DIY Glitter Heels: Add Some Sparkle to Your Step

You know we’re all about sparkles, glitter, shine and pumps. Today, we’re going to combine all of those things to spruce a pair of old heels just dying for a makeover. Great for a New Year’s Eve party, we love the idea of sporting some freshly glittered heels on a spontaneous Tuesday or Wednesday night out on the town.

Materials:

– Mod Podge Gloss or Elmer’s clear glue

– gold glitter

– foam brush

– painter’s tape

– a pair of old pumps

Gather all of your supplies and lay out newspaper or choose a surface that is easy to clean. We taped around the underside of the heel for one half of the shoe, but found that it wasn’t totally necessary. If you’re prone to messes, definitely use tape. If you’re good at being precise, skip it.

For our first method, we used Mod Podge. Mix a little bit of Mod Podge with glitter. Paint the glitter glue onto your shoe, and then sprinkle more glitter on. Use your fingers to press glitter into place and make sure it’s firmly attaching to the glue.

For our second method, we used Elmer’s Clear Glue. Simply squeeze some glue onto the sole of your shoe, pour glitter on and let dry. After letting both shoes completely dry, the results were almost identical. I’d stick with Mod Podge as it tends to generally result in a more permanent hold.

We also tried (and failed) a pair using fabric glue and super fine craft glitter. There are three things that made this pair not work: Because the sole of the pink shoe is beige, the glitter looks out of place. You could potentially paint the whole sole of your shoe, but it seems like these shoes are better left alone. The second thing is that fabric glue is good for an initial bond, but doesn’t keep glitter glued to glitter. Only keeps the glitter glued to the fabric sole. And the third problem was that the super fine glitter just didn’t stay on. It sprinkles off, and while we love the idea of leaving a trail of glitter dust behind us, they just don’t work for this DIY.

The last thing to do is to seal the glitter to your shoe. We used Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch Spray Primer, but you could also use car sealant, or clear Shellac.

And here we have our final pair of shoes, ready for any red (or hot pink!) carpet, cocktail party, or even a rowdy dive bar on a Saturday night.