How To: Sex-Kitten Curls with Curlers

Ok, if you're reading this, you're like me... LOVE the Victoria's Secret wavy hairstyle, but can't figure out how to get past the Shirley Temple curl. Look no further, I am here to teach you!

-and I'll be quick about it too-

First off, please note that my hair sucks. It just does. It's super straight regardless of it has been slept on wet/dry, air dried, blow dried, towel dried... You name it. It's lifeless. I thought I was going to have to accept my fate- to be forever alone without a single hair-style I love. Then, I started YouTubing, Blog Reading, Pinterest-ing and LO and behold... I realized there are a TON of girls out there just like me! 

The silly blond in me thought girls with gorgeous locks got that way simply by blow drying and curling... Um, false. This is simply not true. Even the best hair for curls needs some type of product in it. Don't sell yourself short- you can do this. I'm on a mission to find the best curls, so hop aboard and let us get started. 

All the blogs I read say to towel dry your hair and to avoid brushing it... 

Ummm no, you see this nonsense? This has to get brushed or it will be tangly. It needs to get blow dried or it will be finer than baby-hair. (FYI Go ahead and plug in your heat source now...before you blow dry)

My solution (that works for me) =

(Front to back 

+ for wet hair 

>For dry hair)

+ A mousse of some sort (you can stay at the roots and work your way to the ends, or you can just do the roots)

+ An oil (my stylist suggested Moroccan Oil, but let's face it- you see that Digi Cam bag in the background, yeah, our income is fixed... So I buy cheap. Use this oil ONLY on the very end of your hair. It's oil and will make thin hair look greasy)

> Dove Dry Shampoo (spray all over hair... This creates texture on fine hair which allows your hair to hold a curl)

-last, but not least... of course, a blow dryer and round brush. (The natural haired brushes make my already static-prone hair look like I was just struck by lightning. So I steer clear of those)

I tilt my head over while drying my hair to help add volume.

 If you are using regular curlers, a wand or a curling iron... Use the Dry Shampoo before you style it, but AFTER your hair is dry. 

Oh yeah, much better. Now, let's curl!

This is Revlon's Ionic Steam Curlers (in case you decided to ignore the picture above)... I just got it for Christmas and it claims to hold a curl without causing heat damage. Awesome! It has a *ticking* sound the whole time you use it though. Not awesome. Luckily, I tune things out easier than most people so it really didn't bother me. 

Start with a small to medium strand of hair. 

Starting in the MIDDLE portion of your strand of hair...Grab your curler, bringing your hair in front of it (so the curl will be away from your face) and wrap it around until you get to the very end. 

Once you have wrapped the hair all the way to the end, hold it there with your finger and roll the curler towards the roots. ***You will need to spread out the top portion of your hair as you roll so it covers the ends. This way your ends will not come loose as your curlers dry***

See? Now it looks like my old way of curling my hair. Ah, memories. 

Continue until your whole head is covered and you look like your great grandma. Yes, this photo needed to be in black and white. 

Take this time to do your makeup, dance to music, peel your children off your legs so you can dance alone or go on FB... The time is yours! I love curlers bc there's no need to set the curls once your hair cools down- no pinning, no hair spray (unless you want to use it. I only use hair spray for my artwork, but hey, to each their own). All the setting takes place AS the hair is cooling. My normal curlers (not the Ionic Steam set) take about 20 min to completely cool down, which gives me make-up and dress up time. These only take 1/2 that time. But no one is timing you so take as long as you want. 

When you're ready, take them out! 

Here's what Medium (far left), Large (middle) and Jumbo (far right) curlers look like when using the same amount of hair and cooling time. I like the Large the best.

I decided to curl my bangs too, bc... YOLO! 

Um, it was a no-go...

Luckily, I blowed out my bangs again and brushed my curls out just a bit and VOILA! Sex-Kitten Curls! It lasted about 5 hours, but kept falling bc I was outside in the wind and rain taking family pictures. Still, I'll take it. 

Turned out pretty good!

Tomorrow, I'm planning on curling with my wand so I'll post a "How to" about that as well and you can decide! Good luck!

DIY: Tile Drink Coasters

Have you ever had an idea that makes you go, "oh hot damn, WHY did I not think of this before?!" Um, well, that epiphany has happened in our house. 

You see, we had decorated tiles before. This is nothing new to me. The tiles we decorated were from a pottery shop and were not glazed so it was super easy to keep the paint from scratching off (hello Paint Sealer, it's me, Becca)

Like I said, this was years ago and I have not found a shop here that does pottery (to be quite fair, I haven't even looked...) so I went to the next, well, next-next-next best thing: Home Depot. The 4x4 Glossy Tiles were 13¢?!?! Um, what?! I remember paying like $5/tile... Damn starving artists lol. Sooooo, I bought 16. I had an idea for the boys to paint coasters as Christmas gifts for the grandparents- they love that stuff! Then, I saw the 6x6 Glossy Tiles for 48¢ and I just had to get those too... Pot holeders?? 

And I thought, "man, I'm awesome". Apparently, little man already knew this. 

(This was at Costco, but he's still adorable)

Anyways... While you're at HD, grab a can of Glossy Sealer bc you'll need that too...

I am using the sealer I have left over from my furniture redo so I skipped out on buying this. So let's recap what all you'll need:

NEED:

• 4x4 or 6x6 tile(s)

• paint/ sharpees for decorating (you can even use glitter)

• Q-tips

• Paint Brushes

• Paint Sealer

• Felt (for the bottom)

• Scissors

• Hot Glue / Mod Podge / Super Glue

• Something to paint on

• a congratulatory glass of wine and maybe some eggless cookie dough...

INSTRUCTIONS:

1) Cover your work area. Not kidding. Anything that involves children with paint will result in a HUGE mess. 

Case and point... This is the aftermath. 

2) Strip your kids. Or at least put them in clothes you really don't care about. Kids. Are. Messy. 

And to think, he was clean just a minute ago...

3) Use a Q-tip to paint and watch the masters at work... Unless you forget to take your brushes out of the art bin and the boys get to them... Oh well. It is water based so it came out of everything (except the shirt lol). We used a combination of craft paint and sharpees. Since I am an artist, I have tons of random art goodies on hand at any given time. It's a curse, but the boys love making masterpieces so it's worth it. 

They are so cute. Jman DOES have on undies btw. Even though he likes to whip out his penis in the open flap and dance around... I just don't understand boys. I'm serious...

Back to the coasters:

We made some with hand prints, but most without. Overall, they looked great and I didn't help out as much as I wanted to. For real, being a perfectionist is a curse. The struggle is real folks!

4) Let Paint/ Sharpee dry for at least an hour. This is just a precaution. Acrylic paint (and ESP craft paint) dries in about 10 min. Ours took a little longer bc the boys made Paint Mounds. Who am I to mess with the vision? Lol. Use this time to give your kids a bath. The craft paint peels off very easily, but I would do a shower first until almost everything is off- DO NOT SCRUB - that shit hurts! If it doesn't come off easily, let them soak in the tub for a few minutes and then wash it off. We did a bubble bath. I got more of a bath than the boys and I was on the outside of the tub. Awesomeness. 

As a punishment, I made Cinderella I and II clean the floor on their hands and knees! Mwahahahahahahahah. I'm totally kidding, they actually love to clean (not to be confused with picking up toys and putting them away bc they hate that. I'm talking about wiping down surfaces and vacuuming. Which I'll gladly take.)

5) wait til the kids go to bed and apply 1 coat of Paint Sealer. It really only needs one coat. Let that dry over night. 

6) Cut felt & glue it on to each tile. Do this by laying the tile on top of the felt, tracing it, then cutting it out. The tiles have lines on the bottom, so hot glue, glue or mod podge on those lines. Hot glue is easier (IMO) bc it dries super fast stays on! Also, glue around the perimeter of the tile so there's no chance of it coming up!

7) Have a drink and pat yourself on the back! You did it. You're amazing. You're probably going to be giving the best presents your parents have ever received from your children. I know mine are going to love it. I mean how can they not?! They're GRANDPARENTS and my children are gifted! Hahahaha

Good luck!!!

Upcycling Veneer Furniture

So I did it; I finally accepted the fact that we are "for sure" done having children. Many of you knew this bc I told you I was done. A few of you who really know me, knew I was having a very serious internal struggle. I love kids. Um, well, I love MY kids. And I DO want a full house. I want big holidays, full sports schedules and no time to watch what I want on the TV. I know; I'm crazy. It's ok if you think that as well, but I really wanted a little girl. I'm totally OK with having two boys (as if I could ever just send them back)- they love me so much. Much more than they love sleep apparently, but still, I'll take it. It's not a forever thing. But they're boys- no bows, dresses or Barbies. No trying on my make-up and shoes (although they BOTH have eaten my make-up and used my shoes as weapons...say it with me now, "BOYS!!!") or letting me do they hair...😭 but... Kids are expensive and we are on a single income for now. Plus, the whole pregnancy, labor, delivery and recovery thing does NOT agree with me. Period. 

So, I bit the bullet and sold everything baby related. The last items to go were the crib and changing table (and they went to a wonderful friend which really helped. Yes, I cried over inanimate objects. Even before I sold them. It's hard to get rid of things and anyone who tells you otherwise, is a dad.). The baby's room doubles as a guest room and up until now, it looked like a baby's room that just so happened to have a Queen bed in it. 

Let's move forward. The baby has no furniture. I have a creative mind. We are on a budget. Enter: Pinterest. The very Bain of my existence. I love Pinterest just like every other person out there, but it really gives me false hope. Maybe I'll post some of my Pintrocities later on. Or maybe I'll just keep that in the back of the closet next to my old ASG {my mom and dad's old gymnastic center} T-Shirts fr when I was 10 that I keep holding on to in the off chance I learn how to quilt... I'm keeping them forever...

Ok, so in walks Pinterest and she says, "Hey Becca, don't you have some old furniture you can Upcycle? I know I remember you posting about it a couple

Months ago. Why don't you just click the search engine again and see what pops up, eh? I believe in you."

Bitch. 

But I did it anyways and I'm so glad I did! I have a dresser from when I was a kid and some night stands from when my parents first got together. And I'm SERIOUSLY pissed at my husband for making me get rid of the matching armoir bc it would have been absolutely stunning. Here they are:

(Totally 80s, but I really do love these night stands)

(Don't mind the baby...he follows me everywhere)

These DEFINITELY need a redo and I just thought, "hmmm, antique bottom and dark brown top?" My husband said no, so, naturally, I tried to prove him wrong. Curse my inner competitiveness. 

What you will need:

Brushes (decent quality)

Old rag

Primer (water based)

Paint (water based: if you want to see brush strokes, use an acrylic otherwise, use a latex)

Stain (oil based)

Sealer (latex, glossy)

A paint stirrer

A pan can key 

Paint thinner (for cleaning your brush)

3-5 days of times

What you might need:

Wood filler

Sand paper

Hand sander

What you definitely do not need:

Your husband

1)PRIME!!! Since I am not staining it (in the traditional way), I did not need to sand. The primer I purchased stated specifically that there was no need to sand. So, I did not.

The night stands were a dark brown already, so I timed the front and sides, two times, and left the top alone. With the dresser, I primed everything once bc it was a medium gray. Let dry in bw coats. (Water based = clean with soap and water)

2) Paint! I went with a cheap Paint + Primer combo in a flat finish (it really doesn't matter what you pick bc your Sealer is glossy). I grabbed a gallon size bc I also use white paint as a base for all my paintings 👍, but I only grabbed a small can of the dark brown. I used 1 coat on each. I wanted to have a faux wood grain texture so I was careful to keep my lines straight so that the stain had something to grab onto. It's your call though- you can use a brush or a roller. (Clean brushes like before!)

(Already it looks better)

3) Stain: for the front and sides, I used a brush on, wipe off approach. It worked better on the night stands, but maybe that's also based on wood type? Idk. I know nothing about wood. My apologizes. Anyways, so try my approach first and if it comes off looking lighter than you want, try it again and leave it on for a bit longer. That's what I did for the dresser. I brushed it on a drawer, did a second drawer, then wiped off the stain from the 1 st drawer. Looked great. For the tops of the night stands and dresser, I did not wipe off the stain. It looked fantastic and (in all honesty) I wanted to see how it would turn out. Trial and error...(oh, this is an oil based stain so if you want to keep your brushes, clean them with paint thinner)

(Left: with stain; right: without)

(Left: after I wiped off the stain; top right: the stain I used; bottom right: with stain and after it has been wiped off)

4) Sealer: I used a latex clear coat, high gloss sealer that came in a 1/2 gallon. I figured I would use it elsewhere... They also came in spray cans, but I decided that would be an awful choice for us. Anyways... So I went over every items once. It dries in an hour; able to handle/move it in 2 hours; able to use in 48-hours. (Sealer is water based, so please thoroughly clean your brush with soap and water or else your brush will be hard as a rock in an hour...)

(It's so happy to be in its new spot)

Gosh, I pretty much feel unstoppable. Well, not really. But I DO want to Upcycle freaking everything in my house... It's a sick obsession right now. I redid my glider 

(Sad, sad little glider. You have too many memories on you to ever get rid of... I love you)

(Finished!! Everything is able to be taken off and washed. And that's a great thing too bc this little man does NOTE have his diaper on...)

I would love to do a tutorial on this, but I am terrible at sewing and would not know where to begin. Sorry, you'll have to admire from afar... Or go on Pinterest...

Design On a Dime: Christmas Pictures

If you're anything like me, you love to go to Michael's (& Hobby Lobby). A lot. And you probably married someone like my husband... The Jew (I can say this bc I am, in fact, 1/2 Jewish. He's Catholic. Dad's Christian. I'm a Chew. Judge away. If you can't laugh about that, I'm sorry but we can't be friends.)

So my Scrooge put a limit to our spending each month which has REALLY got me prioritizing. It's crazy. Thank God for Pinterest, but even then, I'll look and think, "holy crap, there's no way her house can look like that without being broke"... 

Then, I had an epiphany. 

I remembered my inner Jew. I thought, "Hell, I'm creative. I can do this without breaking the bank!" And I did. 

So my Pinterest inspiration came in the form of fabric-covered canvases for every holiday. Now, I do love me some fabric and canvases... But it's expensive and I have kids. Boys, actually, so you know whatever I make needs to be cheap bc it is not going to make survive them. 

My solution: cover existing picture frames with wrapping paper. I wish I had taken step by step instructions, but it's pretty self explainitory. Lay the picture frame "picture-side down" and wrap the frame. Do not wrap the back (or if you do, leave the picture hanger brackets exposed). Then hang it up! 

Not too shabby!! I got the wrapping paper and tape from the Dollar Store... So this whole thing was on about 75¢

Be sure to post your creative projects on to MOOSEink's FB page!!!

DIY: Burlap Wreath- Tutorial

Burlap Wreath (method 2)

If you follow my FB page (MOOSEink), then you saw another wreath I made. If not, here's a picture (sorry, but I'm not using my Canon, just the iPhone so the colors are not amazing... Nor the quality. Don't judge) 

This wreath used a similar method to the one I made tonight. Once I find the link to the blog I used, I will insert it here. 

Ok, onto the tutorial. 

HERE'S WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

•18" wire wreath ($5 @Michael's)

•10yd burlap ($7 @Michael's unless you buy on sale... Which I did!! Woo-hoo for $2.50!!)

•7-10yd deco mesh (I had a coupon but I think it was $5 @Michael's)

•5-10yd ribbon (I used some left over fabric I bought to make a scarf)

• roll of twine/thin ribbon/yarn -or- 18 pipe cleaners

In this tutorial, I used yarn bc I ran out of pipe cleaners and I was SOOOO not going back to Michael's. But Becca, how did you run out of pipe cleaners? Didn't you buy a bag that had roughly 100? Yes, yes I did. As a matter of fact, they were all present and accounted for before I ran to Michael's this morning and left the boys with my very capable husband. Somehow, in a 2 hour time span, I went from having a little over 80 pipe cleaners, down to 4. Where are the others? Hmmm, good question. They are probably hanging out with my missing hair dryer attachment and remotes. I will find them in 18-months when we move. Until then, I'm McGuyver-ing it with yarn. 

Sooooo, if you're like me and have a ton of yarn just laying around and want to use that... Go for it. If you're using yarn, cut 36 pieces. If you're using pipe cleaners, get out 18. Yarn in bold; pipe cleaners in Italics. 

Yarn: 2 strands at a time, double knot the yarn to the inside of the wire wreath, making sure there is equal length on both sides. 1 per section. Do the same for the outside. 

PC: Loop PC through wreath, making sure there is equal length on both sides. Twist once. Start with inside. 1 per section. Do the same for the outside. 

And that just screams to my boys, "YOU MUST TOUCH ME NOW AND SWING ME AROUND UNTIL YOU HURT ONE ANOTHER AND DRIVE YOUR MOTHER INSANE!!" So, I waited til they went to bed. Apologies. 

Next: Start in the innermost wire: take your burlap and tie it with a double knot -or- twist once 

Add the deco mesh, using the same technique. 

Fantastic. Now, grab about a hand's length down from where you attached your initial piece of mesh/burlap and tie it or twist it together on the next section. 

If you are using the yarn, it'll feel loose. If you are using PC, you won't have to work as hard to make it secure. Continue this process all the way around the innermost wire and then attach your mesh/burlap to the outermost wire. 

Starting to see it coming together? Keep it up! Using the same process as the inner circle, attach the mesh/burlap to the outer circle. 

You will have some left over. A lot, actually. If you are like me and hate to waste any fabric, ever, continue on. If you don't mind wasting, the you can stop and move on to the ribbon part. 

All others, here you go. 

Using the same technique, make the mesh/burlap go in between the two circles and attach using BOTH yarn strands -or- PC from the outermost and innermost parts of the wreath. 

It's a freaking CRAZY concept, but i'm telling yeah try it. Continue through the middle circle and tie off at the end.

Looks good doesn't it? Now flip it over and tie the strings together or twist the PC around.

Now you can stop or you can add ribbon. I had leftover fabric and decided to try using that. I did not like how the strings left very noticeable areas on the wreath (even after I fluffed it), so I used my fabric to hide the visible string. Turn your wreath so the right side is facing you...I weaved the fabric over the string and then under it for each section, making sure I kept my fabric in the middle circle. I ended up having to cut two strips of fabric and tie them onto the wreath. You can do that or you can use hot glue. Or you can be really crazy and do both. 

Go all the way around the wreath and then tie off OR make a bow. I opted for a bow, but I might end up stitching together my fabric with my left over deco mesh to make the bow stand out a bit more. Who knows. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, yes. That is probably what I'm going to do.  

And there you have it. Fluff out each portion to make it appear bigger. Add cute things to it too- just know, that's typically where these things get expensive... And if you can see through your wreath in some areas, don't worry, no one is going to notice the wire from the street. Go pour yourself a glass of wine and have your husband, boyfriend, girlfriend or whomever witness your awesomeness. For real, you deserve a pat on the back. 

If you make a wreath using this technique, please, leave a picture on my FB page!! I want to see them all!!