Glitter Heels // DIY

Hello!

It's Spring Break! I'm back home with my family and LOVING it. It has been three and a half months since I've been home. Ahh, a full sized bed, home cooked meals, no studying, actually having time to watch TV! This is the life. Maybe I'll stay here and mooch off of my parents forever? I'm not sure they'd go for that. Anyways, today we are doing this pinterest-inspired project to "glitterize" some old heels.

I didn't have any heels on hand that I was willing to sacrifice, so I went to the Salvation Army and got some for $2.50! This is what they looked like before:

Here's what you'll need:

-Glossy Mod Podge

-Fine Glitter (I recommend Martha Stewart glitter from Michael's)

-Paintbrush - the one I used was about an inch wide, but really any will do I think.

-Clear glaze spray (make sure it's waterproof!)

And that's it!

Now here's what you do:

1. Sand the shoes to rough them up a little. SAND SAND SAND. In my "review" of the project later, I'll mention why this is so important. If your shoes are suede-y then you won't need to do this.

2. Tape off the insides and soles of the shoe. This will help give you clean lines and you don't have to worry about painting "inside the lines." I used aluminum foil for the inside and taped it around the edges.

3. Pour some mod podge in a bowl or on a plate and pour in glitter. Lots of glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. If you think there is too much, add more. Mix.

4. Paint on a thin coat of the glitter/mod podge mixture and let dry.

5. Once dry, repeat painting on coats of the glitter/mod podge mixture until you can't see through to the shoe anymore.

6. Spray on a coat of the clear glaze spray.

Voila! You're done! Relatively easy.

I think it would also be cool and easy to do the bottoms of some heels but leave the rest as it was to give just a little pop of sparkle!

Now, my honest "review" of the project:

I'm not sure whether to give it a thumbs up or a thumbs down. Yes, they turned out great, but I'm not sold on how well they will hold up. Maybe it was because my shoes were smooth to begin with and the mod podge doesn't hold as well on that kind of surface, but the first time I painted it on then started walking around in my new shoes, I could see very small cracks where the shoe bends (about where your toes bend). I was then able to peel almost all of the glitter off of the shoes starting at those cracks. Maybe I shouldn't have tried, but oh well. I resanded the shoes then repainted. If I'm doing something, I'd like to do it right. They seem to be holding up a little better this time. I haven't worn them out yet, though. Whenever I have a problem pop up with one of my projects, I resort to this miracle stuff called Liquid Glass from Close to My Heart (can be found here). It may be possible to get another similar product at Michael's but I haven't looked. I squirted a bit on the cracks then smoothed it over the top with my finger. It seems to have helped quite a bit. I can't be sure of how well they will hold up until I have the chance to wear them more. 

So, my recommendations to help you prevent what happened to me:

-Paint thin, thin coats.
-Sand a lot or just get suede-y shoes

-Liquid glass cures EVERYTHING.

As I mentioned, I got the idea from pinterest. Another tutorial (with more in-the-process pictures!) can be found here or here.

And, Snickers helped me take pictures: