lj lindhurst's squirtguns

LJ Lindhurst is really killing it with these photorealistic paintings of water guns (no pun intended). As is natural with photorealism, she has replicated these toys with unreal detail. Check out her website for more paintings of what she calls "often-overlooked detritus of our popular culture."

how-to: put a bow on it

For the past year or so, the only new shoes I've bought are black flats. I basically have two different pairs, one I leave at work and one at home. So when I saw these glittery flats and remembered seeing a really cute redesign of them and thought to myself... why not? Turns out that not only are they super cheap, they're also really comfortable! Head over to Stars for Streetlights for the full how-to and keep reading for my abbreviated version.

supplies: 

pair of shoes

scarf you don't mind cutting up 

scissors

hot glue gun 

minor sewing skills

When it comes to cutting the strips of scarf, you just want to make sure it's wide enough to sew into a tube and flip inside out. So when you cut the strips, the finished bow will be about half as wide as the strips you cut. My bow is not quite as voluptuous as the original DIY pair, but it's totally up to you. The scarf I was using had a border around it and that was the section that I wanted to use. Since I will mainly ware these to work, I wanted them to have clean lines. I'd definitely like to make a more colorful pair with a larger bow for next summer.

After you cut your strips of scarf and sew them into tubes, turn them inside out so the seams do not show. If your tubes are really skinny you can do this by using a safety pin to guide your way back through the middle of the tube. Then it's as simple as tying a bow and hot gluing the bow to the top of your shoe! Then a dab of hot glue under each arch of the bow to keep it in place, and a stripe of it on the edges to glue down the end pieces. This is slightly different than how Stacie did it, but again, it's totally up to you. I love how it makes the bow seem like it wraps around the entire shoe. The final step? Prepare yourself for compliments.