We finally got some photos back so you can see all the shoes we made!
So I am a bridesmaid for my future sister in law this year. I shall call her "K" for the purpose of this post. We have brown dresses and she had the great idea that we should all wear different colour jewel tone shoes. I searched and found a pair of green sparkle shoes online but the heel was too high to be worn out in the field for the wedding. She and I are both quite crafty and she found an example of DIY sparkle shoes at
www.weddingbee.com. After further web research we decided to tackle the project!
We all went out to the lake for a week so we worked on the shoes out there and I have to say that our families were VERY skeptical on how this would turn out......so it begins.....
Supplies:
Shoes - I bought mine, K used ones she had. Both were black (faux) leather. I recommend at least the toe should be un-embellished. K's had a strap across the toe (see photos) and the end was a less polished look.
Glitter-I went to Michaels and there were sparkles in kids crafts, and lots in scrapbooking. I actually combined an emerald green and pale green to get the colour that I want. A little bottle did one full pair of shoes.
TIP- SEARCH the store! There was glitter in THREE diffrent areas and ranged in price.
Paper plates, newspaper, foam brushes, Fabric Glue, Mod Podge, Spray Acrylic Finish from the hardware store.
FYI: The Spray Acrylic is NOT in the photo below and K did remove the chain of course from hers
Steps:
1. Get your shoes and other supplies. Set up OUTSIDE as you will get glitter everywhere. Remember not to do this on a windy day. Spread newspaper below your area to catch excess sparkles and stuff your shoe with newspaper to protect the inside.
I had to add a picture of the blessed surroundings where we conducted this project
2. Decide if you will sparkle the heel or leave it the original look. We left all our heels black and I did not cover them but for the next pair I will likely tape off the entire heel for the duration. Sand down all parts that you will be glittering. My darling brother helped and I venture to say you cannot oversand.
3. Liberally apply fabric glue followed by sparkles one section at a time. We used our fingers for the glue as it was quite sticky. Then we used a shaker for the sparkles. Remember to have something under to capture excess sparkles
TIP: Don't try making the glue flat but just avoid huge bumps in it as you apply. When you are done this coat you can tap off some of the excess sparkles.
4. Grab a snack, wine, or take a nap while this dries! You can see in the photo below that there are still some dark spots. Not to worry...
5. Get back to work! Take your foam brush and dab on mod podge. If you brush it on the texture will demolish your brush. The mod podge takes longer than the fabric glue to dry so you can do bigger sections at a time. Sprinkle on more glitter.
Again knock off the excess then let dry. In this photo you can see the difference between the first and second coat. You can certainly do a third coat if you feel it is needed.
FINNISHING:
As this was my first try, I tried various ways of finishing to ensure I am not leaving sparkles behind but the shine stays. I did a "clear" varnish first but it made the shoe milky. It was pretty but not what I wanted. I tried mod podge but it didnt prevent the glitter from coming off too much. THEN I FOUND IT! I went to the hardward paint section and bought a
clear acrylic spray. I tried both gloss and satin and it didnt make a difference to the result. Ive done 3 coats so far and am not losing any sparkles!
SUCCESS!
So we are doing different colours for the other bridesmaids so I will update this at the end of September
I love them so much I wear them around the house sometimes. And I WILL be making more in other colours for myself.
Feel free to ask me any questions you have.
