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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!)

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!

[sociallinkz]

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!