Awesome Hair! Thanks Chantel!

I saw a hairstyle I loved on the December Free People catalog and had to try it out. Good think I know an excellent braider! My friend Chantel is awesome and so nice to take time to braid my shaggy mane of hair.

Didn't it turn out great?

Fashion Inspiration January Week 2

This will probably be my last "Fashion Inspiration" post since I'm putting pictures like these on my Pinterest page from now on. 

Love the Japanese school girl thing...

I've been back into the old jeans and T-shirt thing lately. 

Love all this stuff.

Awesome dye job!

Cute look with folded up jeans.

I LOVE these rings. Scissors?! How cute.

Fashion Inspiration December Week 1

As usual, I've collected a few fun fashion ideas that I want to share...

This is Moi Navarro from the Sing Off. I never watched the show, but so many people told me this guy is my husband's twin. Anyway, I love love love his hair in this pic!

You know I love braids.

Here's an idea I had the other week. Use your own hair to make a headband! Just braid a couple chunks of hair and pin them like a headband.

I just bought me some black boots like these!

I love, and slightly envy, this girl's eclectic style.

Fashion Inspiration November Week 3

As usual, I've collected some fashion pics that I love this week! Hope they inspire you too.

I love the "boy clothes" style. 

Definitely have to try this braid, but don't think I can do it on myself. Anyone wanna be my guinea pig?

I actually had this idea to wear a scarf behind my braid today, then I saw this pic! Cool.

My outfit today, not that you can see it real well (it's hard to take pictures of yourself by yourself :D ).

Gorgeous... So fairyesque!

Lemons! Who knew?

I'm SOOO happy I have a lemon tree in my yard! I've been using lemons for cosmetic purposes a ton lately. Here are two super easy recipes to get you skin and hair looking lovely! 

Ok the first recipe is for a skin-lightening face mask. It evened out my skin tone and dried up some zits of mine that otherwise would probably have been there for weeks. It does actually lighten your skin a bit too, so if you're trying to have a tan, even though I've never really understood why people feel like they need to have a suntan in winter, it might not be what you're looking for.

1 egg (whites only)

Juice of 1 lemon

Mix it together, rub it on your face, leave it on for 15 minutes or so, wash off with warm water, and store the remaining in the fridge for a few days. 

The second recipe is so so easy, and it's really only for blondes. I've heard this all my life, but finally tried it: lemon juice will give you natural highlights. It seriously worked after just one rinse and didn't turn my hair orange like that "Sun-In" stuff! I've tried it two different ways...

1. Mix 1-2 tablespoons in a gallon of warm water. Pour it on your head in the shower after washing your hair. Don't rinse and style like normal. 

2. Mix 1 part fresh lemon juice to 4 parts water in a spray bottle. Spray on your hair every day. 

For all you non-blondes, here's a link to some natural hair-color recipes.

Fashion Inspiration November Week 1

Here are a couple fashion-related pics I've loved and collected this week...

Funky hair color mixed with vintage. Love it!

I'm seeing hints of fancy collars these days. Whether it's an actual collared shirt with a decorative collar, or these necklaces that look like collars, I'm liking! I think I'll try making some out of fabric then decorating them with something I find in my craft drawers. I'll let you know how they turn out! 

Also, I regret not taking a picture of this, but I pinned one of the fancy little bows I made and posted weeks ago to my collar like a bow tie. I thought it turned out really cute, so you should try it out.  :D

Braid, Braid, and Another Braid!

I'm not loving the length and style of my hair right now, so my solution this week has been braiding it all up. I've had to get a bit creative so as not to do the same thing each day. Here's what I've come up with so far this week...

MONDAY

A braid across the forehead with the rest pulled into a bun in back. There's a tutorial here on Free People's blog on how to do this type of braid. 

TUESDAY

 A french braid starting from one ear to the other. Finish the braid and rubberband, then pin the hanging part around the bottom of your head continuing up the the other side until you finish pinning the whole thing. (PS-Sorry for the serious look. I meant to take a pic of the back only using the timer on my camera, but I turned around just as it was taking the picture!)

Here's from a different angle. 

TODAY

Kind of a mix between Monday's and Tuesday's. I pinned a little side bun with the hanging braid.

I've kind of run out of ideas, but we'll see what I come up with tomorrow! If it's any good, I'll post. 

My Two Styles

I have two main fashion styles that I love, and sometimes they seem to really contradict each other. One, I like to call my "Rag-Doll Style," shows my cutesy, girly side. The other is

 a Bohemian, rugged, earthy kind of look that makes me feel edgy and more mature. Both of my styles call for vintage stuff, and both make me feel creative! 

Here are some Rag Doll examples...

Leggings, socks, mismatching patterns, you get the idea.

Look! A hair bow! No really, I made my hair into a bow. Got the idea from A Beautiful Mess blog. 

I love love love bobby socks!

Now to the other style (I need to think of a name for this side of my personality). Here are some examples...

I need to find out where this picture was taken and live there.

Some of these are kind of Rag-Dolly. Yay! My two styles can work together!

Love this Free People model. She always looks like she's having a good time. 

Me in my first really fall outfit of the year! I was roasting when I actually went outside though... 

Little Hair Bows!

I wanted to make a birthday present for my good friend Chantel, and I remembered her really liking some little hair bows from Forever 21. I looked up how to make them (A Beautiful Mess blog had a tutorial). Here are some of the bows I made...

The ribbon ones are fun. You wrap the ribbon around your hand a few times then follow the same instructions from the tutorial. I decided to sew on buttons instead of a ring of fabric.

Thanks for modeling Gracie!

I wore one in my hair on Sunday and really liked how it looked. Shoulda taken a picture... I think the white ribbon ones would be cute clipped on a collared shirt like a bow tie! 

Yay for Long Hair!

I was so excited the other day to find clip-in hair extensions that matched my hair color perfectly! They're synthetic so they were only $25 for plenty of hair.

The lighting in this pic makes the extensions look more obvious than they look in real life. Lots of people have been super surprised when I told them they were extensions since they blend in so well.

While I'm at it, here are some other hair/fashion ideas I've been saving...

You can see how to do this at "A Beautiful Mess" blog.

Here's another "how-to" from "A Beautiful Mess" blog. I love braiding things into my hair, especially lace!

A fishtail braid! I need to work on those...

I like her hair wrap there to the left. I did one in my hair a few weeks back!

I want a turban! I love Middle-Eastern things (including my Middle-Eastern man!)

DIY, All-Naturale Lip Stain

I love lip stains! In my opinion, they're much better than lip stick or lip gloss; they're not sticky and they make it look as though your lips are naturally rosy. I had bought this one brand I really liked, but it ran out ridiculously fast. It's too expensive to be replacing that often, so...I made my own!

Ingredients:

• Berries ( I ended up using 5 raspberries and 2 blackberries to get a color I liked)
• A drizzle of oil (I used grapeseed oil, but olive or whatever would work too)

1. Mash the berries in the oil.

2. Add berries until you get a color you like. 

3. Try it on and take a picture! I also put a bit on my cheeks for a rosy glow. 

4. Put your stain in a little container and store in the fridge. 

I have 2 extra containers of this color if someone wants to come visit and pick one up. Family in Utah, not sure if I can ship this, but comment if you like it and maybe I can throw one in with your Christmas present!