DIY Project: Neon Shoes

Today's post were supposed to cover one of the 3 huge projects I completed this weekend, but they will all have to wait. The fabulous Maegan, over at ...love Maegan, unknowingly threw a monkey wrench in my plan by posting this wonderful Neon Shoes DIY & Painting Leather (Seriously, check this out if you haven't already! It's amazing!) project this morning:

The Inspiration/Tutorial:

Image Source: ...love Maegan

As soon as I saw the gorgeous shoes she had created, I died. It was love at first sight! That girl is so freaking talented!!!

Instantly my brain started buzzing with ideas, and then I remembered the Pour La Victoire sandals that were collecting dust at the bottom of my shoe closet! I got them last year from Gilt, and I've never even used them. And though my shoes are tan, not nude (I wish), and flats instead of heals, I figured I might be able to work it anyways.

After digging the shoes out of hiding, and raiding my nail polish stash, I got started. The project took almost no time at all. Of course, impatient as I am, I did use a hairdryer to cure each coat in between applications. And, shhhhh, I didn't tape each section off either, I just painted it on using the brush from each polish. The Wet & Wild polishes, in particular, have really great, wide, smooth brushes that apply polish surprisingly well. While my shoes fully dried, I snapped this in-progress pic:

Image source: My Instagram

After the polish was sufficiently cured, I cleaned up the edges with a few brushings of acetone, and then I was done! So quick & easy! Here are my finished shoes:

I love the colors, especially against the neutral leather, and the lacquered surface looks like patent leather. Although some parts, like under the toes, are not as smooth as it could have been, if I would have been more meticulous with the white "base" coat. But the color is so bright that you can barely tell, unless you're really peering at them up close, and my toes are going to be all over that always. Trust me, nobody will want to inspect them too closely for fear of getting toe-daggered in the eye. The minty green strap (my favorite), and the pink section, both look really good, and all the visible edges are crisp. While I was a bit worried about that buckle, it all works perfectly.

The colors I used:

Spoiled by Wet & Wild - Pretty in Punk

Spoiled by Wet & Wild - Mind Your Own Beeswax

Loreal Nail Colors- Club Prive

OPI - Swedish Nude

I honestly had no idea that you could use nail polish on leather, but I love how it turned out, and will definitely try this again in the future. While I wouldn't usually buy a lot of super trendy things, I'm really happy with my new neon shoes. Finally, I might actually get some use out of these sandals.

Thanks, Maegan, for the brilliant inspiration & great tutorial!