While out walking my jackalope....

(Sigh) I am such a mess. Basically, the family has had a lot going on which has delayed Happy Words from getting some flocked shoe outfit photos. We're all getting over some bugs, Eric (the hubby) has been studying for his Master Sargent placement test, the weather has been bad, and we were temporarily distracted by Legos. So when we finally had a sunny day I knew I had to catch up and cram a few shots in before I was once again preoccupied with life stuff. I had a quick plan, figuring we’d take the kids to the park, where there’s a big bathroom I could change in (getting a few outfits in all at once), I’d pack a picnic, walk the trails, and we’d all have a nice time.

I remembered to hastily grab all the “important stuff” like a ball for the boys, the camera, flocky shoes, the dog, some lunch, and my tights. I had not planned out any outfit accessories though. Standing in my bedroom with a tote in hand and the kids shrieking out their pre-park excitement, I figured I’d just grab a bunch of gold and brown stuff and sort out exactly what I wanted to wear once there. (What a bad idea!)

Now I guess it was the rushing out the door that threw me … because I KNOW how I am when dressing up. When I pack for trips, I make sure I have lots of options. I personally have to see it all on, in front of the mirror, and by the time I am done mixing and matching, trying out every bracelet and necklace, it looks like a tornado has ripped through my room. By using this tried and true method I don’t end up all matchy! If I had stood in front of a mirror wearing all of this, I would have said…  I need my orange bangle and hobo bag. Yah…. it would have been much more fun that way and broken up all that….. brown. (And been more true to me.) Actually I did say all that standing in front of a mirror, but the mirror in that cold park bathroom was kinda far from my closet. I also might have tried on a few other tights, it’s not like I have any shortage of those…. green, yellow, anything! But instead I got out there, realized my gold belt was too big, (Hence why it is backwards in that one picture. Three cheers for weight loss!) and that none of the accessories I grabbed actually worked together. I guess I just reeeeeeally wanted to show off my FAVORITE vintage bag so I could tell you all how I fought dirty for it at an auction and WON! (Doesn’t matter that it doesn’t work with the hat!)  Anyway, I almost scrapped all of these photos, because it’s not exactly how I would have worn it out, if I had gotten dressed in my house, and not in a public park bathroom. It’s almost me, but not quite me. But you know what is soooooo me? Messing up and learning lessons about getting dressed in the woods.

So here we are. You know where..... playing dress up in a public park bathroom. It's really the best place for styling and fashion reflection. It’s where you wonder, why I didn’t grab that other clutch. It’s where you promise yourself, that the next time you do an outfit post you’ll actually wear it to the photo location, even if it means you only get to take pictures of one outfit. (Wonder if I could teach my three year old fashion photography?) And it’s when, after your five year old shouts from a crowded playground “HEY MOM! Are you going to change your UNDERWEAR too!?” you decide you might need a better way to wrangle the children during these experiences. Perhaps the best way to deal is to send them to school, and kidnap one of my girlfriends to play dress up in the woods with me instead! No worries. I’ll figure it out. Until then, look at my amazing vintage purse!

(And check out those Jackalope earrings that Eric got me for Valentines! The Etsy shop they came from, Fable and Fury, is full of many potential gifts he should think about getting me!)

At least messing up is still fun! -Kendra

(A better picture of the jackalope earrings from the Fable and Fury store.)

Jackalope Love! (And a few tips on flocking with glitter.)

Here are my flocked Jackalope shoes! They are so cute and I am just crazy about them!

I'll keep this short folks, as I have already talked flock in my Bat Heels post. I will just feature a few tips for flocking with glitter which I had left out eailer. 

         *Another thing I've found is that pressing down the flocking into the glue helped me keep the coverage even.

              I will also say that I've noticed a real variety in the quality of  flocking I've collected. On my Bat shoes I used Martha Stewart's flock, which was loose, very fine, and had no clumps. For these jackalopes, I tried out the Micheal's brand, which was full of clumps and very coarse, I was unable to smooth it out. This quality issue lead to my Jack looking a bit lumpy. I've just recently practiced another flocking project, this time on paper,  using plain old Elmer's glue, and Martha's flocking again, and it turned out great. I will stick with Martha's in the future.

            

             Later I will post the outfit I wore with my sparkly Jackalope shoes. I do really hate posing for photos, you'd think a girl who has seen every episode of Top Model could do something in front of a camera but nope.... I am hopeless. I like to dress up though, so I will keep at it.

Keep it sparkly! - Kendra



Holy Flock Batman! (Glitter and flocking are a dynamic duo!)

I know it might be hard to see but these hot shoes sport grappling hooks and Bat-Tasers. They also do double Batarang duty!  Don’t worry though, these heels are for good and justice, and will promise not to use their powers for evil.

Now if I am going to talk nerdy to you, I’d admit that I really am a die-hard Marvel girl, but when introducing the toddler set to superheroes I have found Adam West Batman and vintage Superman are the way to go. So classic Batman Blue and Superman Scarlet are the current team colors we sport in this household.

      I scored these brand new heels from Goodwill for a measly four bucks. Glittering on a Bat Signal seemed like the right thing to do. While digging through my sparkly stash however, I came across a jar of forgotten and unused yellow Martha Stewart flocking. It was so very yellow…. sooooo very bat signal yellow. The fuzziness hypnotized me, brainwashing me into believing flocked shoes were the most genius idea in the Whole Wide World!! Now I cannot say that putting fuzz all over a pair of shoes is really a great idea, (think rain and mud- these shoes are for sunny days only), and I won’t say it was the smoothest project I have ever tackled, but I will say they turned out pretty awesome. 

If you’ve never worked with flocking before it is pretty much tiny fuzzy fibers you might have seen used as texture on greeting cards, or maybe covering vintage bunny rabbit piggy banks. You can work with it pretty much the same way as glitter, but it requires a little more time, and thus patience to get it right. You’ll need to do more layers for full coverage, and it is by far messier than glitter. I discovered if you use fabric glue you’ll  end up with yellow concrete instead of yellow fuzz. Mod Podge again comes out as my medium of choice.

-If you’d like to try some flocking, I’ll break down how I crafted these for you.  (To the Bat Cave!)

1.      Sort out a pattern, I free handed my Bat-Signal, but you could grab clip art online. Make sure to try different sizes so you can see that works best.

2.      I taped down my colored blueprint so I could visualize the finished product.

3.      Trace the outline with a Sharpie. (Gather up your sidekicks…. I used Martha Stewart glitter and flock.)

4.      Then cut out any details and finish the outline.

5.      Let the flocking begin! Just build up layers of Podge and light flock, allow to dry and repeat until you’re happy with the look. (I did think that perhaps next time I may paint the base to match the flock color that way I might not need as many layers, but I couldn’t guarantee the flock would stick so skipped it.)

6.      Tidy up. I was able to push and scrape off wayward glued flock with some tool-thingie I found in the garage. Please no one chop off a finger doing battle with your flocking.

7.      Once flock is dry glitter as normal.

8.      You’re super fabulous. Enjoy.

Dress-  S.Oliver (Thrifted)

         Shoes- Goodwill

Photography done in harsh light- Husband (We'll work on improving that.)

            After finishing my Bat-Heels, I realized that flock might be better suited for portraying a naturally fuzzy, perhaps woodland creature, than a crime fighter, so I made a Jackalope pair as well. Stayed tuned for that!

           

           Same Bat-place! -Kendra

Some fun with Sharpies.

My mother found this little tin pail at Goodwill for a dollar. Check out what a perfect blank canvas it is! We could have turned it into a personalized lunch box, or maybe a spy kit. If I had a little girl I might have made it into the glittery jewelry box of my.... I mean her.... dreams.

When I asked Baelin what he thought I should do with it he suggested I draw a cat.

"Lots of cats."

 I suggested that he draw the  cats instead. 

"I don't know how."

Well that doesn't seem like a very superhero thing to say. We thought it might be a good idea to practice drawing a few until "Super Green Man" acquired the power to depict such creatures. I found a thrifted art book which featured our desired subject, sharpened some pencils, and we created a kitty army. (Both B and I were much impressed by his cat creating talents. It seems you can do anything if you're wearing a cape!) While he continued with the paper and pencils, I pulled out my Sharpies and started to prep the tin with a colorful frame. I love my kids doodles, and thought this might be a great way to showcase them.  Each boy got to decorate one side of the tin, I drew rainbow polka dots on the sides, and we all had nice afternoon working on it together and chatting about our creation. Romyn decided to go abstract, with a "Train, machine, sorta thing" he titled "Art Piece." Baelin stuck with cats, drawing a sleeping cat with wet whiskers. His cat is portrayed shooting radio signal "meows" from one of his three stomachs which only other cats can hear.

Excellent.

Deciding we could not keep such an amazing treasure to ourselves, we re gifted it back to my mother. Really though, it is a great idea for a grandparent gift. It's functional kid art! If you had a painted white box or plain tin from an art and craft store, or something that you were lucky enough to have thrifted, letting your little ones go Sharpie crazy is a great way to make a unique gift. Mother's day seems right around the corner doesn't it?

If you're hesitant about handing over permanent markers to toddlers, you could always let them use colored pencils, then trace over their handiwork with the Sharpies.

There you have it. Fun with Sharpies, and the only art project we've done all month that hasn't required massive clean up. (Which is a nice change!)

Have an awsome day everybody!

-Kendra

Fun with clay.

As I mentioned in my "little bird" post I had some fun with clay this month. I only planned on making a little bowl, but as I was  tempted by the possibilities of clay, I couldn't just stop there. For my friend Julia I made the little owl above. He sits on a wire and now lives happily in a sunny potted plant in her home. I made him the same way I did the little bird ornament, with air dry artist clay and acrylic paint.

Next I made a few mushrooms. Everybody loves a happy red mushroom right? Those small ones were made into magnets which I later sent out as gifts. (The two big ones I have greedily kept for myself.)

Last I made a few tiny glittery hearts. A few were made into magnets and a few are now pins.

 I cracked all these trinkets out during one long lazy afternoon in front of the TV. I really love playing around with clay, it's creatively satisfying and  you can get a lot of bang for your buck. (And I get to share my little creations with friends.) Can't think of anything to sculpt? There is no shortage of inspiration on Pinterest, just stay focused in that sea of creative insanity, or you may spend all day there instead of with your clay!

Happy Crafting everyone!

-Kendra

Sparkle shoes... not just for girls. (At least we don't think so.)

            See these shoes? These are not just any old shoes. These are ROCK STAR shoes! Back in the fall of 2010 our family was not quite through the middle of a rough, year long, deployment. Daddy’s visit to Afghanistan was hard on us, and especially hard on his little boys. Finding ways to keep everyone happy and sane sometimes felt like an uphill battle. The TV was the quickest way to keep the boys happy, and thus me sane, so there were plenty of days I took full advantage of that. Before I knew it my oldest, Romyn, was reciting every commercial, demanding I buy Swiffer’s, asking if his cereal contained enough whole grain, and shrieking from the playroom whenever a product popped up that he wanted.

"COME AND SEEEEEEE THIS ONE MOM!"

 (Groan.) The commercial that I was expected to rush in and enjoy with him most often was for Sketchers Twinkle Toes. Yah, those girlie shoes. Now I am not the type of parent to enforce gender rules. As the mother of two boys who happens to love glitter and nail polish I am happy to oblige requests for painted nails (monster nails) and Tinker Bell underwear. (They didn’t have Peter Pan ones!) Even today my youngest, Baelin, stomps around in a pair of pink kitty boots. (This kid loves cats, and I am hard pressed to find one that isn’t purple or pink. Luckily he doesn’t care and looks awfully cute dressed as Superman in pink boots.) I’ll admit that once I did snap at Romyn that a purple, fur trimmed, coat he asked for at Hanna Anderson was a girl’s coat. What I had really meant to say was, I will not buy you that 200$ coat just because you like the fur. But like some parents I do get tired of explaining myself all the time. The point is, I am cool with my purple kitty helmet wearing, yellow toe nailed boys. But I really wasn’t sure what Romyn saw in these shoes. He is in no way a fan of either pink or purple. Finally I asked.

“Romyn, did you mean for me to see the commercial on before this one? For the blinky policeman shoes?”

“No. Those, the twinkle toes!”

“Really? Those pink ones right there?”

“I want them! I loooooove them!”

“Why do you love them?”

“Because they are sparkly.”

“Well the blue and black ones sparkle too, when you run they light up.”

“No! You can only see those in the dark. These always sparkle.”

He had a point. I rewind the ad to take another look.

“Alright, but you see the colors these tinkle shoes come in, they are not in any colors you like. They are not in colors many boys like. They are meant to be girl shoes.”

“I like pink.”

“Really? You’ve told me feverishly you only like gold and black.”

“I like pink, I want Twwwwwinkle toes.”

“Romyn it’s OK that you want them, but they are expensive and I hate to buy you a pair of pink girl shoes that you’ll later decide you don’t really like. They just don’t make sparkly shoes like that for boys.”

“Why not?!"

Again, my exhaustion has caused me to say something I sort of regretted. If I had just said we couldn't afford them this conversation would have been over! I really don't care if he wears pink princess shoes. But the fact is, they are girl shoes, society says they are girl’s shoes, and sketchers says that they are girl shoes. (Even if he had lived a completely gender neutral life I’d like to think he is smart enough to deduce this from the sparkly pink, female filled commercial graphics.) I tell him all of this and that if I really thought he would enjoy them and wear them I would be happy to buy him pink Twinkle Toes. I would be proud of him for embracing something he loves. (I also point out that some folks might think it is funny he'd wear shoes marketed toward girls, and how he could respond to that. Honestly this Sketchers commercial was the current bane of my existence.)  I ended with something like, I know you Romyn, and you won’t love pink shoes. I am not going to be buying them for you. He ended up terribly sad. Dang. Well, why don’t they make boy’s glitter shoes? Maybe they did. I suggested that we scour the Internet for gold or black sparkly pairs. In the process Romyn describes just what he thinks would make the perfect set and it doesn’t really sound like Twinkle Toes at all.

Now at this point in time I had not seen any DIY glitter shoes on line, otherwise I would have done a better job with this first pair for the boys. It just seemed logical after looking at hundreds of sparkly ones with Romyn that we just throw some Elmer’s on a pair of Vans and roll with it. Finding a cheap white canvas pair was tricky. Vans and Keds are pricey, especially when you are buying two pairs and then trashing them with glitter.  (Really I should have realized I could have used any color, then I might have found a clearance pair, but I was stuck on white.) Finally I found some slip-ons at Wal-Mart for 5$. I ordered a pair for both boys and we set to making some Rock Star Sparkle shoes! Romyn was able to make his dream kicks, with lots of gold, his name, and tiny race car patches. (Those were eventually lost.) Romyn got just what he wanted, and was even happier with them because he had created them himself.  Having a project that made him feel special during Daddy’s absence made the days a little easier. We called them their Rock Star shoes. Baelin out grew his goopy green pair first, and Romyn his soon after, and by then it was all about the Crocs, so we never made any others.

I came across Romyn’s shoes in the closet last month.

“Romyn look at these! Do you remember these?”

“My rock out shoes!”

“They won’t fit you now, I think we should pass them on to B and let him make them over.”

“Wha…. Nooooo!”

“Ro. They don’t fit you. I will take a picture of them so we can always remember how awesome they are.”

(Grumble…Grumble.) “Fine.”

Baelin’s beyond excited by this, probably because he heard his brother really didn’t want him to touch them. Or maybe he had been dreaming of a new glittery pair. I was surprised he didn’t want to cover all the gold with green, his favorite color, and instead opted to add more. Pikachu helped him out, whispering in his ear when he needed more Mod Podge or black glitter to cover Romyn’s name. (Mod Podge this time around, not Elmer’s.)  B was actually home sick for this project, so perhaps Pikachu’s assistance should have worried me. Well, both Pokémon and Baelin are very happy with these sparkly sneakers, and I am happy they are getting a second life. He gets loads of compliments when we go out, and is glad to tell folks that he made them himself and they are super fast. When he puts them on he always says “This way everyone will see me coming!”

These are not girl shoes or boy shoes. These are sparkly Baelin shoes, and yes, they are a mess, which is well suited for a Rock Star!

        Rock on! -Kendra

A little bird....

            One of my best friends, Christie, just celebrated her first wedding anniversary. I have been so excited to find her the perfect gift. Of course, in my mind the perfect gift is something I get to paint and glitter. (Maybe including a gift card if I have a crafting fail.) Originally I just planned on making a little personalized bowl for her dresser. I was really inspired by this one at Curbly, and here’s how mine turned out.

          I used stamps for the couple’s initials and I think it's pretty nice. It did look a little lonely in it's gift box though. Then I remembered that Chris told me she was sad no one had  gifted her a “First Christmas” ornament. I said that I thought a Christmas ornament was something the couple normally purchased for themselves. Unfortunately by the time she realized this it was slim pickings and she couldn’t find one she liked. I thought of making a first Christmas ornament, but wondered if it lost it’s magic if it didn’t hang on one’s first Christmas tree. I figured the next best thing would be a First Anniversary ornament!  This little blue bird was inspired by Christie’s wedding invitations which featured little blue birds and tiny glitter hearts. (I remember, because I made them!) This guy turned out so cute I think I am going to have to make another for myself. Mine may just sit on a wire so I can stick him in a potted plant. Maybe one could be an ornament for an Easter tree? He might like hanging out under a bird house. I am not sure yet, I just know I want a little bird.    

 It’s very easy if you would like one too. I used artist air dry modeling clay that I picked up from Michael’s. (You could also use the Crayola stuff.) I molded the shape of a bird and then pushed the folded wire through. Make sure you twist the loop at the top of the wire first and hold the “legs” together as you guide them through the body.  Pull the new legs apart a bit once you’ve got them in your figure, you can touch up any damage you’ve done with a bit more clay. Then I used pliers to shape the bird's feet.  I knew that my bird was going to hold a banner, so I made the feet little loops that I could pinch closed once I had the banner in place. Do all this fiddling before you let your sculpture dry overnight. You don’t want to put any stress on the figure and crack it!  I decorated the bird with acrylic paint, a black paint pen for details, and a sparkly glitter heart.  It’s sealed up with glossy Mod Podge. All you need for the banner is a scrap of paper bag you’ve painted on both sides, more paint pen and seal it again with Podge. Ta-Da! I hope that it finds a happy home on their Christmas tree for years to come!

Since I had the clay out already, I made a few other goodies that I will post shortly. Thanks for stopping by!

-Kendra