DIY Glitter Shoes

The Design Diary
by The Design Diary
11 Materials
$35
5 Hours
Easy

I'm going to be showing you an easy but effective glitter DIY. I’ve gone for a gorgeous red color which reminds me of Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz. So close your eyes, tap your feet together, say “there’s no place like home” and let's begin!

Tools and materials:

  • Paper
  • Old heels
  • Mod Podge
  • Glitter of your choice
  • Acrylic paint in the color of your choice
  • Paint brushes
  • Plastic spatula
  • Masking tape
  • Tissue
  • Hairspray
  • Craft knife
Make glitter shoes

Mask the edges

Put down some paper on the area you're going to be working on because it is quite a messy DIY. Cover the edges of the shoes' soles that you're going to be using with masking tape, and this will protect it from the Mod Podge. You will also want to put masking tape just along the inside of the lining of the shoe.

How to make glitter shoes

Stuff shoes

Taking the tissue that you have, stuff the inside of the shoes, and tape it down. This will help to catch some of the glitter.

Glitter shoes for women

Apply Mod Podge and sprinkle on glitter

Taking one of your paintbrushes, apply a generous amount of Mod Podge to the shoe. Now for the fun part, you can start pouring the glitter onto the shoe, ensuring that you cover all of the Mod Podge. Before putting the Mod Podge on the heel, I recommend letting the shoe dry because this way, you can hold the shoe without moving any of the glitter. Once you’ve finished this, repeat all of the steps on the other shoe. Allow both shoes to dry before removing the tape.

Tip: Get a good glitter. The one I'm using is quite fine, and it creates a nice clean look which is a lot better than chunky glitter would do.

Women’s glitter shoes

Clean edges

Using a plastic spatula, pick off any of the glitter that might be stuck to the edges of the soles.

Red glitter shoes

Hairspray shoes

Spray hairspray onto the glittered shoes; this is to prevent any glitter from falling off of them.

DIY glitter shoes

Paint the soles

Once the shoes are completely dry, you can remove the tissue and masking tape from the inside. Have one last clean of any of the loose glitter. This part is optional, but I decided to paint the shoes' soles in a lovely deep red color. The painting does take quite a lot of time because you have to build up the coats to get the desired coverage that you want, but it's definitely worth the wait.

Easy glitter shoes

Apply Mod Podge and spray

Once the soles are completely dry, you can apply some of the Mod Podge if you want, and this will help create a nice shiny finish to the red soles. When the Mod Podge is dry, clean away any paint that might have spilled over onto the edges of the soles with a craft knife. To finish, I definitely recommend doing another dose of hairspray to make sure that the glitter will stay in place.

Glitter shoes tutorial


There we have our finished red glitter shoes (or whatever color you decided to do). They are gorgeous and sparkly and will make you feel like a million dollars. I find working with glitter very therapeutic and relaxing and really enjoyed this DIY - I hope that you did too!

Suggested materials:
  • Paper
  • Old heels
  • Mod Podge
See all materials

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Comments
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2 of 39 comments
  • Peggy Beckwith Peggy Beckwith on May 19, 2022

    How long do the painted soles last? How fast do they wear?


  • Ang51542646 Ang51542646 on Feb 28, 2024

    Fantastic idea, I want a specific shoe colour and cannot find it anywhere this would work really well.

    • Claire Laurain Claire Laurain on May 20, 2024

      Why not try mixing paint (yourself)?

      Or, bring the item ur matching to the paint department of a Home Depot or Lowe’s. They can use a computer (spectrometer) to digitally match your item to create a ‘tester’ size paint (abt $6-$8). When the paint is mixed, it should appear a shade lighter than your item, bc it’ll dry darker.

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