My pink Louboutins are wearing shiny, new glitter

You first saw my Christian Louboutin Miminettes when I added red Vibram red soles here.

What you didn’t see a lot of was the damage on the heels & one of the toes that I had always planned to cover up after finding these for a steal on eBay years ago.  Instead, I’ve just always worn them with jeans to cover the damage.

Then they were out for the re-sole project… and I had to make a trip to Michaels… and I’ve always wanted a pair of glittered Christian Louboutins… so this happened!

Photos really can’t capture how sparkly they are.  The color is slightly lighter in person.  I need to do some touch-ups, but wanted to see how they wear first.

 

Here’s what I used:

• Krazy Glue (the slower drying kind)
• Martha Stewart Mini Glitter
• My trusty blue tape
• Rust-oleum clear gloss enamel
• A piece of thick paper to catch spare glitter and dump it back into the container
• A cardboard box slated for recycling as a paint booth
• Canned air

First I taped off the red soles and the insides leaving just the part to be glitter-fied.  Then, about a square inch at a time, I brushed on Krazy Glue and then sprinkled on the glitter.  I started this inside and realized quickly that this was an outdoor project (fumes, general glitter mess).  After both shoes were finished, I sprayed on the clear enamel.  This should be done VERY LIGHTLY.  As usual, I globbed it on which made glitter run.  So, I poured on more glitter to the wet paint.  This worked extremely well and made me wonder if the Krazy glue step is necessary  or if I should have just sprayed the paint and the glittered to my heart’s content.  Either way, they turned out fabulously!  They are into shedding glitter, so I gave them a spray with canned air to knock a lot of the excess glitter off all at once.

A few notes:

• As with all of my shoe projects (yes, there have been several), I never fight the color of the shoes.  I’ve heard of people dying and then adding various finishes, but I just enhance the existing color.
• Lots of fumes.  Yuck.
• Clearly, I truly am a “shiny enthusiast” as I warned my husband years ago.
• There will now always be pink glitter in this house.
• You can do this with any brand.  I just have a thing for rescuing designer shoes on eBay.

And for your viewing pleasure, my DIY Christian Louboutin Yo Yo Strass from a few years ago (again):

There’s more where this came from.  I recently found another “project pair” needing rescue on eBay.  I think it will be my best creation/collaboration yet.