Glittered ice skates are taking over Christmas decor!

I have fallen in love with glittering ice skates.

Seriously, I want to glitter every pair I see.

Even though I have never ice skated, the sight of old ice skates bring up memories of Christmases  growing up.  There is a nostalgic quality to them that reminds me of Christmas as a kid. Or maybe its the movie “A Christmas Story”.  Ha! Either way, the skates are perfect for glitter!!!  EVERYTHING is prettier with a little sparkle!!!!

So let me give you some pointers on making your own glittered ice skates.

Your first challenge will be just FINDING ice skates.  Thrift stores, Grandma’s basement and Craigslist are all options.  But they are way easier to find in July than November, so good luck to you!  I have heard we have a serious shortage on ice skates for about a 100 mile radius around Kansas City due to my incessant Facebook posts about skates. Sorry about that. Ha!

(This post contains affiliate links for the products I use and love and for your shopping convenient. Your purchases help fund my DIY glitter projects –  Thank you!)

Once you find a pair, you will need to give them a good cleaning.  The older they are; the more cleaning they will need!  This is a good job for the little people!

We were having a glitter party, so we glittered several pairs in different colors. You can find a ton of fabulous colored glitter options here at Hobby Lobby online. On each pair, we used paint similar to the color of the glitter as our adhesive. I recommend using Modern Masters Metallic Paints (which you can find on Amazon) you can find all your favorite base colors – gold, bronze, silver even black pearl! So for this pair that we were glittering with gold, we painted them quickly with gold, water-based paint and while the paint was still wet, we quickly sprinkled gold glitter all over them. I recommend buying a glitter set with all your favorite colors like this one. You can also use an adhesive or Modge Podge to add the glitter. You can also embellish with ribbons and holiday touches with tons of Christmas goodies from Hobby Lobby.

This is kind of a 2-person process.  One person holds the skate upright while the other paints quickly and sprinkles.  Just remember this is very forgiving and not a science.  Work quickly and if you miss a spot, go back.  We aren’t looking for perfection!  This is supposed to be fun!

To dry, we hung the wet skates over a pipe in a basement ceiling. And we oooooooooh’d and aaaaaaaaahhhhh’d a whole lot.

After they dried overnight, we brushed the excess glitter off the skates and scraped it off of the soles when we maybe accidentally got wet paint.  I loved this color of glitter, but they were an OBNOXIOUS gold.  Even too gold for me which you know is reallllllly gold!  LOL!

So I glazed/stained over the gold.  Check out the photo…the skate on the right has the stain, it just totally toned down the gold.  Now it looked “tarnished”.

After drying again, we sprayed each skate with a water-based polyacylic that is good for outside to give them some protection in this crazy Missouri weather! It can be hard to find single cans of the Minwax Polycrylic Spray I use – they are usually in bulk. But Hobby Lobby has a Clear Sealer Krylon Glitter Blast Spray . It’s a clear sealer for glittered projects like these lovely ice skates!

And my friends helped me make this sled arrangement with the glittered ice skates. Isn’t it soooooo stinkin’ cute?  Old sled and old skates make such a pretty combo.  I love it!

With each pair of glittered ice skates, we did something fun like add felt to the top and ribbon to the laces. And they look so good with the burlap ribbon and the cranberry picks (courtesy of Hobby Lobby.)

Here’s a silver pair using Modern Masters Silver Platinum as a base. 

And another pair in copper glitter (which Jody painted copper first).

 We also glittered a pair in black glitter (so we painted it black first.) This one is Santa inspired!

Here’s a fun festive Christmasy Red one. We painted it Modern Masters Sashay Red first. 

Here’s some we made with polka dots.

And check out this precious pair of white glittered skates that one of my blog followers has made. So, so cute!  She even glittered the blades!  She used E6000 glue for her adhesive.  Brilliant!!!

My holiday front step decor is beginning to come together.  I still need to fill the pots with sticks and lights and add some gold deer that I picked up at a thrift store. Stay tuned! The deer may be a bust, but it’s worth a shot!

PS…did you miss the tutorial on making that JOY sign.  Click here to read it.

PSS…did you miss the YouTube video on the JOY sign?  Click here to view it. Or read about it here. 

Blessings to you this  Thanksgiving week,

Jennifer

Love my glittered ice skates? Check some more DIY Christmas projects with my O’Come Let Us Adore Him stenciled barnwood sign and my painted Christmas/winter lantern.