Custom Cat Eye Tutorial

Most craft store cat eyes come in two colors: gold and green

Well, these "gold" eyes are more of an artificially flavored mac'n'cheese orange.

Solution: recolor them. Note: This only works on eyes with painted backs, not colored resin.

Step 1:
Gather materials:

• Cat safety eyes
• Assorted colors of permanent markers
• Metallic permanent marker
• Yarn needle
• File or sandpaper
• Paper towel

Step 2:
To remove the original paint, either file away the back of the eye or scrape the paint off with a needle with strokes radiating from the center. The eye on the left has had most of the paint scratched off with a needle. The eye on the right has been filed down. After filing, the eye can be scraped with a needle to add texture.

Step 3: 
Color the back of the eye with a permanent marker. I usually start with a light color. Let dry.


 

Step 4:
Lightly apply a second coat of a different color. Push the post of the eye through the paper towel and spin the eye against the surface of the towel. This rubs some of the wet ink off the ridges. Let dry.

Step 5:
If the background is a light color, stopping at step 4 is okay. However, the translucent marker ink is hard to see against dark colors. Apply one last coat of ink with a metallic permanent marker. Let dry

Done!