Naruto shoes DIY

Wow, it's been a long time since I have posted anything to this blog!! Blame my PHD getting in life's way ;-)

In the last year, I have studied for and written my comprehensive exam. Submitted my proposal. Organized a international conference. Travel to Vancouver and Florida to present papers and off course taken care of my two amazing kids who are now 1 and a half and 3 and a half!

Right now, I am working on my thesis! Yeah! It's the last stretch... so what do I do... decide to get back into cosplaying!

Well I can totally blame my thesis director for that... As I study asian influence in francophone picturebooks, on my reading list for my exam were quite a few "manga study" books I had to read. One of which was a Naruto case study. Add that to my own daughter finding the manga at home and being all excited to have found a "new coloring book"... and there we are... getting the kids ready for their first cosplay experience! Fan Expo 2015 here we come... Naruto style.

So that brings me to the footwear issue... How do I get my not quite 2 years old son and my not quite 4 years old daughter to have awesome looking Naruto shoes (in their size) that are comfortable enough for them to spend the entire day walking in them! (Yes cosplaying with Toddlers is a whole different ball game! But more on that in a different post!)

Dollorama to the rescue!

Here is a tutorial on how to make Naruto shoes from 2$ dollorama crocs.

Note that these ones are black-ish as they will be for my daughter who wants to cosplay as Gaara. On some pictures, you will see a blue-ish variation that are for my husband (Kakashi). 

I kept the whole thing very simple and affordable as

1.  I have 5 pairs to make and really I should be working on my thesis... not on making Naruto shoes.

2. Two off the pairs are tiny and do not leave much room for details.

3. Everything should be simple in life.
4. Shoes  2$, for the rest I used scrap fabric and some craft foam (also from Dollorama)

Also, the shoes are not meant to be replica of the anime version (they could if you wanted them to be). We decided to make our cosplay more like the Naruto Live Action. Therefore we did some variation and intend on making them look like they have seen some real action :-)

1. Cut the shoes

2. I added a leather insole for comfort. You could skip that step if you wanted too.

For the top of the boot
1. Cut a long rectangle on the fold. Make sure it is long enough to go around your ankle, with enough space to slip your foot in. Make sure it is high enough for the height of the boot (add about and 1 inch to the desired height.The fold should be at the top of the boot.


2. Open up your rectangle, and sew the "height" together into a tube. Once you are done, flip it over and fold it back in half.

3. Inside the fold, slip in the foam noodle (for the kids shoes, I cut the noodle length wise, to remove half the bulk. For the adult shoes, I left it as is. Make sure it is completely in. I used pins to keep it in place. Make sure the bottom hem is even. This is also a good time to try it on. Your foot should be able to slip in easily.

4. Sew tightly against the noodle. Push the noodle in and gently pull on your fabric as you sew. To make sure the noodle is all the way to the top nice and even.

5. Once it is done, you will see how nice and structure the top of the boot is.

6. Now slip in the foam between the two layers of fabric.

 7. Quickly baste around the bottom hem to keep the foam in place. By now you should have a nice structured upper boot.

On the fabric, mark the shoe length from the toe cut to the heel.
Add about an inch to the length and expend the toe area upward.
Cut two piece for each shoe (so 4 in total)
Sew the heel together, and the top (if you don't want a seam over the toe area, cut the fabric on the fold)

Turn over, attach the shoe cover to the upper boot part.
Align the back seam of the upper boot, with the heel seam.
Turn it over.
Finish the hem around the bottom.



























Here you have two choices

1. finish the hem over the toes, OR 2. add another piece that will fold back into the inside of the shoe. It is not anymore work and makes for a nicer finishing.


Last, I added elastic underneath for greater stability.

Once the shoes are done, go a head and add any details you might want to add. I am still in the process of distressing them, once done, I will add a picture. But this is a basic Naruto shoe that is extremely comfortable.

The true measure of success!

Being successful has always been really important to me! In my everyday life, in everything I do! I pride myself in the work I undertake, in the lifestyle I have and in the friends and family I surround myself with. As you probably know, I am dedicated to my studies while directing an household of four. For the most part, I feel very successful in both my family and work life! But I must admit that over the years, the way I measure success has greatly changed.

Sure!

An academic publication = success

Sure!

A conference well done = success

Sure!

A clean, well kept house = success

BUT

Success also equals = surviving another day with a toddler and an infant

Success also equals = a trip to the grocery with two kids

Success also equals = any outing without a tantrum

Success also equals = having both kids in bed withing 3 hours

and....

Success also equals = everything else that comes with kids that you never thought would ever be part of your life again such as

The not so pretty, the bad and the ugly... momma PHD

 

I took this picture yesterday morning, as I was trying to get ready to go to work. And by work, I mean go to my University to get some work done on my thesis proposal.

My daughter was clearly not happy...

I said to her : "Smile for mommy" and this is the evil look she gave me.

I was trying to get her ready to go to her school... She loves it there... but she doesn't like how rushed we are in the morning... 

How mommy has to get ready... get Phénix ready... get her ready.... 

It is hard not to feel guilty. But when it happens, I try to remember that I am lucky enough to be home with my kids, 5 days a week. I didn't have to go back to work after a six weeks maternity leave... 

Phénix will probably never remember I left him at home 8 hours a day twice a week...

Yet, I feel guilty. I feel torn. One part of me wants to stay home with my kids while they are little... we all know how fast they grow... But part of me also wants that PHD... more than anything...

And in those moments... when the guilt takes over... when I realized I spend more time in front of the computer than with my kids, that Phénix only ate 2 oz all day when I was gone, that my house looks like a hurricane went through...

I take a moment... I close my eyes... and I remember why I do this!

When my eyes are closed, I can see myself... in my black graduation gown... crossing the stage, while holding Hudson and Phénix's hands, to receive my diploma! 

This is the image I am holding on. The only one worth this chaotic life. Not an image of "me" gradating. Not and image of "me" with my happy family. But instead, the combined image of me graduating with my family! 

One or the other could not make me happy.

If I had one but not the other, I would not feel happiness, I would not feel successful..

I need one and the other to define me...

But more importantly: I have to keep my eyes on the price!

Today, Phénix is 4 months! Compared to his sister, he is a big boy! Some days, I find, he never was little. Growing too fast... way too fast... This week, twice, he sat up by himself! He also started swimming lessons and let me tell you, he is a natural! Last week, he grabbed a toy for the first time! I am telling you... he is growing way too fast.

Today, his big sister is 28 months... and she rocks my world. I love how stubborn she is. I love how much self-confidence she has. But what I LOVE most about her, is how caring she is. She makes me proud in so many ways! If only she could consistently sleep through the night... alas... it is still a fierce battle to get her to bed.... But I am sure... one day... I will miss it ;-)

  

Little Tuna is 20 months!

Well it just occurred to me that I never posted about Tuna turning 19 months... You can blame it on a very busy life at home and at school... mix with a bit of sadness as Ayumi left us to go back to Japan. So, with that being said, what have we been up too... 

Tuna is still breastfeeding, we are still working on the potty training which now stands at 90% (basically we are still working on overnight and long car ride), Tuna speaks speaks speaks... she also has a mind of her own and is really good at saying No! and AGAIN!!! Tuna loves the park, loves the pool and loves the sand box. Basically Tuna loves being outside. A typical day looks like... breakfast, outside, outside, lunch, walk+nap, outside, snack, outside, dinner, bath time, bed. I roughly calculated that on a good weather day, she is outside for over 7 hours... ouf... but isn't that where a kid should be!

Tuna also loves Hello Kitty and cars... She loves her hot wheels and she loves her blinged out hello kitty gears.

Tuna is also getting really excited about "Bébé"... she insist on sharing everything with "bébé"... needless to say my belly is generally really sticky... between the fact that she tries to feed bébé and she likes to share her stickers with bébé... you get the picture. Bébé also gets lots of kisses! We started preparing things for "bébé" and she loves to help. She has also been practicing how to put diapers on her doll.... 15 weeks to go....

As for me, I am doing fairly well. It has been so far a much easier pregnancy (knock on wood) and time is flying by... mostly because I have been so busy with school and Tuna.
 
 

The house is so calme right now... we could hear a mosquito fart

Ouf! What a week! It was back to school for Tristan and me! I had really meant to write a year in review post but time just keep slipping away! I will however try really hard to finish posting about the trip on Japan and the trip to Vancouver/Seattle. I also wanted to write an up-date about Hudson's sleeping "problems" but that will also have to wait. Beside there is very little to say... she is still a horrible sleeper. We have been nursing through the night for the last 5 days. I am sleep deprived (is that new) and dealing with an over tired grumpy little lady! Breastfeeding has become this double edge sword. It is so convenient, healthy and makes dealing with a sick/teething/grump toddler so much easier. But on the other hand, it makes me the sole provider of comfort, which can be a daunting task when you hit your 5th day in a row without proper sleep! But enough of this said...

What I really meant to write about today was : ME! My PHD student self... and how I fared in my first semester back after having Hudson. So here is it... my self-assessment report card as both a mommy and a grad-student...

I give myself a C+

I really would deserve A for Effort... but the sad truth is that I almost lost my sanity trying to joggle my house life with my school life. In fact, I did such a poor job at it that I even considered quitting. I did so poorly that by mid-October, I was ready to give up. I was so far behind in all my school work that it did not even seem possible to obtain passing grades in any of my courses. How did it come to that? Well, there was many reasons... Hudson, the commute, the wedding, the oversea conference... but in fact... I was the only person to blame. I made poor choices (perhaps I was just naive) and paid the price. I have since then learned from my mistake. And I feel ready, this semester, to do what I wasn't able to d o in the fall! Enjoy my life. Here are some of the things I have learned along the way: 

- Even thought it looked like I was home most of the time, I do need 40 hours a week to get all my work done. At first, I had assumed I could squeeze in my homework at night when Hudson is asleep (I know funny isn't it), if it wasn't for Gavy who stepped in and started babysitting for me, I would not have finished the semester.

-Having a daughter is great, but it will greatly limit your ability to go away for conference, talks or to attend schmoozing event.

-Having a kid at home makes it really hard for you to show up at impromptu time to meet with students or faculty.

-Playing lego with your daughter is a whole lot more appealing than writing a 20 pages essay...

-No matter who much you LOVE the course you are taking, if you haven't slept in a few days, you will not be able to concentrate.

-Keeping a house clean, a daughter happy AND finishing a conference paper while planning a wedding and running back and forth between swimming lessons and doctor's appointment is not recommended.

-Realizing that I much rather spend my days playing lego with my daughter than reading Ricoeur for the 10th time...

-Realizing that I much rather clean my house than be reading Ricoeur for the 11th time.

-Realizing my husband is just not into cleaning... 

-Realizing that my husband still has no idea what is the difference between a night and a day diaper.

-Realizing it is nearly impossible to write a paper while breastfeeding my little wiggly baby...

But amidst all this, I also found out that :

-I love my field of study.

-I have a department willing to support me.

-I have a husband wiling to learn the difference between a night and day diaper.

-I have a house that still doesn't look too bad when messy.

but more importantly...

I am truly grateful that no matter how hard it is... no matter how little sleep I get... no matter how many conference I have to pass on...

I am happy I get to stay home all day with Hudson and study what I love all night!

And that is why I am looking forward to all the challenges this new semester will bring forth!

Because at the end of the day... when I finally get to rest my head on the pillow... I know I was lucky enough to be doing what I always wanted to do!

And if you wonder... one of the grade came out this morning... and I got an A+

And even though I gave myself a C+

Another thing deserves an A+

This: