Why pay big bucks for the same casual shoes you see in every park, schoolyard, gym, or dorm, when you can strut in custom kicks? And why toss out those tired old hightops, when they’ve still got good life left in them?

Give ‘em new life and express your creativity, with a custom design job!

If you can peel-and-stick, you can do Sneakart stickers. Or go for the full sheet patterns… there are about a kabillion designs to choose from, and you can mix and match to create the look of trendy (and expensive) hand-decorated sneakers.

Totally waterproof, these sneaker skins stand up to regular use for a couple of months — or you can peel them off and make a change, any time you like.

Is graphic design your gift?

You can even upload your own artwork to the Sneakart site, to make truly one-of-a-kind footwear stickers. But that’s not all — “Creative design deserves to be rewarded,” they say. So you can choose to keep your designs to yourself, or submit your art to the shop.

If it’s accepted for the design Gallery, each time someone buys your design to customize their shoes, Sneakart will credit your account with 10% of the sale price. You can cash out your royalties payments via Paypal or roll it over to get more Sneakart stuff for yourself.

Puma Sneaker Art Contest

And here’s a sneaker art contest that’s running right now, for another chance to make your artistic talents pay off — or at least to win a free pair of customized Baskets:

Sneakart is running a competition with in conjunction with PUMATALK to find the freshest new designs around. Design exactly what you want to see on a sneaker and then you can make it real with sneakskin. All good artwork will be accepted to the Sneakart library and will earn royalties on any sales made. The winner will be chosen by PUMATALK and sneakart and will receive a pair of baskets exclusively customized with sneakskin in their design.

Your custom sneaker design can be created with any software or hand drawn, as long as you use the templates provided. Check out the sneakart tutorial for more information.

dVider.com has snagged hot young NYC artist David Ort for the second round of its Guest Artist series of limited edition vinyl wall decals.

Peel, stick, decorate.

Stunning.

And so much easier than waltzing into the Plaza and rippping the orginal Ort murals off its walls, no?

Face it, there’s just no substitute for a five-foot tall giraffe to pull together a jungle theme bedroom!

I just came across a real treasure trove of nature-inspired giant wall stickers, totally beautiful and quite realistic…

Besides the jungle or safari theme — everything from palm trees to parrots, toucans, monkeys and apes, and other exotic creatures — Wall of the Wild also offers giant wall stickers of the world under the sea (coral and dolphins and sharks, oh my!). And what kid wouldn’t love a room straight out of Finding Nemo? Or you can choose colourful stickers with themes of the North American wilderness, birds and flowers, barnyard animals… even the ever-popular dinosaurs like our old pal Triceratops (the large size measures a whopping 35″ x 40″)!

Bonus #1: Get a free “Patriot Mouse” sticker when you place an order.

Bonus #2: Send in a picture of your Walls of the Wild animal art decoration, and if they put it on the Customers Walls page, you can choose any one of their products — free!