Don't you hate it when your kid's shoes still have tons of wear left in them, but the toes are torn out? It drives me crazy! I'm so grateful I found out how to repair shoes and give them new life with glitter and Mod Podge. You want to learn how, too, right? You won't believe the difference.
School uniforms are awesome. I love the stress-free shopping and the easy outfit-picking in the mornings. Finding uniform shoes for narrow feet is not so awesome! Last year's shoes still fit, but the toes are torn. When I saw this post on how to repair shoes, I knew I had to try it.
Why do I never read the actual posts before I try things? If I had read the post instead of just remembering the pictures and trying to duplicate it myself, I could've saved a step. Oh, well. Here's how I did it.
Using a brown sharpie, color all of the scuffed or torn parts on the shoe. (That step in itself makes a huge difference!)
Cut pieces of dark fabric to cover the tear. Cover torn area with Mod Podge. Tuck fabric around the hole and under the sole of the shoe, and cover with Mod Podge. To make the fabric fit, you may need to cut some darts. (This is the step that it might be okay to skip. A Couple of Craft Addicts just painted Mod Podge directly over the tear and painted on top. It probably depends on how badly the shoes are torn.)
Tape off the heel and toe of each shoe. You don't need to do the heels. I just thought it might make the shoes look more like the glitter was supposed to be there. (After I painted, I retaped a new shape on the toe. I liked the rounded edges better.) Cover all exposed areas that you don't want painted.
Coat the exposed areas with coordinating glitter spray (I used Krylon Glitter Blast in Bronze Blaze). Remove the tape quickly so that it doesn't damage the shoes.
Since I thought the glitter stood out a little too much against the color of the shoe, I added a coat of Glossy Wood Tone (left over from this project where I transformed drawer handles from brass to oil-rubbed bronze). The color toned down the glitter so that it didn't stand out as much. (After all . . . these are for a school uniform.) An added bonus is that it also sealed the glitter so that it won't be coming off on everything.
Overall, this was a pretty simple transformation with little cost. (I always buy my art supplies with a coupon! I never pay full price.) The only problem? I can't decide if I like the final result. I sent Lu to school in these today, but I wonder if she will come home with a note that says, "No glitter shoes, please." If she does, she can always wear them for dress up.
What do you think? Do you think the glitter makes these particular shoes look silly? (I think it's adorable on the Dorothy shoes at A Couple of Craft Addicts.)
Update
When Lu got home from school today, we had the following conversation:
Did everybody love your shoes?
Yep.
Did anyone say you can't wear them?
Nope.
What did your friends think?
{Smiling proudly} They liked them so much that I decided to share the glitter with them. I let them pick some off to take home.
What?????
Here's what they looked like when she got home:
Good thing I knew just how to fix them! This time I added an extra layer of Mod Podge on top to discourage tiny fingers. Lu has promised that she won't share the glitter again!
Thanks for visiting. You might like these ideas, too. Images below are linked to posts. Click on the image to visit the post.
If you enjoy this idea, please "like," "Pin," or "+1" so that others can join the fun! Thanks!
Ewa
great tip!
I would like to let you know about a new Craft Party,
I would love to see your creations linked up with Crafty Tuesday
Every week I will choose few tutorials and they will be featured on my blog and my facebook, twitter and pinterest page
I hope to see you link up
http://blueberrycraftandhobbytime.blogspot.ie/
Mel
Sharing the glitter, that's hilariously adorable! The shoes look beautiful, what little girl wouldn't live these ( or big one)
Jessi @ Practically Functional
Those are so cute, and I laughed out loud at her "sharing" the glitter :-) I have a couple of pairs of shoes with holes right under the front of the toe, so maybe I'll try this out! Thanks for sharing at The Fun In Functional!
Janet @ I HEART My Glue Gun
Wow, super cute!!! Awesome! :)
http://www.iheartmygluegun.com
Elizabeth @ Lizzi's Creations
How cute! So many of my daughter's shoes get scuffed up at the toe. This is such a creative and cute way to fix them! Thanks for sharing!
Rosey
Oh no, she picked it all off! This is such a cute idea, and I bet the girls love it!
Caren
What a great idea for extending the life of your daughter's shoes. She is so sweet to have shared her glitter.
I would love it if you would share this at the Smart Solutions linky party. You can link up here:
http://theprudentpantryblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/prudent-projects-smart-solutions-week-10.html
Have a great day!
Sharon @ Elizabeth & Co.
Awesome idea! And that was sweet of your daughter to share her glitter!
Jennifer Ressmann
That's fantastic! I'm an adult, but I have to see which of my shoes could use some glitter! (or which ones don't - really?!) Thanks!
K @ Claiming Our Space
I need to find a pair of shoes I can redo like this. Thanks for sharing on Tout It Tuesday! Hope to see you tomorrow. And I love how she had to share the glitter with her friends.
Barbara
So clever! The funniest thing ever is that she let them pick off glitter at recess, she gets points for being generous!
Thanks for linking up at Keep Calm and Link Up!
Barbara at Chase the Star
Jamie @ Love Bakes Good Cakes
Sharing the glitter ;) What a great thing! LOL Thank you for sharing it last week at All my Bloggy Friends - I can't wait to see what you link up at this week's All my Bloggy Friends!
Debbie Thompson
This post made me laugh out loud! That's adorable, and I wish I had seen this post when my kiddos were still little and wearing their school uniforms. Yup, you never know when the powers-that-be at school will put the kibosh on your well meaning plans. They look(ed) great and I'm glad she was able to wear them!
Nichi - The Mandatory Mooch
I love this repair tutorial. It will make my girls shoes last so much longer!! Thanks so much for linking up to Tasty Thursdays on The Mandatory Mooch!! I hope you will link up again. The party will be live tonight. http://www.mandatorymooch.blogspot.com
Thanks, Nichi
Debi @ Adorned From Above
I think they are really cute, and her sharing the glitter is great. Thank you so much for sharing with Wednesdays Adorned From Above Link Party last week. This weeks Link Party is opened at
http://www.adornedfromabove.com/2012/09/reeses-smore-brownies-and-wednesdays.html
from Wednesday until Sunday.
Hope to see you there.
Debi Bolocofsky
Adorned From Above
http://www.adornedfromabove.com
Carrie
What a great idea!! Thank you for sharing on Sharing Saturday!!
K @ Claiming Our Space
I think I need to do this to my shoes since everyone needs a little sparkle in their life. Thanks so much for sharing on Tout It Tuesday. Hope to see you tomorrow.
Randomly Fascinated
Great idea! I love that she shared her glitter. Have they been reading about the rainbow fish at school?
Thanks for linking up to Friday Fascinations! You have been featured, come over and get a button! http://domesticrandomness.blogspot.com/2012/09/friday-fascinations-4-and-5-feature.html
Evelyn
I just shared this awesome idea on my Facebook page and tweeted it:)
http://www.facebook.com/MyTurnForUs
Thanks for sharing at Freedom Fridays!!
Diana Rambles
BRILLIANT! Pinned!!!!!!!!!!!!
kiran
its great idea. i hope my shoes gives the same look as yours when i glittered them
Kyleen
I had a good laugh after reading about your conversation with your daughter when she got home. My daughter did that with her rhinestone panda bear shirt at school last week. She shared with her friends. thank you for posting this fix. Now I know what to do with her scuffed up boots!
Heidi
Thanks for your comment, Kyleen. Sorry I missed replying earlier. I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter's rhinestone panda bear shirt! It's a good thing we can laugh about the things our kids do, or we'd have to do a lot of crying! Have a great day!
Rubina Johnson
Thank you for this great idea!!!!!! Loved the glitter "thieves" story, that made my day.
Heidi
You're welcome, Rubina. Sorry I missed this comment earlier! Have a great week!
Dressu.org
This is brilliant and very timely, too! My son's rubber shoes are a bit ruffled on the edges and I' try to do something similar, minus the glitters of course.
Heidi
Good luck with fixing the rubber shoes! Thanks for your comment.
pedisbox
wow brilliant idea to recover the shoes and sandals.The way you make this ordinary shoes so colored & beautiful i really like it.Now we can also design our shoes and sandals accordingly.Thanks for your great idea.
Heidi George
Hello, I was looking for a way to fix my daughter's scraped boot toes and came across this - thank you! And what Lu did with her friends... priceless.
Heidi
Thanks, Heidi. Good luck with your daughter's scraped boots. I can laugh about what Lu did with her shoes now. At the time, it wasn't so funny! Have a great day!