So, if you’re me, you live and die in trainers and flat shoes. High heels don’t come naturally to me (being nearly 6 ft) and I certainly don’t intend to spend the entire day of my wedding in heels. I lusted after beautiful customised sneakers from Etsy sellers, but the price tag was pretty steep, so I resolved to customise a pair of Converse to wear after the formal pictures were done. Here’s how I did it!
I got a cheap pair of nearly new white Converse from Vinted, for about £20. As my wedding dress is purple, I want them to match. The rubber parts of Converse do unfortunately stain, so I tried to minimise this by masking off the rubber parts with electrical tape.
This was not a perfect method as I found out later, but don’t worry if your dye leaks, we’ll sort that out later.
I used Rit Dye which gives a really strong bright colour.
Let them soak for about 10 minutes
Not wanting to waste the dye, I took the opportunity to dye some flowers for bouquets…
…and some clothes 😂
Once the shoes are fully dry, remove the masking and get glittering! I chose a galaxy glitter from Etsy. Mix a decent amount of the glitter with Mod Podge and layer it on evenly.
Once the glitter is dry, re-mask the rubber parts and spray the shoes with E6000 spray glue. This will seal the glitter and stop it flaking off.
If you’ve had some dye leak onto the rubber parts, don’t worry! Angelus Leather Paint to the rescue! It might take a few coats but you’ll be left with a completely clean new-looking surface. Be sure to spread it evenly to avoid visible brush strokes.
I decided to add extra gold detail
I added some gold shoelaces, et voila! Some sparkly dancing shoes!
Price Breakdown
Converse-Vinted- £20
Rit Purple Dye- eBay- £10.49
Angelus Leather Paint- eBay- £7.99
Chameleon Chunky Glitter- KenzieCreations - £7.25
E6000 Spray Adhesive- eBay- £9.99
Mod Podge- Hobbycraft- £5.50
Gold Shoelaces- eBay- £3.49
Total- £64.71