Glitter Shoes... Let me repeat: GLITTER SHOES!

I had a pair of high heels that I always really liked--comfortable, cute shape, nice height--but were a little torn up.  Specifically, the insides were fine, but the heel parts had been damaged by my clumsiness.  They were badly gauged and scratched, and since they were made of a synthetic material there was not really any good way of repairing them.  They looked terrible, but I still loved them.  

I looked online for ideas and found a lot of neat images and instructions for adding glitter to shoes.  Glitter makes everything awesome, so I decided to try this myself.  Best case, I'd be able to wear my cute shoes again.  Worst case, my unusable shoes would still be unusable.     

I first took the top layer of the heels off the shoes, so that the surface would be even.  Then I very, very carefully taped up the shoes so that the heel guards and actual shoes wouldn't get any glitter on them.  

Since my chosen method involved modpodge (because I already had some, from when I made the tile coasters), I mixed up some fine glitter in some modpodge.  Basically, I added glitter, stirred it up, then added some more glitter and stirred it up.  Then I painted a thin layer onto the heels of the shoes.  Just like always happens with modpodge, it went on white, but the modpodge dried clear...leaving the glitter shiny and the surface pretty smooth.  

I added 3 full layers of the glitter mixture, letting the layer beneath dry before painting over it.  This was enough to completely cover the black of the shoe underneath.  

Once the layers were all dry, I carefully took off the tape.  The heels themselves looked really good.  However, because the original shoes were black with pink accent stitching, the silver heels looked a little weird overall. I probably should have picked either a pink or a black glitter.  Oh, well.   

With the shoes looking strange, I decided to just go big and glitter the shoes completely. (Isn't cool how I just used "glitter" there as a new kind of verb...you know "I glittered the shoes," rather than "the stars glittered in the sky.")  I didn't add any more tape back on and just tried to do an even and neat job with painting on the modpodge/glitter mixture.  I did three coats to match the heels and made sure to get in and around the little decorative embellishment of the front of the shoes.  I also used a toothpick to clear the holes that originally were riveted holes on the shoes.  

After all the layers were applied and finished drying, I added two coats of a glossy indoor/outdoor sealer on it.  This is to make the shoes more waterproof (because modpodge isn't waterproof) and to make the final texture of the shoes really smooth.  

Here are some photos of the final product.  My shoes are certainly wearable again, which is great!  They are also really glittery, without being rough or risking any glitter flaking off on clothes or making a path of glitter when I walk.  And sample wearings around the house seem to show that the coatings are flexible enough to bend and work with the shoes as I wear them walking around.  

I think this is a great technique and I may have to try this again to make some Wizard of Oz-style ruby slippers at some point.  I also think it would be cool to do some shoes that are modpodged with stuff from comics, books, or magazines.