How To Make Your Own Sparkle Shoes

by Kim Amedro in ,


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Can't find the right shine for your outfit? No shoes matching up for that one special night? Ring in the New Year with the perfect fit by handcrafting your own, color perfect shoe. This simple and cheap DIY will have you in your dancing shoes in mere hours. Note, we adapted this from Teen Vogue and Martha Stewart's ombre sneaker tutorial here.

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1. Prep your shoe. Clean it off, so you don't have dirt or pet hair painted onto your pretty, glittery kicks. Most importantly, get a form or stuff the front and heel of the shoe with paper! I learned the hard way, as you can tell by the picture, I had already started painting. If the shoes are old, the paint won't get distributed evenly as globs will gather in the folds. If you use the make shift forms (like the one pictured) the piping acts as a great handle for easy rotation and reduces mess!

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2. Shake your fabric paint and squeeze some onto your picked plate.

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3. Add a GENEROUS amount of glitter to the paint and mix. You should be able to see the glitter in the paint. *As you keep layering, increase the glitter amounts. The first coat's main mission is to create an even base.

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4. Start painting--you can choose from the front or back. If you are trying to do an "ombre effect" start from the heel with the lightest colored glitter.

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5. Keep the coat even and look for "gluey" looking surfaces. Fan those areas out with bristles of the brush--hold it so the base of the brush is straight on the shoe. As you add more layers it will begin to even out.  P.S. the paint dries fairly fast.

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6. Once you have started re-painting over areas, step away. Let those layers settle for 20 minutes. Paint another two coats and then step away for another 30 minutes.

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8. Touch up areas that need more glitter. Step away again to let it dry.

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9. Gloss those babies up with the "Gloss Finish" Modpoge. Try to keep it even. I'm guessing a "Fixative" spray would work as well.

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10. Dance the night away in your new shiny shoes!