CRAFT: Electrical Tape is a Girl's Best Friend

        I used to think those people who bought duplicates of things were crazy.  Now I understand.  To say I get a little attached to my things is an understatement.  There's that one sweater that hangs just so, the pair of shoes that are stylish AND comfortable, the pants that make my ass look great... and now they're all wearing out!  ACK!!!

        Maybe I'm getting old, maybe it's because I'm broke, but DAMMIT!  Why can't I find anything affordable and cute when I go shopping?!  Something needed to be done, and fast.  Having just completed our giant move out of state, there are still boxes and tools laying around the apartment.  I happened to spy the electrical tape in the tool box and had a flash of creativity.  (My best ideas seem to be born from frustration.)  I realized I could totally fix my shoes with tape!  AWWW YEAH!

        I know, I know, I know.  I should just get new shoes.  But it's not that easy, I swear!  Let me reveal a not-so-secret, secret:  I have big honkin' feet.  My grandpa even used to call them gunboats.  This puts me at a disadvantage to finding cute shoes, not counting my limited funds.  I guess I'm also a bit picky, but whatever!

I dug out my favorite ankle boots that were starting to get pretty beat up and got to work.

        ***DISCLAIMER:  Please read through the entire tutorial before you begin!  I need to emphasis before we start that you need to be 100% confident in your skills with an x-acto knife or else you'll end up with uglier shoes than you had before!  This method may not work for your pair, i.e. shoes with heels/soles that are not solid.  If the material has any give to it, the tape will come off.  (I tried to fix the soles of some black flats I have, but they were made of rubber and it resulted in an ugly flapping tape mess after I wore them!)  Black electrical tape matches the faux leather shoes I own just right, but it might not look so good next to real leather or more textured material.  Use your best judgement and fashion sense.  ***

        First you need to make sure the material is clean so that the tape will stick properly.  Some water and a paper towel should fix this if the shoe is man-made materials, otherwise use a fabric-appropriate cleaner.  Next, line the tape up with the edge of the heel, leaving a tiny bit of overlap that will be pressed into the crease after you cut it to size.  IMPORTANT:  Make sure not to stretch the tape as you wrap it along the heel or else it will recede once you stop messing with it, causing strange lumps and making it flap off.  Just line the tape up and lay it flat, smoothing out any creases. 

        This is where your x-acto knife skills come into play.  Slice the tape along the edge of the heel, making sure you leave a little of an edge so you can tuck it neatly into the top of the heel where it meets the rest of the shoe.  Use the point of the knife to do this or even your fingernail if they're strong/long enough.  This give the heel a more finished look and helps prevent ragged edges of tape.

        Not so terrible, right?  Now repeat this process until you cover the entire heel of your shoe!  Keeping the tape straight and un-stretched is the key to success here.  Thankfully, electrical tape is pretty forgiving.  It won't leave a nasty residue if you need to take it off to reposition it again.  I tried to keep the strips of tape a uniform amount of space apart to create a "stacked heel" effect.  You can overlap the tape here as much or as little as you want, do what you think makes the shoe look best.
   

        When you get down to the area where the tape can start wrapping around the heel, make sure to cut your tape long enough to do so on both sides.  Mine ended up in a crisscross pattern due to the curve of the heel.  Wrapping the tape around will keep it from flapping!  (Have you noticed flapping things are the arch villain in this post?)  I made sure I didn't tape the bottom of the heel; I cut it along the edge of plastic so that the tape wouldn't make the heels slippery when I walked.

        And that's it!  Below I have the taped and un-taped heels side by side so you can see the difference!  Not bad, right?  Congrats!  You have just extended the life of your favorite shoes!  I suppose if you were feeling particularly industrious or possess advanced knowledge of repairing shoes, you could remove the material before you tape it to help reduce any lumps.  I didn't feel too sure about doing that, and with the tape method, if it turns out horrible, you can easily take it off right away.  (Wait more than a day though and the tape will become stickier, making it more difficult to remove, so you need to decide right away if you like your new kicks or not.)

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On Vacation!

        Sorry for the lack of new posts...  As you can tell I'm VERY busy right now, so my Etsy shop and blog will be on hiatus until next month!  I'm sure this is incredibly disappointing to um, maybe all of the three people who read this.  To those dear readers I send my condolences and probably more pictures to make you jealous.  HA!  Stay tuned, things are about to get crazy over here and I'm sure I'll be itching to ramble about it once I have internet access again...

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LISTEN: The Microphones - "The Glow" Pt. 2

        Do you have ten minutes and thirty-three seconds to spare today?  If you do (and I hope you do) please sit quietly and listen to these two lovely songs by The Microphones:  I Want Wind to Blow and The Glow Pt.2.

Just sit and listen.  

        The Glow Pt.2, released back in 2001, is perfect for people who still love to make an event of listening to an album with little to no interruptions.  This lo-fi psych pop epic, written and engineered by Phil Elvrum, (you can find more of his music under the moniker Mount Eerie) will take you on a journey filled with beautiful, singing-in-the-room-with-you vocals, dense, fuzzed-out noise, and intimate guitars.  Whenever I hear The Glow Pt.2, it evokes tall trees and mountainous peaks; a desolate paradise all my own.  It may be a bit lonesome at times, but it is always beautiful and always welcoming.  The songs seamlessly melt into one another, which makes it a shame to listen to the album cut into pieces on YouTube.  If you have the chance, (I think you should make the chance) buy this record.  Sit and listen to it in its entirety.  Before you know it, the whole sixty-six minutes of this recording has past you by.  And that time is never enough; it feels like there is always so much more to listen to, so many more roads to venture down accompanied by the distorted drums, creeping organs, and xylophone flourishes.  Even after all the years of hearing this on repeat, I swear there is always something new to marvel at with each listen.  The only way you could enjoy this more is with a good set of headphones, a nice cup of something warm, and a furry, four-legged companion to curl up under your arm.  Sit in your favorite chair or lay on your bed.  Let the outside world melt away.  Be still for just one moment and listen.

     

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BEAUTIFY: Strange Hand Photo, Tiny Glitter Bottles.

        Here is the other glitter set I ordered!  Aren't they precious?!  Why are miniature things so cute?!  I don't understand.  Ben & Jerry's ice cream pints?  They're super good, but nothing special.  MINI-SIZED Ben & Jerry's ice cream?  IRRESISTIBLE!!!  It's stupid, but I can't help it.  Apparently neither can anyone else.  Just sneak a peek at Etsy and you'll find tons of crafts dedicated to things in miniature.

But I digress.

        This is the manicure I came up with to showcase my lovely new glitter treasures:  strategically placed chevrons and lots of shiny topcoat.  I used my nifty dotter tool again to set each glitter piece just right.  (Maybe I should get a photo of it?  Poor thing does all the work and gets no credit!  hahaha)  I'm glad I was able to photograph it okay, I wasn't sure the hologram glitter would show up too well.  Pretty and practical, I figured something understated and easily repaired was best since I have tons of packing to do and not really much time to sit and play with nail polish right now.  Boo-hoo.

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BEAUTIFY: I Could Use A Rainbow

         Been on a bit of a writing hiatus this week... reading all the nonsense in the news this week has really got me down and I didn't want to spew any more vitriol into the world by adding another angry blog to the pack.  I have a few posts in bones right now, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish them.  Next week looks promising -- I'll just have to make sure I finish writing before I read the news.  (Wah-wah.)

        Doom and gloom aside, I finally got one of the new glitter packs I ordered!  This one is a pretty rainbow mix I ordered from pinkypoo39 on Ebay.  I thought the squares were gonna be a bit bigger, but apparently I don't know how to read!  (It clearly has them listed as .8mm, but duh! I didn't pay attention to that!)  Since I have all those other glitter pots from last time, I'm thinking I should make a custom mix with some of them.  We'll see.  I have another order of glitter on the way which I know is also going to be awesome.  Horray for cheap entertainment!

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EAT: Everything I Needed to Know About Cooking I Learned From the Veganomicon

This beautiful gem has been in my possession since 01.07.08!

        This is the post where I'm gonna get all mushy-like and profess my love for all things food.  I must admit, we haven't always been best friends; there is a formidable period of time when I hated my body and we were downright bitter enemies, food and I.  Now as a woman on the cusp of turning thirty (ZOMG!) who has weighed approximately the same weight for around 10 years, it's safe to say this is the body I'm made with and I should probably accept it because it seems to like being how it is.  My acceptance does not equal negligence; I have maintained a more-healthy-than-not diet and prefer to stay fairly active to avoid stress and boredom.  It's a pretty average body, but together we have done extraordinary things.  And without it, well... I'd be dead and that would be boring.

        Because of this love for food, cookbooks hold a very special place in my heart.  I don't just look up recipes in them, I learn an entire new way of life.  Cookbooks have become significant enough in my life to have attained the status of being regarded as a "holy book" for at least the past five years.  When I first moved out on my own, my cooking skill was just high enough to keep starvation at bay.  Eating out at fast food places was too expensive and not to mention wildly unhealthy.  I was also a pretty strict vegetarian at the time too, so even when I did have money to go out, most of the enjoyment was lost due to the time spent scouring the menus for items other than salads and french fries that I could feel okay about eating.

        I knew how to cook a few staple meals:  spaghetti, burritos, rice, oatmeal, brownies...  uhhh... now that I think about it, what the hell WAS I eating?!  Hrm...  I think I ate a lot of cold cereals and noodles with frozen veggies -- cheap, easy, and (mostly) fool proof.  It was around this time I found out the hard way that my oven didn't work.  I had waited the obligatory 15-20 minutes for a frozen pizza to bake, only to I realize, "hey, it doesn't smell like pizza in here."  I ended up having to chop it into chunks and cook it piece by piece in the toaster oven.  Wah-wah.  (Thankfully maintenance fixed this problem once I alerted them to it.)  Spaghetti was a tasty, easy meal to make, but I'd only ever made it for my family, so me, not knowing how to adjust for less people, would end up eating a mountain of spaghetti for a week.  I didn't have easy access to the internet (hello free wifi hotspots!) and I never thought to look recipes up when I did.  If I had, maybe the two meals that went horribly wrong (and still haunt me to this day) could've been avoided.

        I had been trying to be fancy and make a "restaurant" dinner for myself.  The easiest meal I could think of was fettuccine alfredo with spinach.  Not too difficult, right?  HA!  It would've been fine had I not used CANNED spinach instead of FRESH.  I don't remember if the canned spinach was flavored or not, all I know is that it DID NOT make my meal taste like the pasta I got at the restaurant.  I didn't drain it, I just opened the can and tossed it right on top of my lovely noodles and sauce (which was also from a can.) It was just wrong and icky and I didn't know how to fix it.  And to make things worse?  I HAD TO EAT IT.  I had a strict budget for food so that meant what was in my pantry was all I had to eat.  Ugh.  What better incentive to learn how to cook than to be stuck eating the gross nonsense you thought up!

        The other incident involved jalapeno poppers. This was not as dire a mistake as the alfredo, just a very painful one.  I thought you could just shove some cream cheese in a hollowed out jalapeno, stick it in the oven and call it awesome.  Nope.  Truth is, you burn your face off and have to give in and throw them away because they're just TOO DAMN HOT!  I'd had enough.  I was tired of eating crappy food.

        That's when the magick happened.  I was wandering around Barnes & Noble one day after work and a book left on a table caught my eye called the VEGANOMICON: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook (written by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romano).  All I could think was "What the hell, this looks good, what is it?!"  I sat down, cracked it open and am forever grateful I did!  Though I was a vegetarian at the time, I didn't really have the convictions or the know-how to become a vegan.  I had a couple of friends who were, but no one really close who could teach me how to cook.  I also thought it would be too expensive to go vegan since the majority of things on the market are horribly over-priced.  This book quickly changed my mind.

        With an emphasis on using real foods rather than over-processed imitation foods, Veganomicon teaches you how to create all kinds of delicious meals that are often quick and cost-effective.  It has everything from breakfast to dessert to snacks and gourmet dishes!  I only scanned a few of the pages, but it was enough to convince me that this was the book I needed to treat myself to.  (I had started a habit of saving a bit of money each month to allow myself to purchase something nice for myself, often times it was an art book from B&N since I got a discount there for being a GameStop employee.)  I left cradling my lovely new possession under my arm, not knowing at the time how great an impact it was about to have on my life.

        Actually READING this book can teach you what foods make good staples to stock your pantry with, what equipment is most useful to keep in your kitchen, definitions of commonly used cooking terms, and basic instructions for cooking most veggies, beans, and grains.  Again I applaud the author for not relying on commercially produced vegan/vegetarian products and teaching you how to make real, made-from-scratch food.  I feel it's an essential skill to have and saves you a lot of money in the long run.  (Not to mention the health benefits received by eating non-overly processed foods.)  And to make things even more interesting, each recipe is often embellished with a cute anecdote worth reading too!

        To give you an idea of the range of recipes you'll find in this book, I'll list some of my favorites (in order of appearance in the book, I don't think I could pick a favorite!!):

• Everyday Chipotle-Vegetable Tamales
• Samosa Stuffed Baked Potatoes
• Blueberry Corn Pancakes
• Snobby Joes
• Roasted Butternut Squash with Coriander Seeds
• Ancho-Lentil Soup with Grilled Pineapple
• Almost All-American Seitan Potpie
• Potato and Kale Enchiladas with Roasted Chili Sauce
• Pineapple-Cashew-Quinoa Stir-fry
• Fudgy Wudgy Blueberry Brownies
• Individual Heart-Shaped Apple Galettes

        I wish I could thank whoever it was that left this book on the table that day at the bookstore!  My copy is so well-loved now:  bulldog clips dividing each chapter, stuffed with recipes I've found from different sources, all the notes I've scrawled on the pages while cooking each recipe...   Though I never went full vegan and have since incorporated meat back into my diet, I still rely heavily on the recipes in this book.  It makes it easy to add (or sneak!) more veggies into your diet by providing countless examples that go above and beyond the standard flavors of steamed or sautéed side dishes while maintaining the amount of ease with which you can cook them.  Want to make pancakes but you don't have any eggs or butter?  I know how to make that happen now!  Learning vegan substitution for common foods comes in handy when you're missing certain items or want to make your groceries stretch a little further than normal.  Plus when you do entertain company with special food preferences, you'll be able to accommodate them without pressure! 

        The authors have several other delicious cookbooks which you can find listed at their website The Post Punk Kitchen!  You should just check out the website in general because it's awesome and there are tons of recipes on there for free if you're not convinced you need to buy this book yet.  (Well why not?!)  I can't tell you enough how much I love this book.  Well, yes I can, but I don't think a page full of OMGGGILOOOOVETHIS!!!111!! would make for good reading. 

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BEAUTIFY: Maaaaaan...

 

        I waited a week for my awesome shipment of awesome to come in and this was all I got.  Poop.  Okay, this is better than poop, but only slightly because it'll prove to be just as versatile for my nail art as poop would.  "There was a mix up with inventory, yadda yadda yadda, keep what we sent you, we'll refund your money."  That's cool and all, I appreciate your prompt response, but dammit!  I wanted what I ordered!!!  Round two of internet glitter hunting has begun; this time I took my search to Ebay since Amazon is full of disappointment right now.

        Oh, and the glitter on my nails in this pic isn't even anything from this set.  It's just some random old craft store glitter I had stashed in a box!  Gold squares and black mini-rectangles over Sally Hansen's "Blue Me Away!" with lots of top coat. 

        What better blow me away are my shipments from Ebay...dammit.

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