys and her final version all put together. Can’t wait to see how all of yours come out!
Download section three here. Then, cut out the new pieces and glue them to your cardboard, trim off the excess and use scrap pieces to make it stand up, just like you did with the other pieces the last two weeks. Perfect weekend project, and don’t forget to enter the contest for this week! Good luck. -amanda
ps. thanks to sam desantis for the photos! check out her rad blog.
Classic & Charlavail: Week 3
Here’s part two of our video from when Charlavail came out to our office to get everything ready for the contest. Get to know her a little bit better and get a sneak peek at some of the art ideas for the prizes you can win in our Classic & Charlavail contest. We still have tons of tees, stickers, patches, and custom shoes all designed by Charlavail to give away so be sure to enter on our Facebook page. You have to enter from a computer, sorry no mobile devices. Be sure to enter each week, all entries are reset every Friday when new winners are drawn. If you were paying attention last week we gave you the beginning piece to a DIY art project that she created for you guys. This week we have piece #2, follow the instructions below!
What you’ll need:
-Everything you started with last week, you can get that here if you haven’t already.
-Another cereal box
or piece of cardboard.
-This week’s new piece, click here to open it & print it out.
Cut out the new piece and glue it to your cardboard, trim off the excess cardboard and create arms out of the leftover pieces to make it stand up, just like you did with the background last week. Come back next Friday for the next printable piece and set of instructions! Lastly, don’t forget to enter the contest! Good luck. -amanda
![Classic & Charlavail Week 2:
We have contacted the winners from week one of our super rad contest with Charlavail. Now the entries have been reset and you can enter again for this weeks drawing. 11 winners will get a tee, stickers, and patches designed by Charlavail, and 1 insanely lucky person will win all of that plus a pair of custom hand painted Classic Vans. Check out the video if you missed it to learn more and you can enter on our Facebook page from your computer, sorry no mobile devices.
So what’s new this week? A DIY art piece that she has designed just for you guys. You’ll get started now by following the instructions below [see the photos above for help] and come back on Friday for the next piece to add. In a few weeks you will have a complete 3D art piece designed by Charlavail and made by yourselves. We would suggest reading through the directions in full before starting.
What you’ll need: -cereal box
-glue
-scissors
-ruler
-pencil
-printed downloadable art piece, this week it comes in two sections that you will print and connect. Click here to download & print the two pieces.
1. Break down cereal box and lay it out flat.
2. Cut it down the middle, as shown in the photo. You want to leave flaps to the left of both big panels.
3. Cut the top & bottom flaps off except the top flaps on the right piece.
4. These pieces need to be trimmed to the height of the download art piece. The height may vary once it’s printed out, depending on your printer. My original piece measures 6“ tall so I measured 6“ across on the two larger panels.
5. Trim the pieces according to the measurements.
6. Rotate the pieces and place the left panel over the flaps that remained.
7. Again, the pieces need to be trimmed to fit the download art. My original piece measures 18“ wide so I measured 18“ across the two panels.
8. Trim the excess off the left panel.
9. Glue the panels together using the flaps that remained. Make sure the pieces are well aligned so you can still fold on the creases.
10. Cut two strips of scrap cardboard that measure 1.5” x 6”. Make measurements as shown. Press down when you draw these lines, it will make folding the cardboard easier.
11. Fold on the lines in the direction shown.
12. Glue the cardboard tab to the bottom edge of the backside of the bigger cardboard piece. Repeat with the second cardboard strip.
13. Lay the whole thing out flat and glue the artwork to the front of the cardboard. I recommend a glue stick or spray adhesive, this will help prevent it from rippling.
14. Once it’s dry, stand it up and glue the other .5” tab to the back. These pieces are meant to keep the whole piece standing, so adjust as necessary to get it to stand. Let it dry completely.
If you are confused just check out the photos. We’ll have the next downloadable piece & instructions for you on Friday. Can’t wait to see how these turn out! If you start yours take photos and tag them #classicandcharlavail so we can see! -amanda](http://25.media.tumblr.com/990584e4d4170dffd5784f44f15156be/tumblr_mgn28vvfBJ1qhntxeo1_500.jpg)
Classic & Charlavail Week 2:
We have contacted the winners from week one of our super rad contest with Charlavail. Now the entries have been reset and you can enter again for this weeks drawing. 11 winners will get a tee, stickers, and patches designed by Charlavail, and 1 insanely lucky person will win all of that plus a pair of custom hand painted Classic Vans. Check out the video if you missed it to learn more and you can enter on our Facebook page from your computer, sorry no mobile devices.
So what’s new this week? A DIY art piece that she has designed just for you guys. You’ll get started now by following the instructions below [see the photos above for help] and come back on Friday for the next piece to add. In a few weeks you will have a complete 3D art piece designed by Charlavail and made by yourselves. We would suggest reading through the directions in full before starting.
What you’ll need:
-cereal box
-glue
-scissors
-ruler
-pencil
-printed downloadable art piece, this week it comes in two sections that you will print and connect. Click here to download & print the two pieces.
1. Break down cereal box and lay it out flat.
2. Cut it down the middle, as shown in the photo. You want to leave flaps to the left of both big panels.
3. Cut the top & bottom flaps off except the top flaps on the right piece.
4. These pieces need to be trimmed to the height of the download art piece. The height may vary once it’s printed out, depending on your printer. My original piece measures 6“ tall so I measured 6“ across on the two larger panels.
5. Trim the pieces according to the measurements.
6. Rotate the pieces and place the left panel over the flaps that remained.
7. Again, the pieces need to be trimmed to fit the download art. My original piece measures 18“ wide so I measured 18“ across the two panels.
8. Trim the excess off the left panel.
9. Glue the panels together using the flaps that remained. Make sure the pieces are well aligned so you can still fold on the creases.
10. Cut two strips of scrap cardboard that measure 1.5” x 6”. Make measurements as shown. Press down when you draw these lines, it will make folding the cardboard easier.
11. Fold on the lines in the direction shown.
12. Glue the cardboard tab to the bottom edge of the backside of the bigger cardboard piece. Repeat with the second cardboard strip.
13. Lay the whole thing out flat and glue the artwork to the front of the cardboard. I recommend a glue stick or spray adhesive, this will help prevent it from rippling.
14. Once it’s dry, stand it up and glue the other .5” tab to the back. These pieces are meant to keep the whole piece standing, so adjust as necessary to get it to stand. Let it dry completely.
If you are confused just check out the photos. We’ll have the next downloadable piece & instructions for you on Friday. Can’t wait to see how these turn out! If you start yours take photos and tag them #classicandcharlavail so we can see! -amanda
FOLLOW MY VANS: HAWAII WITH LEILA HURST EP. 4
Follow My Vans Episode 4 is here from my time in Hawaii with Leila Hurst at the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. In this episode Leila and I are still in Kauai because of lay days for the contest. A lay day basically means that there aren’t good enough conditions to run, so they will wait until there are. In this case we had a few days off so we hopped a flight to her home island of Kauai from where we were staying on Oahu and did lots of fun stuff with her family. Her dad gave us a shooting lesson, we made some flower leis, and had some impromptu ukulele lessons. The final episode is coming this weekend, thanks for watching! -amanda
ps. grab the music from this episode “stampede” by sucre & “hawk fly tiger run” by wanderhouse.
We Vans Girls have had a pretty good year in 2012. I rounded up a few of my favorite moments and posts from the year for you all to check out. From musical performances to DIY tutorials here’s my top 10 in 2012:
Refinery 29 came and took a fun photo tour of our office and my stylish coworkers. Hey, I wasn’t there to make the style cut but at least my desk did haha.
You guys Followed My Vans all around the 2012 Vans Warped Tour this year, I had such a blast making these 10 behind the scenes episodes on the road with some of your favorite bands.
We were full of ways to customize your kicks this year… Alyson taught you how to dip dye your Vans in this rad tutorial. While Brittany showed us a new take on studs, spikes, and Slip-Ons.
Our friends from the band Bearcat stopped by our office to play us some acoustic tunes.
Elsie & Emma from one of our absolute favorite blogs, A Beautiful Mess, featured two super rad DIY tutorials on their own Vans shoes.
We met up with the band Sucre in downtown LA for some Q&A and a gorgeous take on their song ‘Light Up.’
Vans Surfer Leila Hurst taught me how to make surf board bags… or any kind of bag really, in this fun video.
Our friends in the band States sent us this sweet video to post for you guys of their song ‘As Good As It Gets (Inside)’ acoustic.
I had an absolute blast shooting Coachella this year with my good friend Brianna. We shot bands, style, and pretty much anything else you can think of. Happy New Year everyone and thanks for keeping up with us on the blog! -amanda
So obsessed with the awesome D.I.Y. that the ladies from A Beautiful Mess just made! If you have been following us for a while you know that we are huge fans of the blog and all the awesome crafty projects the girls do. Learn how to make both Elsie’s hand spotted kicks & Emma’s 90’s inspired collage Slip-Ons on their site. -amanda
Inspired by my all time favorite Disney character, Minnie Mouse, I gave my red Authentics a much needed makeover. They’ve been through a lot, so it was the least I could do. This Spring, it’s all about the polka dots. They’re cute, feminine, and fun to mix with other patterns… if you can’t tell, I’m rather obsessed.
Here’s what you need for this simple DIY: a pair of Authentics, white paint (you can use acrylic, gauche, or fabric paint), a paint brush, a pencil, water bottle cap, and 4 yards of lace ribbon.
- You were probably wondering why you would need a bottle cap since it’s a bit random, but it will actually come in handy as you trace circles on the shoe.
- Once you’re done tracing circles, use the paint to fill them in.
- Depending on the thickness of your paint, you may want to add a second coat.
- Let dry for a few hours.
- After they are completely dry, lace your ribbon through the eyelets.
- Tie them in a pretty bow, and you’re good to go.
Got a cute DIY idea with your Vans? Instagram your project with the hashtag #VansDIY -brittany
