It's Only a Paper Shoe

Every Christmas I get a Workman Publishing shoe calendar.  And every year (well, every year later), I cut out the pictures because they're too exquisite to throw away.  Here's a sampling of my stash:

So, some weeks ago, in the spirit of my recent use-every-part-of-the-pig crafting ethic, I decided to make some of them into brooches.  At first, I was pretty excited.  I glued and rhinestoned and ribboned, all the while thinking, "Hey, I'm on to something!"  But, then, without warning, the whole enterprise began to seem kind of doomed, the pieces shaping up to be -- for lack of a better word -- wonky.  It was all very disappointing, kind of like spotting the perfect pair of pumps on a far-off department store riser only to find out that they have kitten heels.  But such is life, so often trampled by the foibles of footwear.  I'll either wear them myself or add them to my free gift grab bag, but I won't list them.

Dress: JCPenney

(No need to adjust your monitor; those are indeed two different shoes that you're seeing.  Although I've never braved the look myself [too much uneven pavement out there] it's my nod to Helena Bonham Carter, who's done just that on more than one red carpet.)

Pink T-strap: Payless
Blue leopard pump: Ami Clubwear
Black scarf: JCPenney
Belt: B Fabulous
Bow scarf: Gifted
Fuchsia scarf: Express
Sunglasses: Relic, Kohl's
Bag: Fred Flare

On an unrelated note, I may have given Halloween candy short shrift last week.  Since then I've been scarfing down the leftover fun-sized snacks, an experience that reintroduced me to the joys of Twizzler-tinged Milky Ways and Snickers-scented Dots, flavor mash-ups that could come only from the fragrant fracas of a Halloween candy bowl.  Chocolate and fruit, delightfully artificial and all up in each other's grill -- it doesn't get any sweeter than that.

Why, How Kitschy of You!

Blue Candy Wrapper Bangle

Large Fast Food Tote

Bright Lights Corsage Necklace

It's no surprise that I like to describe my Tote Trove items as kitschy. To me, the word encompasses all that is quirky, outside of the box, and colorful (both in appearance and personality). At least it did until now.

Driven by no other motivator than boredom, I decided to Google the word one day. Here's a sampling of what came up:

"Art using popular culture icons, mass-produced objects; means "worthless" in German."

"Art characterized by sentimental, often pretentious poor taste. It is typically clumsy, repetitive, cheesy and slickly commercial."

"Pretentious, low-quality work which is "thrown together"."

Oh, my. Turns out that "kitschy" is not exactly the cute descriptor I though it to be. I mean, "clumsy," "slickly commercial," "low-quality," and "worthless" have such ugly, negative connotations. But then again, "pretentious" isn't so bad. If by pretentious they mean an abundance of rhinestones proclaiming awesomeness.

You know what? I've decided to make my peace with this. Because one person's poor taste is another person's weirdly appealing. And I'm all about the weirdness.