I love glitter shoes. As a little girl, I was always dressed as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, and loved my ruby red slippers more than anything. I’ve grown out of those beloved flats, but my obsession with sparkly footwear has hardly faded. Unfortunately, women’s footwear with glitter is typically very tacky or very out of a college student’s budget. With the holidays coming up, I have been trying to find a great pair of festive shoes that don’t break the bank yet look refined. I finally decided to take matters into my own hands and create my own!
Step 1: Gather Materials
For this project, I used a pair of booties (from Old Navy), fine glitter, Mod Podge, painter’s tape, a paintbrush, a paint tray, and a few pieces of paper to protect my desk.
Step 2: Tape Outline
As fun as totally glittered booties would be, I decided to just decorate the back panel of mine. I outlined the area with painters tape to ensure clean lines when applying the glitter.
Step 3: Mix Glitter
I combined equal parts glitter and Mod Podge, and was happy with the texture that resulted. Make sure to fully mix the two so that the glitter spreads evenly on to your boot.
Step 4: Paint
Paint a thin layer of your glitter glue on the entire surface you are decorating. If you can see the base color of the shoe after your first coat of glitter, shake some loose glitter on the “problem areas”. I ended up painting two full layers of glitter on my booties in order to hide the maroon color.
Tips
If you paint glitter glue over an area of the shoe that gets bent (typically where your toes bend as you walk), the glitter may flake off. Keep this in mind when designing your shoe.
If your boots are smooth or have a glossy finish, I would recommend rubbing them down with sandpaper or a nail file at the start of the project. This makes things easier for the glue to stick.
Be sure to paint with thin layers of Mod Podge. This ensures that your shoes do not become unnecessarily rigid.
How awesome do these look? I’m really excited to wear them this holiday season. I would love to see your creations, tag your Instagram pictures with #hcucf and follow @HerCampusUCF to share. Happy crafting!