Ice Skates Christmas Decoration: dollar store makeover

For holiday and Winter decor, create this ice skates Christmas decoration. A sad-looking large ice skates ornament got a makeover just using paint. An easy DIY that makes ice skates look vintage!

I saw these oversized ice skate ornaments at the dollar store last year.

Yes, they are ugly, and it was probably the exact reason they were still left over after Christmas.

I knew I could give them a makeover just using paint.

The before-and-after is amazing and I hope this inspires you!

FTC Disclaimer: I receive products to try out in my role as a Plaid Crafts Ambassador. These ice skates, however, are 100% my own project!

Supplies:

Ice skates decoration from the dollar store
FolkArt Home Decor Chalk Paint in Rich Black — Plaid Crafts
FolkArt Multi-Surface Paint in Classic Green and Cardinal Red — Plaid Crafts
FolkArt Multi-Surface Paint in Coffee Latte — Plaid Crafts
FolkArt Brushed Metal Paint in Brushed Silver and Brushed Dark Gray — Plaid Crafts
Small paint brushes from Martha Stewart Crafts Basic Brush Set — Plaid Crafts
(These are my favorite brushes — they last forever and clean up great!)
Recycled plastic jar lids to hold paints
Wax paper
Lace or ribbon to hang skates
Optional: seasonal floral picks to stick inside

Ice Skates Christmas Decoration Tutorial

First I painted the ice skates black.

Using a chalk paint gives them a nice matte finish.

Next, I painted the bottoms green. I used regular craft paint for this step. The bottoms aren’t really seen as well as the other parts of the ice skates.

Finally, I painted the blades silver. I used a metallic silver paint for this step.

dollar store ice skates painted black with silver blades

And then I sat back and felt like I wanted to do a more with these skates.

I flipped through Pinterest for inspiration and then looked at some holiday magazines.

Then more thinking.

And more staring at the skates.

Turning the ice skates Christmas decoration into something vintage!

I love anything vintage, so why not make these ice skates look old and distressed?

It’s easy to do, again just with paint.

The look of red leather . . .

First, I painted a rough coat of dark red craft paint over the matte black painted ice skates.

By painting the red coat roughly, I feel like I created the look of worn leather.

Helpful tip: Put a small amount of paint on the tip of your paint brush. Lightly paint over the surface, leaving the base color showing through. Start lightly, and go slowly. Build up the color to a point that you love. That’s when you will know it’s done.

I like the look much better than the black.

The look of old blades . . .

The silver blades looked very new and didn’t match the vintage look of the faux red leather.

I began to play with two different paint colors using a tiny detail brush that had a nice point (from that Martha Stewart brush set I mentioned in the supplies list above).