Sleeping Braids

I have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn on work days, so I've been showering at night.  Though I don't like going to bed with wet hair, and with my hair being so long it takes forever to dry.  I've also found that with my hair length when it's loose it can strangle me in the night.   I'm constantly having to move it out of the way while I toss and turn.  So the past couple nights I've been trying to braid my hair while it's wet.  Since my hair is two different lengths, I have to start on the shorter side (the left), and work my way around.  When I get to the right side of my head I use the beginning braid as one strand in my new combined braid, and split the hair on the right side of my head in two, and braid those three strands together.  I'm not that great at french braiding, so it's a bit sloppy.

Sleeping is a lot easier with my hair like this, and I like the way my hair looks when I unbraid it in the morning.  I want to continue braiding my hair after I shower, and maybe one day I'll be really good at it.  That is also why I wanted to share a photo of how my braid looks now, cause hopefully with some practice I'll show some improvement.  Have a lovely sunday night, and sleep tight, chris!

Hair!

Today I want to share the evolution of my hair, and what I've learn about caring for my hair over the years.  When I was a young babe I had golden locks, that was usually a silky bunch of knots.  

Around seven my grandmom gave me a haircut.  It turn out to be a mullet.  Then we permed it.  With an at home perm.  My mom had this theory that perming my hair would make it thicker.  As a result I hated brushing my hair, and my brothers would call me dreads.  

For special occasions my mom would curl my hair with rag curlers or small foam curlers.  She would divide my hair up into little sections, and then twist the individual sections and wrap them around a rag.  Then tie it in a knot.  It worked best if done on a wet head of hair, and let set for at least 12 hours.  

Then we started professionally perming my hair.  It took hours, but the result was bigger, and lasted longer.  I still wish I had curly hair, but I don't think I'll be perming my hair anytime soon.

I'm not sure if my hair got thick enough, or if we realized perming my hair dried it out, but we stopped.  My hair straighten out for the most part.  I don't have thin hair, but I don't have thick hair.  It frizzes in high humidity.  It takes really well to curling, and looks great straightened.  Though I don't own a straightener or a blow drier.  

Through out middle school and high school I let my hair grow, and do it's own thing.  I didn't do much with it ever.  In eleventh grade my hair got the longest it had ever been, and hasn't been that long until recently.  

Before my senior portraits I cut off twelve inches of hair and donated it to Locks for Love.  My hair stayed above my shoulders up until the last couple years.  

During my first year of college someone convinced me to go for a 'pixie' haircut, and everyone told me it looked great.  Now that I have long hair, I'm having second thoughts about how good that style looked on me.  

Then I got cheap, and stopped paying for hair cuts, and I spent my money on hair dye.  I dyed my hair in all sorts of crazy fashions.  My fave was when the left front side of my hair was black, and the rest would be anything from blonde to bright red.  

After college I stopped using conditioner, and my hair became a mess of dreadlocks.  I was kind of amazed by how easily my hair became this tangled mess.  Though eventually my scalp got too itchy, because I was still washing my hair everyday, and it was beyond impossible to get all the shampoo out.  So the dreads had to go.

I let my hair grow out after I chopped it off, and quickly went for the asymmetrical cut.  This is the best photo I have of the best haircut I've had since I started rocking the super asymmetrical look.  

Now a days I've let the left side grow out to shoulder length, and the right side is more than half way down my back.  In order to keep my hair looking good every day I have to wash it, or else it gets too greasy looking.  Yet if I don't condition on a daily basis those dreads will be back.  I can save on shampoo and use whatever I want, but I have to spend on thick conditioner.  I also make sure to wash first off in the shower, so that when I condition next I pin my hair up with the conditioner in, and let it set while I shower.  The last thing I do before getting out of the shower is wash off the conditioner.  This is the only way I have found that deals with my knots without damaging my hair.  

Well I hope my hair story has been a fun adventure, and maybe you learned something interesting. :)  Happy DIYing, chris!a

August Wrap-Up

Another month gone by.  Summer is nearly done now, and fall is approaching.  A couple days ago I could sense autumn in the air.  It was dusk, and there were leaves blowing around on the street, and kids were playing on the corner.  There was an urgency to their play, knowing that soon enough it will be too cold and dark out after school to play outside.  Usually when I start getting the beginning-of-the-school-year-jitters there is a crispiness to the air around dusk, but not this year.  The days are still in the nineties, and we are luck to get a bit of relief in the high seventies in the evenings.  The humidity is high, and the mosquitoes are biting.  

Today I'm interrupting my weekly This Is Me with my August Wrap-Up.  I've managed to fit four more This Is Mes into this month, #9, #10, #11, and #12.  I think the twelfth one is my favorite from this month.  I pinned this drawing of mine from that posting, and whenever I see it I'm impressed.  I know that must sound tremendously cocky, but I'm rarely overly proud of anything I create.  So when I am please with something I've made I want to scream about it from the roof tops.  I'm super picky, and I always try to be my toughest critic.  

I've been busy with DIYs this month!  Which I'm super happy about.  I'm loving the Tri-colored Braided T-shirt Bracelet I made this month the most, but my Bleach Dip-Dyed Tank Top, and my wide upcycled Fabric Bracelet are tied for a close second.  I also made cute tiny Button Earrings, a Hair Bowtie made with ribbon, and I started getting ready for Halloween with some paper Black Rats.  

You can also check out one of my other bleach dip-dyed creation in this Outfit Post.  Which also happens to be be the only outfit post I made this month!  

Though I did share two hair-do photos, my favorite being my summer look, the Braided Crown.  I also showed how keeping your hair in a messy bun during the day can result in lush Voluminous Locks for the evening.  

I also shared two cute nail-dos in August.  My Pink Polka Dot do wins hands down, but my Sun Kissed Nails are delightful too.  

Aaron and I traveled up to New York for our buddy Derick's (unisex) Bachelor Party.  We had an awesome time with live music, good food, great friends, and fun ShotSkis!

Speaking of drinking, I've whipped up five new drink recipes this month!  I've been drinking a nonalcoholic version of my End of Summer Cocktail since the first night I mixed that refreshing drink up.  I've made a couple different white rum cocktails this month, a Cherry Rum drink, and a Kiwi & Cherries Cocktail.  I also made two sweet chocolatey milkshakes, a Peanut Butter Nutella Snicker Smoothie, and a Buckeyes Coffee Milkshake.  

Mmm Peanut Butter ... I'm still day dreaming of the Peanut Butter Pie I made near the beginning of August.  Is it too soon to make again?  I've also whipped up a couple zucchini recipes, Sautéed Zucchini, and Parmesan Zucchini Chips with a Creamy Caesar Dressing.  Another snack recipe I came up with was a Cheesy Pretzel Apple Snack.  

In addition to all these lovely things I've posted, and working (nearly) full time, I've been working every chance I get on our house.  Things are finally coming together.  Most of the downstairs is painted, and we've refinished our hardwood floors.  They are looking beautiful all aglow.  I can't wait to move in already!

So that's what I spent my August working on!  I'm excited for this new season, and all the changes it will bring.  What is your proudest creation from August?  Are you ready for Autumn?  Happy DIYing, chris!  

Braided Crown

This is my 2012 Summer Do: The Braided Crown.  It's beyond simple, and yet it looks complicated and stylish.  Definitely the cutest hot day hair-do.  

It's easiest to do this hair style when my hair is wet.  I begin by parting my hair down the center.

Then split the halves in half, and braid.  No fancy french braids, or anything special but a three strand straight forward braid.  Try to get as close to the end as possible, without leaving a long tail, and use a small rubber band to hold in place.  

Flop the back braid from the left over your head, and secure in place with bobby pins.  Do the same with the back braid from the right.  Repeat with the front braids.  

All done, cute as heck, and ready for a busy hot day!  All these photos were taken at the end of my work day, and it held up great.  Especially since I have a  fairly active job.  I'm a school photographer, and right now we're gearing up for the fall season, and training new hires.  Which means lots of setting up and breaking down our giant photo sets repeatedly.  We hire about twenty people every fall, and in about four days they need to learn how to set up about fourteen different things in under an hour.  It's a busy week, but it's a fun way to begin the season.  It keeps the job fresh and new, which makes it hard to get bored with it.  

I'd like to read a little.  My good friend is letting me borrow Game of Thrones, and I'm definitely getting into it.  I wish I had more hours in the day to read.  I also need to do some more laundry.  Have a great night, and happy DIYing, chris!

Bun Love.

Buns are the perfect daytime hair-do.  Especially when it's hot, and your busy lifting heavy things, and moving around a lot.  It's easy to make a bun look cute too.  Simply add a cute hair clip, like a bow-tie barrette.  Sometimes it's fun to tuck the hair clip up under your bun, for a fun surprise when you turn around.  

I especially like to wear buns during the day, because after a long day, and I'm ready to let my hair down my hair looks awesome, when I shake it out.  I love how full and wavy my hair is after wearing a bun all day.  

If I were to wear my hair down all day it would be super straight, and slightly greasy looking by this time of day.  

If I wore it in a plain ponytail I'd have a big crease in my hair.  A bun is the only way to go, when it comes to keeping cool with long hair.  Hope you're having a good Wednesday, and happy DIYing, chris!

This Is Me #3

#1. My favorite color as a child was blue.  I hated pink.  I rebelled against all things labeled 'girlie'.  

Sorry about the blue mark on my neck, some pen transfer on this old photo.  

#2.  My 20s has been all about reconnecting with my inner girl.  I love pink now.  I'm embracing lace, sparkles, accessories, animal prints, and frilly things.  I've been growing my hair out.  This is the longest it's ever been.

#3.  When I imagine what I currently look like, I always picture myself with blonder hair.  I was a true toe head growing up, but I slowly became whatever color I am now.  What is this chestnut brown?  No where near blonde.  

#4.  I used to build houses for Habitat for Humanity in Orange County, California.  I miss how rewarding that hard work was.  I am thankful for the people I got to work with, and it was a blessing meeting the families we were building the homes for.  They all had their own unique story.  

#5.  I love long rides in the car on beautiful sunny days.  Which is exactly what Aaron and I are doing right now!  We are heading to upstate New York to visit some friends.  We are going to a jack & jill bridal shower, and camping.  It's going to be a blast!  

Have a lovely Saturday everyone, and happy DIYing, chris!