Late October Sunset

Shoe Printing

Last night, while drinking Witches Brew, I got a couple ideas. I was working on altering a giant black hoodie, tried to fix the zipper(you know how they get warped and bubbly and make you look like an alien is poking out of your tummy), ended up removing it all together and now it's a "cardigan-hoodie". I thought about spray painting something on it, but then I got the idea to put shoe prints instead. Here are some instructions if you'd like to try it!

Shoe Printing

1. Find a pair of shoes you don't mind slopping paint on and have an interesting pattern on the bottom.
2. Find clothing or fabric you want to print. Paint may soak through the layer you are printing on so be sure to protect your table surface and/or the layers of fabric underneath with tinfoil, glass, box board, etc...
   
3. Quickly brush paint onto the underneath of one shoe.
4. Press the shoe onto your piece of clothing or fabric as hard as you can, pressing down all areas...or not, depending on the look you want!
5. Lay a piece of thin cotton fabric over your prints and set with an iron to be sure the paint won't wash out in the washer.
   
6. I recommend then dipping the clothing in water and drying it in the dryer to further set the paint. Then when you're ready to wash it, wash on the delicate cold setting or hand wash.

Witches Brew

I tried the spiced wine called Witches Brew from Leelanau Cellars in Michigan last night. They only make it until Halloween and then you have to wait until next Fall. I really liked it! I didn't know what to expect. It was on sale for $5. It's really spicy and really sweet. Especially spicy and fragrant when it's heated up as the directions on the bottle recommend warming it in a cauldron. I used a microwave... A nice cold October night treat.

IF YOU CARE

I found a tip in a magazine about baking brownies in cupcake cups and I thought that would be fun to try. When I was looking at baking cups at the store I came across some brown paper cups from the company IF YOU CARE. The name made me smile because it's kind of sarcastic and makes it sound like you'd be an ignorant fool to buy anything else.

And their products are awesome! Their baking cups are unbleached, grease-proof, and no grease is needed. Their parchment paper is coated with silicone(natural), making it re-usable and no grease needed, instead of quilon(a chemical containing chrome, which is toxic and leaves trace elements when incinerated). They also make 100% recycled aluminum foil and coffee filters.

Cereal Boxes = Mailers/Gift Boxes/etc...

Cereal Boxes are:

1) Great for mailing non-fragile items like clothing.

2) Light-weight so they keep postage cost down.

3) They're recyclable.

4) They're free! There's always a ton in the box board bin at your local recycling center if you're not a cereal fanatic like me.

5) Gives your packages/gift boxes character or turn them inside out so the graphics are on the inside.

6) Clean, any runaway cereal crumbs can be shaken out!