DIY tutorial: painted pink neon shoes

Yesterday’s outfit post was about my neon accessories, and included a pair of heels that I’d been inspired to DIY after reading a post by the fabulous US-blogger Love Maegan.

Maegan uses leather shoes; mine, clearly, are not. They were a pair of cheap, go-with-anything favourites that I ruined {as you can see in the ‘before’ pictures} during a particularly fun night out with Alex, during which I seem to recall taking a couple of falls. The soles of these shoes are very slippy, you see. Anyway, they were ready for the bin until I decided they would be perfect for being made over.

I’ve already worn the reincarnated version on a night out and they passed the ‘friends test’ ~ which means had I not been so damn proud of the fact I’d reinvented them with mere nail polish for less than 3 quid the girls wouldn’t have questioned that they were looking at a brand spanking new pair of shoes.

So here’s how I did it.

What you need:

tape

white acrylic paint or nail polish

nail polish in a bright colour of your choice

nail polish remover

cotton buds {in case there’s any tidying up to do}

1. Give your shoes a wipe over with nail polish remover to take away any dirt and tape over the areas you want to remain the same colour. As a primer, paint the areas you want to add colour to with the white paint or polish.

2. Leave to dry overnight, then carefully re-paint the required areas in your chosen polish. I used Rimmel Lasting Finish in ‘Hot Shot’, which cost me the princely sum of £2.99. I found one normal-sized 8ml bottle was just about enough for this project.

3. Leave to dry again, then apply a second coat and, after drying, carefully remove the tape.

Warning: using so much nail polish gets a bit pongy, not to mention toxic, so make sure the area you’re working in is well ventilated.

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