Quirky Shoes!

Whenever I'm buying shoes, clothing, and accessories, I always try to find things that are unique and a little quirky. I like having things that not everyone will have. And they always end up being a great conversation starter! Here are some shoes I've come across that are totally quirky and cute:

There are little strawberries all over these shoes! Perfect for spring and summer.

Strawberry Vans

It's a shoe. And it's a bear. Mmph.

I'll Be Bear Heel, $93.99

So 90's. So perfect. Doesn't it remind you of Diva Stars? Gotta keep it cheetalicious.

Pink Leopard Platform Mary Janes, $35

The etsy shop where I got my kitty shoes also sells these! They've got a lot of different styles to choose from, but I think I'm going to have to get these next. 

Cyclops Cat Shoes, $26

Excuse me while I go die. Need these.

What Shoe Lookin' At? Dr Martens, $129.99

Best Friends

This best friend necklace was given to my by Mariah Mcbee in either the second or third grade.

I don't remember having many friends up until the second grade. Most of my memories of recess during those years consists of me wandering around the playground alone. And I think that that was before I became self-aware and conscious of my alone-ness. I have a memory from the first grade where I was walking around the playground by myself during recess as usual, and as I walk by a group of sixth grade girls playing double dutch, they stop me and ask me if I want to learn. So they taught me how to double dutch. To this day I still remember that as one of the nicest things that anyone has ever done for me.

In my second grade class there was this girl named Mariah who was rowdy, gregarious, and sometimes got on people's nerves. She was a tomboy, thin as a twig, covered in freckles, and had flaming red hair. She got teased a lot. One rainy day at recess as I was wandering around alone, I noticed that Mariah was too. I remembered those sixth grade girls and how they were nice to me, and I went up to Mariah and asked her if she wanted to be my friend.

We became inseparable and actually ended up going to the same daycare soon after. Everyday after school we would make mud pies in the backyard until Dragonball Z came on at 5 o'clock. She was an amazing and caring person, even if she got on my nerves sometimes when she became too boisterous. When we were nine, her six-year-old sister was diagnosed with leukemia. Mariah got a buzzcut to support her.

Then in the fifth grade, I moved to a different school and we lost touch. I haven't been able to find her since. I often think about that girl that ate grass and scared the shit out of me with stories of Pennywise the clown. I wonder what she's doing now and if she still has the other half of her necklace.

Show your best friend some love with these awesome best friend sets from Etsy:

TARDIS friendship bracelet, $5

Get one in white and one in blue!

Adventure Time best bros buttons, $4.25

Peanut butter and strawberry jelly rings, $15

Pokeball friendship necklace, $30

Sexy Band Tee Dresses

The Smiths Dress w/Peter Pan Collar, $54

I wore a lot of band tees in middle school and high school, but the problem I always had was the fit. I was always buying men's band tees because the women's shirts had significantly less options and the I felt like the designs weren't as good. The problem with wearing men's shirts though, is that even if I'm wearing a small, I'm drowning in it. The best case scenario would be if I could find them in youth sizes, which was rare. I just wanted to be able to find band tees in a feminine cut with the same designs as the men's shirts. There was the low-brow option of tying it back, or cutting and altering it yourself, but I am beyond sewing inept. 

So for the past few years I've given up on wearing band tees altogether. But then I found this amazing shop on Etsy, veraseyecandy, and it's definitely inspired me to get back into it. The pieces are made to order and are altered from men's large t-shirts. The cuts are sexy and the bands are awesome. These pieces prove that you can be rocker and and edgy. You can rep your favorite band and not look like a dude with saggy uni-boobs. I'm drooling over this Bikini Kill dress:

Bikini Kill Lace Dress, $54

Umph. And this:

Sid and Nancy Sheer Dress, $79

I'm dying. 

Kimya Dawson's Playing a Basement Show at My House!

So this happened:

Kimya asked Twitter for a basement to play in this Sunday, and I offered up mine. She will be feeding everyone with banana pancakes, smoothies, and singing sweet, sweet melodies. There are no words for how excited I am. I have been a fan of The Moldy Peaches and Kimya Dawson for a while now, but I first became familiar with K Records a couple of years ago while helping Mark Baumgarten transcribe interviews for a new book he was writing on the history of K (Love Rock Revolution). I immediately fell in love with K's story, their artists, and their DIY aesthetic. In one of the interviews, Jean Smith of Mecca Normal described the K scene as a sort of pie-baking, marshmallow-roasting, summer camp atmosphere. And I love Kimya for keeping this sense of community alive and making her music on a local and homemade level.

This is going to be a lot of fun! So please come!

Sunday, March 10th:

16901 28th DR SE
Bothell, WA 98012

Banana pancake/smoothie party: 6pm
The musical stylings of Kimya: 7pm

Everything is free!

Nerdy Item of Note: Glitter Art

Everyone who knows me knows that I love all things sparkle and glitter. I don't know what it is, but if something is covered in glitter, I want it. I stumbled upon this while in search of more Buffy art, because what is moderation? You can never have too much Buffy fan art on your walls. This, and a whole slew of other awesome glitter art are sold on Etsy (a great place to find and support amazing artists) from TigerGalindo. Check out this one of Spock:

The colors are just amazing. And these aren't prints. Each one is an original piece. I'm dying to run my fingers over that glitter. And the best part is, he even does custom orders! You know what I'd love? A Felicia Day or Amber Benson one. Mmhmm. Who would you want a custom glitter art piece of?

Ner-DIY: Upcycled VHS Camera

Last week Bethany (Macbarbie07) posted a great video where she makes home decor out of soda cans and water bottles. The project that stood out the most to me was the camera made out of Arizona cans. Watch the video here:

I wanted to make a camera too, but I don't really drink Arizona or soda very often and I wanted to make something that represented something that I like. Then I realized that I still had a huge box of old VHS tapes stored at my boyfriend's place. When I first started really getting into films in middle school, I bought and collected a lot of VHS tapes because I still had a VHS player, I grew up watching VHS, and they were crazy cheap. I've been looking for a way to turn my tapes into a craft project, but couldn't come up with something that hasn't already been done before, like turning them into notebooks. But then I thought, I could turn the sleeves into this camera! So with some very minor adjustments, I followed Bethany's instructions from the video and made my own cameras:

Dazed and Confused

Pulp Fiction

Fight Club

Pretty in Pink

This was a lot of fun and I loved the way they turned out. I was happy that I was able to find a way to incorporate part of the VHS tape itself for the lens. Although, I have to admit that it was hard for me to do. I felt so bad defiling it, a form of media that I really love. But I'm not using the VHS anymore, and they were just gathering dust in the garage, so I'm glad that I found a way to re-purpose them and revisit the movies that I love. Plus they make for really cute decor and great gifts as well if you make them out of your recipient's favorite movie! And that's exactly what I'm going to do. (: I made ten of them today and only stopped because I ran out of hot glue sticks.

If you have some old VHS tapes lying around, you might want to give this a try! Or what else do you think you can use this camera template for?