The latest Iron Craft (number 4, though I missed the last one because I was too tired or lazy to get off my butt) was to make something inspired by an object in a catalog. I had just done a whole sale cleanout of the random junk mail, including catalogs, that I received and funnily enough didn't get any additional catalogs until after the challenge was over. So, I went to that hotbed of awesome (for ideas) and scary (for price) area that is Anthropologie and found these:
Oh, I don't know if you have $125 to spend on glittery loafers. I mean, without a word, they are certainly awesome and it isn't not like I haven't spent money on glittery shoes before. My glitter platforms get used at conventions and other times when I want to be both super tall and kind of ridiculous in a fun way. I love them.
I didn't want a multicolor though like this, and I had a bit of glitter that I wanted to use though I knew I didn't have enough for shoe coverage.
Saturday I went on a trip to buy supplies and a pair of crappy shoes. I just didn't have any shoes at home I could sacrifice to this noble effort.
I tried on a pair of shoes at Payless. Now, I have admittedly stopped going to Payless in the past year or two. For a while it was where I went for emergency shoes when I realized that I didn't have anything appropriate to wear to a wedding, but as at least one pair of those shoes were left in the parking lot that very same evening as being too uncomfortable to save I have been avoiding them ever since. I didn't care about shoe color, because I was intending to cover the entire thing. I cared about comfort and heel. While I love my heels, I don't wear them very often. I was hoping to have a flat or a platform. Sadly platforms aren't very popular now.
At Blick (conveniently I found everything right in Central Square), I got a nice paint brush, some glow in the dark paint, modge podge, red glitter and an acrylic sealer. The salesperson I spoke to was very helpful at differentiating between the different products on the shelf and pointing me to things that would be appropriate for a craft project (aka, not the most expensive items).
On the way home I snagged a copy of the Boston Phoenix. I knew I was going to need some kind of newspaper to help keep my place clean, and what would be better than porn reviews and personal ads. And well, now I know where to send my friends if they are looking for gay MMA porn sites. Educational!
1. Finished Glitter Shoes, 2. All the Glitter, 3. Scuffed, 4. Glitter Shoes materials, 5. More Glow in the Dark, 6. Scuffed and Taped, 7. Mixed Glitter, 8. Scuffed and taped, 9. Painted on Glitter
Making glitter shoes is pretty easy. I followed this tutorial after seeing a pair of glitter shoes on Super Eggplant. The steps are simple.
1. Lay down paper before you make the mess and gather your materials. Hey, I need this step every time!
2. Using coarse sand paper or the coarse side of a nail filing block, scuff up the shoes. Now, my shoes were not leather like in the original tutorial, so I erred on the side of caution in how much scuffing to do. There were spots where I completely wore through the coating that gave it color. I would aim, especially with non-leather shoes, to just remove the initial shine on your shoes.
3. Measure out your glitter and Modge Podge. I used about 1 tablespoon of red glitter and a slightly smaller amount of glow in the dark glitter. It doesn't matter which Modge Podge you use. I used about 1/4 cup of modge podge to just under 2 tablespoons of glitter. You are going to have multiple layers, so you don't need a high glitter to modge ratio.
4. Tape your shoes. If you are really careful you might be able to skip this step, but I used painters tape to mostly prevent me from painting the insides of the shoes and the little heel in the back. I ignored it for the tiny bit of outer sole that showed. You can also use tape to create shapes if you only want to glitter a section.
5. Paint. I did about 3 layers, maybe even 4. I did the first two pretty quickly, but the subsequent layers needed more time for drying.
6. Additional decoration. Once I finished my last layer of glitter paint, I decided I wanted to add a little design in glow in the dark paint. It's pretty subtle and not super great looking (though not bad either). This could be a time to use a little stencil to make glow in the dark stars or free form drawings on your shoes.
7. Once it was completely dry I added acryllic sealer to my shoes. I did an initial coat and then about 20 minutes later a second coat. I let the shoes dry overnight.
8. In the morning, remove the painters tape and carefully use an exacto knife to clean up any wonky edges.
There you go! Glitter shoes! I think I might take my Vibrams and give them glitter toe nails, because it would be hilarious.
