Making Old Ballet Slipper Shoes Look New Again - or Almost New
Revamping Old Shoes
This is a pair of slipper shoes that my daughter wore out within the last year. Currently, they are only allowed to be worn for play at home. When she decided she wanted to dress up as a ballerina for Halloween, I decided it was time to give these old shoes some new life. I went to the dollar store and picked up glitter glue. I already had Sharpie markers at home and a sponge brush, which helps when applying the glue. Revamping these shoes only cost the amount of the glitter glue, which was two dollars at the store.
The real bonus is, it only took one tube of glitter glue to redo the shoes, leaving my daughter with 8 bottles of various other colors for art projects. Each tube of glue costs $0.22 when bought in the pack, so for less than a quarter, we have new shoes for her costume this year! Score! The glue will not wear as well as the original sparkles on the shoes, but she will get some new life out of these, even after Halloween. This is super easy to do and anyone can make their shoes look great using this trick.
Instructions
- First, wipe the shoes down a little to get off any loose dirt. There were a few loose strands of thread on the shoes and I trimmed those off with a scissor.
- Use a Sharpie marker (only if the shoes are black, mind you!) and darken light spots on the fabric of the shoes. This will help the shoe look more even and will appear as if they are new from a distance.
- Run a beading of glitter glue along the sole of the shoe. I put my hand inside the shoe to hold it upside down and help make the application easier. I worked around the whole shoe this way in small sections at a time. I used the sponge brush to dab the glue over the entire shoe. This will give the shoe an even coating and allow it to dry faster. This particular glitter glue dries puffy and I did not want that, so the sponge helped spread the glue around nicely and not dry puffy.
- Another important reason to cover the whole shoe with glue is so that there is a consistent color over the entire surface. It will reflect light more evenly and "match" the discolored spots better to the rest of the shoe.
- Let the glue dry on the shoes for about 15-30 minutes and then apply another layer. Let that dry again and check for inconsistencies in the surface. Spot treat each area with a little more glue if needed, allow to dry between each layer.
- When you are finished, the shoes should look a ton better! After Halloween, my daughter will be able to wear these to school again until the glue begins wearing off. That will make her very happy!
