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How to Fix Chewed up Heels

How to Fix Chewed up Heels

So. I have an adorable puppy. I love him to pieces. He is a Pomeranian, and is so much fun to have. But when I woke up one morning to my brand new, never worn Forever 21 black patent heels all chewed up…. I was not happy with little Meeko. So… I had to figure out how to fix chewed up heels.

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IMG_2178 I mean, really, how can you be mad at that face? But look at the damage this little fur ball made:

how to fix chewed up heels

modest fashion blogger The right shoe’s heel was so torn up that I just ripped off the leather in frustration… I had a dilemma. I loved these shoes I had just bought, and still wanted a chance to wear them. So I came up with an idea to decorate the heels and cover up the chewed up and torn leather.  I went to Hobby Lobby and roamed the isles.  I had several grand ideas that I contemplated, but ultimately decided upon an easy, fool proof method (albeit the messiest method): GLITTER. Who doesn’t love a little glitter? This addition wouldn’t take away from the rest of the shoe, but would be able to cover up the awful mess Meeko left behind and add a subtle pop to the heels.

So, here is what I did!

 Step One:

Because of the damage on the heels, I had to remove the leather (you can skip this step if your heels aren’t chewed up too badly).  I took an exacto knife and carefully sliced the leather along the seams, around the entire stiletto heel.

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mormon fashion blogger After you have carefully cut around all the edges, peel off the leather. You should now have the base of the stilettos showing!

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Step Two:

The rubber soles on my shoes were also chewed to pieces, so I went ahead and removed those too. I also thought having glitter all the way around the stiletto would look best. So, on the bottom of my shoes, I cut straight across, with my exacto knife, and peeled the rubber away.

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IMG_4606 Yuck. Neither of the rubber soles looked good! So, as pictured below, I cut the rubber straight across both shoes. I tried to line up where I was cutting with where the stiletto matched up with the sides of my shoes. Depending on your shoes, you may have to cut in a different shape and/or placement. After I made the cut, I peeled the rubber off and smoothed off any left over pieces with my exacto knife.

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IMG_4608 Now both shoes are ready to go!

Note:  The material that my stiletto heels were made out of was slightly bumpy and porous. You want your surface to be like this so that the glue will have something to adhere to. If your heels are really smooth, I would suggest taking sand paper and “roughing them up” a bit!

Step 3:

We are almost to the fun part!  Materials I used were:

-Painter’s Tape

– Mod Podge

– Black glitter (I used a medium sized grain, and after doing this, I think  it was too big. The finest glitter you can find will work best)

– A cheap sponge brush.

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IMG_4610 First, we need to tape off the sections of your shoes you do not want to get glue or glitter on. I ripped small pieces and taped them around the curved part on the back of the heel.

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IMG_4614 After both shoes are taped off you are ready to go!

Step 4:

The fun part! I think it is easiest to work on one shoe at a time from here on out.

Dip your sponge brush into your Modge Podge. Paint a thinnish layer all over one of your heels. (Make sure wherever you are working is cover up so you don’t get glue everywhere!)

After you have a nice layer of glue on one shoe, get your glitter and sprinkle it all over the shoe. (I put a paper plate underneath at this point to catch the glitter. That way I could just fold my paper plate in half and pour the extra back into my glitter bottle!)

IMG_4619 After the shoe is completely covered, let dry for a half hour. Repeat this process on your other shoe!

Step 5:

After you have let both shoes dry for about a half hour, they should be ready to do another layer. This part gets a little messy, but don’t worry, they end up looking FABULOUS!

You are going to repeat step 4. Take your sponge brush and put a new layer of mod podge over the glitter you already have. You will be picking up some of the glitter on your brush, but don’t worry! After you have a new layer of glue, sprinkle more glitter on the heels and let dry again!

You can do as many layers as you want or think is necessary. Two was enough for me. Depending on the glitter you use, you may have to adjust!

Step 6:

Let your shoes dry overnight! The white mod podge dries clear, so by morning your shoes will be all sparkly and looking great.  You will probably want to tap the excess glitter off outside or over your sink or garbage.

Your shoes are ready to go!

I forgot to take a picture of the shoes after I finished, so these pics are after I have worn the shoes a few times. And I’ve been wearing them in the snow! So you can see that they hold up pretty well!

how to fix chewed up heels

how to fix chewed up heels

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Note: If you are afraid of the glitter coming off and want to keep it on better, you can cover with an extra layer of mod podge. BUT it will make your glitter not as shiny and sparkly, so I didn’t do this. I have heard of people spraying their heels with hairspray or acrylic spray to keep the glitter in place. I didn’t try either of these, so I don’t know how well they work. I’ve been wearing my shoes and some glitter does fall off, but not much. And I figure that if enough does fall off, I can add a new layer of glitter easy!

Let me know what you think! If you try this on some of your shoes, let me know how it goes!

 

 

 

16 Comments

  • Rese B
    May 7, 2015 at 4:25 pm

    Thank you soooo much. You have just saved my shoes from being dumped which would have hurt me as I only wore them once.

    Reply
    • Keara
      May 11, 2015 at 11:01 pm

      YAY!!! I’m so glad I could help!! XOXO

      Reply
  • […] One of the many reasons I love summer is that I can wear bright, neon colors all of the time! So I had to pair this skirt with my bright pink shirt! Neons are perfect and on trend EVERY summer- you can’t go wrong. I love wearing my bubble necklaces whenever I wear polka dots (duh, they’re dots too!) so I paired my black one today. I am also wearing some of my favorite black heels with glitter stilettos- you might recognize them from this diy post! […]

    Reply
  • Più venduti Jogging Air Jordan
    July 30, 2015 at 2:42 pm

    Hi! This post couldn’t be written any better! Reading through this post reminds me of my good old room mate! He always kept chatting about this. I will forward this page to him. Fairly certain he will have a good read. Many thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  • Asia
    August 27, 2015 at 10:14 am

    YAY! i am thrilled to have found this! I almost threw my leather shoes away because my dog chewed them, now at least I can try and save them! Thank you for the great idea!

    Reply
  • Krystal
    May 11, 2016 at 8:34 pm

    Thank you so much for your post!!!! My dog just chewed up my brand new silver sparkly shoes that have never been worn and I didn’t think I could fix them and I need them for a wedding and I cannot afford to buy another pair. You have given me hope that I can fix them. Do I just buy the mod podge at any craft store like Michael’s?

    Reply
    • Keara
      May 12, 2016 at 10:59 pm

      Yep! I got mine at Hobby Lobby, but they are practically the same store!

      Reply
  • Rachel
    January 17, 2017 at 5:49 pm

    You just saved a pair of shoes I wore one time two years ago. I stepped on a grate and wasn’t paying attention and one of my heels got stuck and when I pulled out my shoe I had a nice linear scra on one side of the heel. Thank you so much!!!!!!

    Reply
    • Keara
      February 9, 2017 at 8:08 pm

      YAY! So glad to have helped!!

      Reply
  • Kira
    March 22, 2017 at 8:53 am

    Thank you so much for this! I already tossed one pair because my puppy destroyed them and she just chewed up the heal of my brand new booties this morning! You are a shoe-saver!!!

    Reply
    • Keara
      August 1, 2017 at 12:59 am

      Soooooo glad I could help!

      Reply
  • Zia
    March 8, 2018 at 12:42 pm

    Hi Keara,
    This is so cool! Thank you for posting this. I have a few pairs that need to do this to.
    I am also wondering if you have any advice for some boots. I’ve got these soft leather, no heel, comfortable boots (Reiker Liv 73) that I’ve finally worn out. The leather on the shaft (mostly) has peeled off. I’ve been trying for a long time to figure out how to revamp these because the soles are still great. I don’t think I want to glitter these, hoping that you may have a few suggestions. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  • Penelope Smith
    September 26, 2018 at 7:58 pm

    I am planning on getting a puppy this Christmas. It is good to know that I can get shoes and especially heels that he chews up fixed. I liked that you showed step by step what you need to do.

    Reply
  • David Jhonson
    November 21, 2018 at 10:31 am

    YAY! i am thrilled to have found this! I almost threw my leather shoes away because my dog chewed them, now at least I can try and save them! Thank you for the great idea!

    Reply
  • Laura Fulop
    March 1, 2020 at 10:19 pm

    Hello There
    very good ideas you had and well done.
    I don’t have a dog but women’s shoes get hurt on the streets
    so I repair them with black or appropriate coloured nailpolish or ink or even foodcolouring….depending on their material – also cover suede problems with same or different coloured suede pieces glued on or I even draw on the suede shoes…

    Reply
    • Keara
      March 5, 2020 at 11:42 am

      Those are all great ideas too!

      Reply

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