How to glitterfy your wedding shoes for instant disco awesomeness

Guest post by MonkeyDo

glittershoe8

I'm getting weddinged in a field, so I needed wedges, and my dress is knee length, so I needed awesome wedges that will be on show. I love sparkly shoes and wanted some white sparkly wedges, taking my inspiration from the ones Katie Perry wore.

Sadly my budget does not stretch to Louboutin, and I couldn't find anything I liked anywhere in the world (and I really, really tried), so I decided to have a go at DIYing my own. They turned out way better than I was expecting and I love them very muchly! So, I thought I would share with you all, then hopefully sparkly shoes can take over the world.

What you will need:

  • One pair of shoes that look “meh” but you KNOW would look amazing once glitterfied.
  • If the shoes are not white (or colour required), cheap acrylic paint in required colour.
  • PVA glue (enough for several thin coats per shoe).
  • Glitter (I had two pots of 500g each and only used about 1/3 of each pot).
  • At least two paintbrushes. I had one for the acrylic paint, then one fat one for the glue/glitter and a thinner one for the edges and strap.

Step one:

glittershoe1Purchase your non-glittery wedding shoes. These are the original shoes that I got for £10 in a sale from New Look. They are grey suede and very comfortable.

Step two:

glittershoe2Painted them all over with a thin layer of acrylic white paint and let dry. My shoes took about 1 1/2 hours. (The nearby, half-asleep cat is optional).

Step three:

glittershoe4Using a fat paintbrush, add a section of glue glitter mix to the shoe.

Step four:

glittershoe5Then sprinkle the area with loose glitter. Make sure to use a lot, and if you sprinkle over the bowl it will catch the excess.

Step five:

glittershoe6Then press the loose glitter firmly into the wet glue.

Step six:

Repeat over whole shoe.

Step seven:

glittershoe7After the shoes are totally covered, check for patchiness, fill in any gaps, then leave them to dry overnight. They looked like this with the glue still wet.

Step eight:

Once the shoe is dry (I came back the next morning), cover the whole shoe with one more layer of glue, as thin as possible, and leave them to dry for a couple more hours.

The result:

glittershoe8

I used half and half iridescent to holographic glitter and they are pretty intense IRL. I think for £22 all in they are amazing value and I'm fairly proud of myself.

A little bit of glitter does come off when I handle them, but that happens with the sparkly shoes I've bought from real-life shops, so I think it just goes with the territory.

Happy glittering!

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