Glitter is not food. Well… Unless it’s in sprinkle form. Sprinkles are totally food.
Gold glitter belongs on shoes. Golds sprinkles, on cupcakes.
Today I’d like to explore the value of glitter.
It’s shoes! Let’s make our own fancy, totally cheap, totally cute summer shoes.
Theres gold, and sparkle. There’s heart shapes… And we didn’t even have to spend too much money at Steve Madden to make it happen.
Glitter makes most days better.
Especially when it gets in your hair. You’re an accidental pretty pretty princess.
Start with coarse glitter. Two colors if you want to get/stay sassy.
Mod Podge is the magic ingredient here. It’s basically a pourable, brushable glue.
I always pronounce it modge podge. That’s my weirdness.
I chose a matte Mod, but glossy is lovely too. The glitter will shine through either way.
Grab your sneaks!
These are plain white canvas tennis shoes. Super simple.
These should be cheap. Let them be cheap.
Remove the laces before you get down with the glitter.
Go digging for your duct tape. Mine happens to be green… I don’t know why.
We need duct tape to tape off the rubber side soles of the shoe. Don’t skip this step. We need a safe tape buffer while we’re glitter painting.
Next we’ll need a little mixing pot for glitter and glue, and two paint brushes.
We can use cheapy brushes. We’re just putting glitter and glue on them.
Let’s talk in baking terms.
I mixed about 3/4 cup Mod Podge with 1/2 cup gold glitter. The mixture should be thick, but still glue-y enough to adhere to the shoe easily. It’s a delicate balance that I trust you can find on you’re on through trial and error.
Coat shoes in one thin layer of gold Mod Podge mixture. Allow shoes to dry for about 20 minutes before coating in a second later.
Real talk: the first layer I went light on. The second layer I really packed it on. And the third layer was nothing but a few touch-ups.
Allow shoes to dry completely before removing tape and lacing. These shoes are also super cute without lace strings.
Look at that!
With just glitter and glue, you made the cutest shoes of all!
Happy summer living. ย Let’s make it epic and full of glitter. These days are precious indeed!
Inspired by HonestlyWTF.big ya don’t know… now ya know.
113 Responses
Great tutorial and nobody is “too old” for anything sparkly that’s for sure! I think I will use this for my old trainers to make it look brand new.
I have a question for you. I am not a crafty person, so I don’t know anything. We are going to be doing this for a girls camp. We will be doing around 30 pairs of shoes. How much of that mixture did you use on your one pair? Was it the whole thing? Thanks, I appreciate it!
i definitely didn’t use the whole jar of mod podge. i maybe used 1/4 to 1/3 of the jar.
I AM SO IN LOVE. Gah. More glitter, less problems.
I love these tips for making a new shoe.
Ahahaha I’m glad I’m not the only one out there that totally thought it was ‘modge podge’. There seems to be a whole army of us.
Anyways, gorgeous shoes. Needs to be trying this.
Love glitter! I never used to like glittery things but now it just seems to be my thing. Cute idea.
joy – these are gorgeous! my only concern is: don’t they shed glitter all over your house?
Umm. I’ve been using this stuff for more than 20 years and…I’ve always thought that it actually was called Modge Podge. Huh. Mod Podge. Guess I should read labels from time to time! Lol.
I’m a bridesmaid in a wedding in June and the bride is wearing converse sneakers for the ceremony and reception. I’m totally going to make these with black glitter to wear at the reception. They’ll be perfect for dancing! I’m going make laces out of ribbon matching the wedding colors. I’ll match the bride and be comfortable.
If you have time when you come to Austin, there is a vegan ice cream shop called Sweet Ritual and they have a sundae called the Glitterbeast. yeah…
Hi lady
Love these – and I always say Modge Podge -funny
So when you wear them do the crease in the toe area? Wondering how the glue/glitter holds up??
Nic
Just bought my little sister a sparkly pair just like these…wish I had thought to make some! What a great idea. Thanks for the inspiration. You’re going to have us all out there sporting flashy, sparkly shoes very soon :-)
my daughter is headed to college in a few months. she and I spent last evening sitting on our porch and making each of us a pair of glittery shoes! we had so much fun giggling and painting glitter together. thank you so much for this idea. mother-daughter bonding at it’s best!
I made these with my best friend on Saturday night! They turned out great :) thanks for the idea!
you are so crafty! i will be crafty too…
oh-so-cute! a throwback to the 70’s with disco glitter and gold…Donna Summer (RIP) would’ve approved!
Made a pair of Summer City Shoes for my kiddo yesterday. Glitterific tide pool blue: https://bit.ly/JerrfU
Thank you for the inspiration! They were so easy and so fun to make!
love this!! what an awesome idea and great project for my nieces!! thx
So as an FSU alum… I live & die by garnet & gold. I’ve got about 10 pairs of gold sparkly shoes.
I have a pair of old black heels that are dying for this treatment…..
lol! I didn’t even realize that I also call it “modge podge” until you wrote that. I actually had to scroll back up to the picture and look at the bottle again to make sure it didn’t say that. Too funny! And I love your shoes :) Makes me tempted to go buy a pair of those canvas shoes to do that with!
Soo cute!!!
P.S. I just found your blog and I adore it!!!
Your blog is so inspiring!!! :)
Keep up the awesome work!!
These are perfect for a summer vacation craft project with my nieces. I think, though, that for the sake of my floors, we’ll make them outside in the yard!
oh my gosh, this looks awesome! Love your diy, wish I have such a talent when it comes to diy’s too! :)
Mod Podge sounds so silly I’m glad I thought it was actually Modge Podge for the longest time! I wish I could go back to those days before I knew the truth – ignorance was bliss, haha!
ha, i’ve always called it “modge podge” too…i never realized until this moment it was mod podge. thanks for the life lesson and very cute sneaks!!
Let’s all agree it’s “modge podge” and maybe the Mod Podge company will official change the label!
I totally call it “modge podge” too, and I never realized I was wrong until this post! Adorable shoes!
That’s so funny. I’ve seen that stuff on a million blogs and totally thought it was called Modge Podge. I would have never known had you not mentioned it. The shoes are cute!!
Joy, you just got more freaking awesome. How is that possible?
These are adorable! I love the glitter heart. I honestly thought until I looked at your picture that it was “mode podge”. Whoops!
I’m not gonna lie.. I didn’t even know “modge podge” was incorrect until I read this! You’d think I could read a label…
These are adorable. I’m on it, ASAP.
i love everything glitter!!! question: how long will the glitter stay on the shoes before it starts chipping? Can I wear these shoes dancing or do I need to be careful with these babies?
Love this idea! I think I might need me some DIY sparkly sneakers!
Ah-Mah-Zing! Will have to give this a go-go!
Adorable! I want to make them in different colors – cobalt blue would be beautiful!
It isn’t Modge Podge? What?
I LOVE THESE SHOES.
I absolutely need to make myself a pair.
Every time I see little girls in glittery shoes I get jealous. :)
Sparkles make everything better when you have no bacon.
Cindy Bohli-Nelson – It was Hodge Podge Lodge and it was the best show ever!! LOL!
I just did this with my daughter’s Naturino glitter shoes. Except I used spray glue and the paillette glitter (that’s the large size glitter pieces). They’ve been falling off a bit. I wonder if I could Mod-Podge them on … Hmmm … I’ll have to give it a try.
I didn’t even realize I said it wrong when I say modge podge! I have it and I use it…guess I never paid attention. Thanks for the cute shoe idea, and for making me feel like an idiot…:)
Haha, I’ve always said modge podge. These actually look really cute. I’m not generally much of a glitzy shoe person, but I seriously think I’m going to be giving these a try sometime.
Nice! I love DIY and your idea is really great. Perfect for the summer!
very cute!
So pretty! Thank you for sharing.
Kindness is the best accessory,
Rebecca
Wait…you mean it’s NOT “modge podge”? LOL!! I may be dating myself, but I just realized that in the 70’s there was a show on PBS called “Modge Podge Lodge”. It came on right after ZOOM. :)
I’ll have to keep this in mind the next time I see some inexpensive canvas shoes. What fun!!
My grandmother always tells my kids that she wants sparkly shoes like they always wear … I can only imagine her reaction if they were to give her a pair of sparkly sneakers for her very own! The perfect 75th birthday present, don’t you think?
Ooohhh…so cute! Something that my daughters would love, too! Thanks for the fun summer craft :)
I’ve been wanting shoes like this! I tried on a $20 pair at DSW and fell in love. And I’m not even a sparkly kinda gal!
My daughter just may pee her pants when I show her our weekend craft! Now if I could only find some star wars confetti to use and make my son a pair!
I never realized it wasn’t “modge podge” until now. I wonder how many other things like that I have been mispronouncing/not reading correctly all my life. oh gosh…. this could be bad. But “Mod” podge sounds weird to me.
I saw some great black sparkly shoes on TOMS vegan shoes website but thought, no, you’re too old for all that sparkly business (I secretly wanted them). Then I saw the same shoes on a ten year old and thought, Wow those are so cool (I told her so). And now this… I’m thinking I’m going to have to get those shoes.
Ouuu, very pretty! I love glitter, and white sneakers, so together they’re perfection.
What a cute idea! I’m pretty sure I might be too old to wear them, but I’ll bet my granddaughter would think they were the cat’s meow!
…I really, truly thought that it was called “modge podge”
Aw! this is such a cute idea.
Off topic but I love this font too!
kudos on how your blog is stylized, very cute.
Very cute! I love the addition of the pink heart. :)
This is so cute! And so fun and perfect for summer. :)
Such a good idea! I want to make some in a toddler size :)
Ah, the beauty of glitter. Go insane, go insane! Throw some glitter, make it rain! Or just make glitter shoes.
I also thought it was modge podge. Who knew! Super cute. I think I may try to make some for my daughter or son. You know rock out with the glitter.
I never knew… until today… that it’s NOT “Modge Podge!” Thank you for the sparkle you add to my day :)
I thought it WAS modge podge. ha!
And these are super-cute. I’d like to trail glitter through my whole life.
mod podge and glitter forever! I was totally glittering other things this week too.
PS, I totally always call it Modge Podge too.
I have been thinking of doing this to a pair of my shoes….they look fabulous!! I especially love the heart!
I’m thinking Zebra ones?!! Or silver ones : )
Super cool!! And I love that you put it into baking terms.
It’s definitely not a post I expected so see on Joy the Baker, but I love that you switched it up.
As always, you rock!
Like yourself and many other commenters, I also call it modge podge…and never really thought about that fact that it’s is *clearly* mod podge. Oh well :)
I’m 40; and I must do this. My silbings and I always got cheap decks during the summer that we tore up by the time school started. I want cute ones.
These are adorable, Joy! But, do you have any loose glitter that comes off or does it cling to the shoe pretty well? I hate getting glitter on me.
Oh Joy, only you would make using glitter acceptable. I hate it around especially when it gets in my eye. But, these shoesies are too cute with them fancy glitter on…
Cute, cute! It’s been far too long since I have had glitter on my shoes!
Wow, you want to know something really sad?? I never realized it was “Mod” Podge until you mentioned it. I’ve always thought it was Modge Podge, even on the label.
Cute shoe idea.
I really, really, REALLY didn’t realize it was anything BUT “Modge Podge” until now…to the point that I’d never even read the bottle to see that it clearly says “Mod Podge.” Whatevs, it’ll be Modge Podge foreva to me!
Also, these are freaking adorable. Making!
These are so cute!!
Modge Podge – I was so certain that’s what it was called. I had an “a-ha” moment when I looked up at the picture here to realize that I (and everyone I know including all my k-8 teachers) had made up a new name for it all these years
Love the shoes!
They are so sparkley! I love them :)
DARLING!
Two questions. 1) do you find that the glitter finish cracks across the front where your toes flex? 2) do you think it would work with fine glitter as well as it did with coarse glitter?
The “ge” in Mod(ge) Podge is just written in white letters. You’ve been saying it right, don’t worry :)
Um, totally thought it was modge podge … until now. Thank you for setting me straight.
Also, I have a pair of shoes pretty much like this, only I bought them that way and they’re silver and I wore them for my wedding shoes.
I was a pretty pretty princess on purpose. ha ha.
Absolutely adorable!
ooooh you’re so crafty Joy! Do you think I can wear them to work? why not, right?
Until this very day I thought that it was called Modge Podge. Guess I’m a weirdo too! These look fun!
Oh Joy. You are magical.
If I attempted this, I would look like I put glue and glitter on my shoes.
In a bad way.
Cute! Love the heart on one shoe.
Oh these are soo cool,unfortunately summers probably never going to arrive here and I dunno how water friendly they would be……sigh!
Adorable! ….I want some glitter to get lost in my hair so I can be a pretty princess! :)
Aren’t you a clever duck!? I just may have my girls do this. It’ll be a great project, thanks!
I never realized it WASN’T pronounced modge podge until you pointed it out. And this is why I should stay in the kitchen and out of the craft supply stores….
I call it modge podge too (and I’m an artist, so obviously I pronounce it correctly!) I’m totally gonna do this with some white Chuck Taylors. and ruby red glitter.
Love your sneakers!
My grandson always calles Mod Podge “Mud Pies”~~ (he’s 4)’–I think it’s so cute. (You can tell we’ve done projects together with the stuff.) I’ve been using it since the 60’s when we used it in my HS art classes!!
At any rate-thanks for the great idea-very cute!
These shoes are solo pretty, I tried thi before but with white shoes that look like Toms. Soooo cute! Speaking of summer Joy, do you have any recipes for candy or taffy?
These are so freaking fun!!
My five year old is going to be in HEAVEN if I tell her this is our DIY craft project this weekend!
Wow cute pair of shoes! I would definitely wear them any season!!
I call it Modge Podge also!
Wow, we’re kindred spirits. ;)
Wow… Magic pick-me-up formula for my day!
Cute shoes! But my takeaway is “Mod Podge” NOT “Modge Podge.”
Fancy that!
Ah, so cute! I don’t think I can pull this off, but you totally do. Also, we’re way past summer down under… sigh.