Tip for Tuesday & Good News

Thanks to everyone & your well wishes on my 1st year of blogging. It really has been a great time & like I said - thank you to everyone for the comments & checking in on a regular basis to find out what's happening in Hairland! Also thanks to everybody that gave suggestions on how to save my camera! That's the good news -- we think. When I first tried to use my camera after it'd taken it's "swim" it totally went all spazzy and was doing all kinds of weird things. But I let it sit for a few days and "dry" out. Well, I've taken a bunch of random pictures now, and it seems to be ok. I don't know if it'll be ok for real or break randomly in the middle of our vacation coming up ... so I'm still a little worried- but I'll use it as long as it seems to be normal. So wahoo -- and of course, the Babe that is responsible for the camera issue, is even more excited about not having the wrath of mom!! (go figure!)

Anyway, on with today's hair tip. This one comes from one of my wonderful regular readers Kara. I've never tried this one, but I like the sounds of it - and this would be great for teens or us moms. Once again, using a simple thing that most people probably have around the house - or if you don't it's fairly inexpensive to buy.


Kara says, "If your hair is greasy you can put a little baby powder on it and it dries up the grease. Only use a little or it will turn your hair gray. But it works wonders on my hair."

Cool right? If anyone else has tried this, or does try it, you'll have to report back & let us know what you think, ok? Well, that's it for today. Hope your day is wonderful. Can you believe June is already over. Sheesh! Time is flying.

Happy Blogiversary To Me!

(Image from Martha Stewart.com)

Yup - That's right -- 1 year ago today I started my blog. I had no idea how much I would enjoy it, what it would involve, or really what I was in for! :) But it's been a beautiful ride, and I have you guys to thank. Back when I started this whole thing my amazing brother, who's a guru at just about everything - including his awesome site - told me that like 80 or 90% of blogs don't make it past 6 months (I can't quite remember the % but it was high!) - let alone a year. I don't know if it was him telling me that that made me even more determined to stick around, or what - but hey I MADE IT!

I had it all planned out in my head that I was going to have some HUGE giveaway or have some amazing do to post today .... but, alas, life has happened, my husband has been out of town for a few days, and I've been able to do nothing but deal w/kids & such. AND -- I was given an early "present" yesterday by one of the babes, when she dropped my digital camera into the pool. Yes, that's right - into the pool. It boils down to me being in shock right now & so had I not logged in today and seen the little thing on my blog that told me Blogiversary was today I'd probably have forgotten! I never thought I'd miss a camera - but despite needing it for hair, we've got birthday's coming up, and a family vacation as well and so I really need it! It's too soon to say if it's ruined (yes, I'm still in denial) because I'm letting it "dry" out. It was a split second that my camera took a dip, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Anyway, I have a few hairdo's uploaded still so I'm good for a bit, but if for some reason my posts are fewer in coming for a bit - you'll know why.

But - again, I just want to thank YOU for your support and for making this last year so enjoyable. All your comments and e-mails, sharing pictures, your ups and downs with hair has been a blast for me (well not the downs - but you know what I mean!) So thank you from the bottom of my heart. Have a great weekend everyone!

A Bit of Asian Flair?

I wasn't quite sure what to call this, and for some reason it seemed to have a bit of an Oriental - or as my husband corrects me, an Asian look to it. If anyone can name it better, by all means, name away! We did this to attend a wedding reception recently and we got a ton of compliments on it.

Start by making the typical ponies to do puffy braids, or the "hair net" as it's sometimes called. I made triangles - sort of - 5 of them across the front of her head. Once again, I didn't know where I was going with this so my parts aren't overly straight. Section off 5 pony tails across the front of her head - parting in any shape you like.

Then from there, divide the middle front ponytail into 2. Join half of it with 1/2 of the ponytail to the right and tie those 2 pieces together with a rubberband.Sorry for this next pic being a big blurry and bright. Divide all the hair as you would for puffy braids or a hair net so that you now have 4 sections of hair tied off. To be festive, you could use red, white & blue rubberbands for this if you wanted for the 4th of July.
In case you need a more upclose look at the way things get divided out ...Once you've got the 4 strands/pony tails tied off, proceed to make a 4 strand braid down as far as you possibly can. For a refresher on how it's done watch my videos HERE. Tie the braid off with a little rubberband.
Now with the remaining hair that is hanging down, pull it back into a low ponytail at the nape of the neck and secure with a rubberband. (I just flipped all the front hair into her face & out of the way so I could get the back all smoothed down into the ponytail.)
Once you've made the low ponytail, bring the 4 strand braid back over on top of it and center it over the ponytail. (This pic looks like it's crooked ... but it wasn't!) Then sort of hide the rubberband at the end of the 4 strand braid in the hair of the ponytail. Wrap a rubberband around the ponytail about at the level of the rubberband that is in the 4 strand braid - all the while keeping it hidden in there! Does that make sense?! :) This is what it will look like:
You can see the rubberband from my 4 strand braid just below in this picture. Divide the hair below that rubberband into 2 pieces.
Pull the hair upwards underneath the ponytail so that each section of hair straddles the rubberband base of the low ponytail. The little tan rubberband I used is then up against my bright pink one.

Then pass the right piece of hair over to the left side, behind the 4 strand braid & pass the left section of hair to the right side, also behind the braid so that you are covering the pink rubberband.Then continue wrapping each section of hair, back around to the underside of your loopy bun. Tie off underneath with a rubberband.

I sort of forgot to take another picture of the last step. Once you've got the hair tied off underneith, it sort of fans out all spiky like. So I curled the ends up just a little bit so they fanned out a little nicer. Here's an up close look at the bottom of it all.
So what do you think? Does it have an Asian look to it, or is it just me?!From the front w/her head down:
From the side (ignore her less than enthused face --- not sure what was up there!)
My happy little Bug!One final shot, sort of looking from underneath a bit. You could add some fancy hair pins or something down around where the hair is wrapped around the base of the ponytail, but I didn't think it really needed anything to be honest.
The nice thing about this one, was those front rubberbands stay in so nicely and we get very little fly aways, so the next day I just had to redo the back portion of it & she wore it again a 2nd time. It was pretty slick!

Tip for Tuesday

It's Tuesday again & I've gotten several different tips from you guys already and I'm so excited to share this one today. I thought it's very appropriate & might be helpful since it's summer time & there is plenty of swimming going on.

This one comes from Lauren:

She and her daughter both have very blond hair. She got this tip from her hairdresser & she says it works wonderful & is cheap too! (Always a plus, right?!)

If you have trouble with your hair turning green from chlorine in the pool this is what she suggests:
"Lemonade Kool-Aid does the trick. Mix it with water and apply to the green parts of your hair (before shampoo). Try to avoid scalp and eyes. You can see how long it takes by watching the green disappear (usually not more then a couple minutes) rinse, shampoo and then condition. If you hair is super green, apply as many times as needed. Sounds crazy, but it works!"

I asked her if this only works on people with very very blond hair and if you don't have very blond hair if it would turn it yellow. She said she's never had any problem with that. She said she gets highlights too and has never had probs & her hair dresser uses it too.

So there you have it. Now don't come ready to kill me if this doesn't work for you though, ok?! I'm just passing along tips that other's give me, or that I find out for myself! I've never claimed to be an expert here remember! But you figure if she's doing it & being told to do it by her hair dresser, you're probably pretty ok! :)

* _ * _ * _ * _ *_*

Ok - now just a few other words - nothing tip related, if I may. This is more on a personal note, if you might indulge me for a moment.

I appreciate all the e-mails I've been getting recently of people requesting me to join Twitter or to follow them on Twitter, or however it all works. Also on Facebook. I know this is the way of the future I assume. I do do Facebook, but that, for me, has nothing to do with hair, and at this point I've chosen to keep it that way.

I know there are other bloggers out there that do all those things, and if it works for them that's great. I just have had to take a step back from things & look at trying to keep things in balance. I have this blog, along with a couple other private family blogs that I also have to keep up on and to do those, along with Twitter and a Facebook for hair, I just can't. I really can't. I know it's all fun and is a great way to social network, and put myself out there, etc., but I already feel like, at times, that my family, along with other major things in my life get put on the back burner just so I can spend time at the computer. And for me, that doesn't sit well with my conscience. I hope you can understand this & not be annoyed with me if I don't get involved in the whole Twittering & FB realm. This may make you not want to follow me or whatever, and I understand. But this is more a fun hobby for me, and I feel like if I start all that other stuff, it will start not being fun anymore and I don't want that to happen. For me this isn't about posting daily, being the best or anything like that - it's simply a hobby that I enjoy sharing with all of you. So thanks for your understanding and allowing me to try keep a balance between family & home along with blogging & the time I spend at the computer!

Ok - with that said, I also need to add, that I've always probably been a little slow at dealing with e-mail but as this summer has started, it's gotten even worse. So I've been playing catch up and had a TON of e-mails that I've worked through today. There are many new links I've added, new creative people, as well as hair doers so feel free to look around. I'm sorry I haven't been the best at linking about contests and such lately. Another problem with keeping up I guess. Like probably most of us, at times I'm more on top of the game than others -- and lately with the kids home 24/7 I'm not so on top of things so I ask for your patience. Know that if I don't happen to post about your stuff I'm not trying to snub you or be rude .... it's just that I may not get to it until it's too late & I'm sorry. Until my kids are older, maybe I'm not cut out for all this blogging! :) But I'm doing the best I can.

Alright, enough of all that. Come back tomorrow for a fun new hair post, ok?! I finally got it uploaded from my camera! Thanks again for everyone that follows me & takes the time to comment and show me the love! I appreciate all your support & patience!

Uneven Braid & Corkscrews

I've had family in town and so I haven't been able to do much blogging - so I'm sorry! Summer always proves to be busy too I guess! I've got several new do's but haven't uploaded them, so this is one I did randomly towards the end of school because it was quick and easy. We were on our way out the door (as you probably can tell from the pix) so hopefully you get what I did despite not having step-by-step pictures.

Part the hair from ear to ear like you're going to make a 1/2 pony.

Then divide that hair into 3 even sections. I just held the 2 sections I wasn't working on in the beginning with little claw clips to keep them out of the way.

Starting on the right, I did a corkscrew. Then tie it off with a rubberband. Then move to the middle (top) section and do an uneven 3 strand braid & tie it off with a rubberband (I didn't get this as uneven as I would have liked, but you get the idea!) On the last section -the left section do another corkscrew and tie it off with a rubber band as well.
Then kind of move the 3 braids/twists out of the way & smooth the remaining hair that is down in the back into a low ponytail at the nape of the neck. I made the ponytail first, and then added the 3 sections into the ponytail with another rubberband afterwards. Add a bow and you're done. We were running a bit behind this morning, so I didn't really curl her ponytail or anything. But it was still pretty quick & easy despite our the time crunch.
Here's the end result. Sorry about the flash in these pictures. I spaced turning it off so there's a bit of a glare. Anyway, she liked this one because she loves both corkscrews & the uneven 3 strand braid so it was the best of both worlds! :)

Tip for Tuesday

I've been meaning to start this sooner, but as always, life just gets away from me. I've been thinking that it'd be cool if we had some sort of weekly tip about hair - or maybe a couple times a month - whenever it warrants. And since in the world of blogging, you have to have some catchy phrase like "Wordless Wednesday" and so on - I'm going to go with "Tip for Tuesday." Ah, yes, so original & catchy I know!

Anyway, but before I get into today's tip (yes I know Tuesday is almost over) --- I've just got to say thanks for playing along with me on my last post. Reading your reactions was almost as fun as writing it. I was laughing my head off when I wrote that & only hoped you would do the same! I don't know how many of you actually read the whole thing or if you were just stunned by my weirdness and thought I'd lost it and then didn't read to the end to find out I was TOTALLY KIDDING. But I totally was kidding! We've got to have a little fun around here sometimes you know! I've got something else I might post that is a tutorial of sorts - but not hair related. If I get time I'll post that soon.

Anyway - onto "Tip for Tuesday." Some of you may already know this - but since I didn't, I thought I'd share. There's gotta be at least 1 of you out there that this will enlighten!

A little background first .... I normally just use regular old Suave hairspray at our house. Cute pink little bottle - nothing fancy or pricey. It's always worked great and I've had on complaints. Then recently I was getting close to running out and every time I went to Wally-World they were out of it. I had a few coupons for Suave stuff so I patiently waited until we were within drops of hairspray to be able to buy some with my coupons (yes - this is what the couponing obsession does to ones brain!) Luck would have it that they finally had my hairspray back in stock - but it wasn't the same cute pink bottle anymore. It is grey and turquoise - says it's Suave, is a bigger bottle - but I figured I'm almost out - I've gotta get it. (It closely resembled an old bottle of Rave that I had too) Well, I used my cutsie coupons and off we went. Well it seemed to work just as well, but lately I've been noticing the girls have totally had caked on hairspray after I've bathed them. (And note that I am big on lots of shampoo and scrubbing when I wash their hair -- but that didn't even seem to help.) That's not something normal and at first I was freaking out thinking they had ... you know what -- the "L" word. Can't bring myself to say that one either -sort of like the "M" word! Anyway, it's really gotten icky and I couldn't stand it anymore. So tonight before I bathed the girls I did a bit of reading online & found my answer.

Ta-Da!!! Baking Soda! Yup -- I read that all you need to get rid of hair spray build up is baking soda. Nice and easy - didn't have to run to the store for anything.

So here's what I learned. Take 1 Tbsp. baking soda and combine it with your shampoo and wash your hair like normal. So I just dumped the tablespoon of the stuff in my hand and then squoze out the shampoo on top. Sort of made a weird paste, but then just lathered up the girls hair and off we went. Some people reported that it sort of made their hair dry or something like that right after so to be sure to use lots of conditioner afterwards. I think I should of used more on Goose because when I was drying her hair it was a bit more snarly - but nothing too out of control. On Bug I had no issues.

And guess what? The hair spray build up is gone! Wahooo! Just like that. So that's your Tip for Tuesday. Baking Soda eliminates hair spray build up. Just be sure to use extra conditioner and leave it in for a little bit longer after you've rinsed the shampoo out and voila! Or if you feel like your hair isn't quite feeling normal - do another shampoo/conditioner rinse & you should be good.

So .... if YOU have tips of things you've learned about hair, or helps that you think would benefit others -- E-MAIL me -- babesinhairland at gmail [dot] com. My plan is, if I find stuff out, or if you guys send me stuff, I'll try share them on a regular basis - probably on Tuesdays! So get crakin' - send those tips my way! Have a great night ya'll!

Exciting News

I'm so excited to share with everybody my fabulous news. No - I'm not prego - but I thought I'd try my hand at something new. I'm going to be starting up my own line of accessories. I figure everyone makes bows and flowers and such for hair, but my girls gave me the great idea of another way that the normal hair accessories we all have lying around our houses can be used to add some flare to your "look." So if you're wondering why my posts have been sparce lately, it's because I've been hard at work trying to get this up and going.

So, first is my line of earrings. This is great for little girls who don't have their ears pierced (like my girls) but want to spice up their appearance. You'll have to excuse my models, as they are so extremely excited about our new line of accessories that their professional modeling skills went out the window.

Item #1- Medium White Daisy earrings - with matching ones for the hair (comes in a set of 4)

Item #2 - Hot Pink Puff Ball Flower earrings - with larger hot pink flowers for the hair (comes in a set of 4 -- 2 puff ball earrings and 2 large flowers for the hair.)Item #3 - Extra Large White Gerber Daisy's - (comes in a set of 2) - if you are looking for something that will really make a statement.Item #4 - The extra big Hot Pink Flower - also available as an earring, but only have 1 available.

For a more subtle look you'll be sure to love our next line of earrings.

Item #5 - Beautiful Bobby Pin earrings - comes in a set of 4 or 6 if you prefer extra long dangly ones.

Item #6 - Flower Sequined Bobby Pin earrings - (comes in a set of 2) - these have the bling that will surely delight those with a more expensive taste - or if you are just looking to dress up a simple outfit like your princess pajamas.

And my most favorite part of our new line is the rings and bracelets.

Item #7 - Bobble Rings - These come in array of colors and can be worn on every finger, like Beans is so nicely modeling for us. (These come in sets of 2 but the sky's the limit!)
Item #7 & 8 - Claw Clip Rubber Band Rings and Claw Clip Bracelets - so simple, yet they are so unique. You can buy the rings seperately - and change the colors out of the rubber band rings, as well as the different colors of claw clips. The possibilites are endless and can be made to match any outfit.
I hope you've enjoyed the sneak peak at my fashion accessory line. I'm not sure of pricing yet, so if you are interested, please let me know & I'm sure we can strike a dealy-oh. Maybe if you are into jewelry more than I have been, you could shoot me an e-mail and let me know what I might charge. I'll probably be opening a store through a new online store called BS-etsy, but I'm sitting on the fence with that still. If you have anyone that you think might also be interested in these, please be sure to blog about it & spread the word! That'd be great! :)


Ok, so if you read this whole post and are thinking, "What the heck?" -- good! Cuz I'm totally joking! Over the last while the girls have thought it would be funny to put our hair stuff to use in a little different fashion. And different fashion indeed! So after going through my pictures, I realized I had quite a few of these random shots and thought it'd be fun to post them all. This would have probably been better saved for April Fools Day, but I couldn't wait that long! :)LOL Anyway, hope you all have a fabulous weekend and I was able to give you a good laugh today! I hope you know it's not all business here 24/7 you know - we gotta have a little fun once and a while too! :)

And while we're on the subject of hair accessories .... as most of you have surely already heard .... over at All Things Ribbon, she is having a FABULOUS sale going on in honor of her & her daughter's birthday. Through 6/15 at 12pm, you can get a 51% discount off EVERYTHING! Holy cow -- that's an amazing discount. So head over & place your order NOW! Don't forget to use the code BIRTHDAYBASH.

Half French Braids and a ....

Ok -- so look at the picture ... what do you see?

Well -- I want your honest & true opinion ... is this a hairdo with half french braids and then an uh ... m ... m .... m.u.l.l.e.t?? Ok, there, I said the the dreaded 'm' word. I thought I'd never have that word on my blog unless it was poking fun at some picture from the 80's ... but here it is ... a hairdo with a possible mullet on my little Bug. ..... I think.?!

Instead of doing a wrap around crown half french braid like this old post, I thought I'd do one from each side of her head one day. I figured I'd go a bit further than just past her ears so you could actually tell it was more than a regular braid, and then just pull it back and anchor it off to the side. Which is what I did. I curled it and everything looked pretty .... UNTIL .... later on in the day I happened to look at her from a certain angle and with a silent gasp to myself I shuttered and thought, "oh my gosh, I gave my daughter a mullet today." I mentioned it to a couple people and they tried to assure me it wasn't (probably because they just didn't want to hurt my feelings!)

So I'm asking for your honest opinion -- I don't know most of you from Adam - so leave me your thoughts - you can even do it anonymously! ... did Bug sport a mullet with this do? Do you think it looks like it or not?!

If you do like this one .... watch the video if you need a refresher on how to do the half french braid. I did a zig zag part on top first and then started the braiding. Once you've gone a bit past each ear, continue just with a regular braid to the end of the hair. Then secure the 2 braids in the back wherever you'd like. That's it - not too hard. The lovely flower in these pictures is from Flowerz In Her Hair -- and I'm sorry, maybe she'd rather I not mention her wonderful site on this possible mullet hairdo! But it may be the only good part to the hairdo, so I thought I should give her credit!



I wasn't going to post this hairdo, but the pictures have been torturing me to know what others might think if they saw this on a little girl. I think it was pretty ... but at the same time .... well -- the whole M factor! So ... let me know if you like it or if you'd do this on your little pretty head of hair?! :)
I don't know -- can you even see what I'm talking about?! It's like maybe I braided too far past each ear and so there is just a bit of hair hanging down in the middle to make it seem mullet-ish!? Or am I just loosing it?!
I'm really counting on you to give your honest opinion! I can take it!

Single Knots Criss Cross

I fell in love with the simplicity of Girly Do's Single Knot & piggies and have done that do several times. But then of course, as it's in my nature, I have to try it different ways, and so I decided to make it a little more involved -- not by much though! So thanks Jenn for helping make the rusty wheels spin in my head!

You can part the hair smack down the middle of the head if you want total even sides, but I prefer the side part - so my part on the top of the head is off to the right side of her head. So part the hair in the middle or on the side of the top of the head. Then branching off that part, part down to the ear. Oh, and having very damp hair for this whole knot process makes things much nicer & smooth looking! So don't forget to have the spray bottle handy!

Then divide that section into 2 sections. Secure the back section of hair with a little clip so it's out of the way for now.
With the front section of the hair, divide it into 2, to make a knot - just a simple shoe lace knot like you make when you begin to tie your shoe. Right over left, and through the hole.
Here's what it'll look like before you pull it tight to the head.
Once you've pulled it tight, secure it with a little claw clip. You're going to be making 4 of these knots & you don't want them pulling loose during the working of this do!
Repeat the knot on the section behind that first one & secure with claw clip.

Repeat to the left side of the head. These knots are a bit thicker since I parted her hair off on the right side of her head. If you part smack down the middle, your knots will be more even. Whatever you prefer!

Once you've got all 4 knots done you should have 8 different little tails of hair hanging around! Don't let that confuse you! Just be sure to leave the claw clips in until you are completely done. (Unless your DD's hair holds a simple shoestring knot well on its own - which mine does not!)

Now, take the left "tails" from the right knots and pull them sort of on an angle towards the left side of the head. Just lay them there for now.

Now take the right "tails" of hair from the left knots and bring them on an angle sort of backwards and to the right side of the head.

I forgot a picture of the next step -- but you'll need to part the hair down the back of the head to prepare to make pig tails. You can do a straight part or whatever - but I did a zigzag one.

Once you've parted the hair down the back of the head, starting on the right side of the head, combine all the hair to the right of the part to make a pig tail. You will be including the 2 "tails" from the left knots, and 2 "tails" from the knots on the right, and then the hair that had been hanging down in back until now to make the pig tails. Geez, does that make sense? Hopefully you can see what I mean from this picture.

Repeat to the left side of the head. Each pigtail should have 4 "tails" from the knots included - just 2 from the opposite side, and 2 from the side you are making the pig tail.

Once you are to this point - with both pig tails made - you can safely remove your claw clips.
Add some flowers or bows of your choice, curl the ponies if you want & you're done. We had tons of compliments on this one & I've done it multiple times. It's sure to be a hit - and the coolest part is it's only held together with 2 rubber bands! :)
A view from the side
From the front with her head downAnd the happy little smile. Just an FYI, the day I did this was a Sunday, and it was slicker than anything to just redo this the next day since everything was parted out already. I just redid a side at a time & off we went.