10 (or more) Thoughts on Hair Chalking

**As with ANY hair tutorial, I have to emphasize that all hair is different, it all reacts different, and depending on what products you are using you will get different results. This is a general post to help with some general do's and don'ts.**

 

So if I was a blonde at this moment I would head right over to my bathroom and try this out, however currently I am a vibrant red head so that wouldn't quite work as well ( give it two weeks though and my hair will be completely different, so goes the life of a hairdresser).

 

 I'm sure you all have seen the Hair Chalking Pins on Pinterest, and well I too have wondered if they really work.

 

Tonya sent us her and her daughters attempt at this pin, check it out!

 

The Original

http://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0f/19/c1/0f19c1a0564f3bf1a2d81906ccaf0ae2.jpg

 

This pin uses chalk and wet hair to put a kind of stain on the hair of vibrant fun colors. Lets see how it worked for Tonya:

 

The Pinstrosity

(Super Fun Graphic By the Way)

 

I love that she put this all together just like you see it on Pinterest.

 

 

1.So here are a few of my thoughts on this, first off the original says to take a section of already styled hair and get part of it wet. That makes no sense, the girls in those pictures would have to have gone through and blow dried each piece and then styled it, after styling all the rest of their hair, you might as well do this with all of your hair wet. Seeing the results of Tonya's experience I don't feel like bleeding will be an issue.

 

2.Another thing to consider about this from the get go is that it IS NOT PERMANENT. This is not "dying" your hair, it is a stain. Like when you drink red Kool-aide, your lips are pink or red for a bit but not forever, in fact if you get your lips super wet after that it tends to fade off into oblivion. Some people have said this stayed for a day, while others a week or more. Like I stated before, it all depends on the product and the hair.

 

3.So the directions say to wet hair, wear gloves (you don't have to do this, it is after all just chalk), and then go through and color the piece of hair to the desired shade. Keep in mind here wet chalk always looks darker then when it is dry. Then you dry the pieces of hair and hit it with a heat tool to lock in the color. Some people suggest twisting the hair while chalking, others don't. Play around and see what works best for you.

 

Again keep in mind, this isn't permanent. By "hitting it with heat" you aren't magically coloring your hair, this is simply allowing the chalk to stain a little more.

 

4.Now looking through everything I see that Tonya wet the hair, then wet the chalk, I don't see that step on the original, and I don't feel that that will do anything to help this process along really. It might not even make a difference so take that to mind when doing this as well. I have seen some tutorials use soft chalks with great success, so that might also be an option.

 

5.Tonya used a heat protectant on the hair before hitting it with any hot tool, I would like to suggest you do this as well. High heat is damaging to hair and this will prevent any damage from happening. I don't think this should have any adverse affects on the coloring either.

 

She used a wet-to-straight flat iron. I wouldn't suggest that simply because they get REALLY hot and your hair really doesn't need that much applied heat. This is a personal opinion, I AM NOT saying that if you use a wet-to-straight that you are a bad hair person or that your hair will be super damaged. I have used one before and I really didn't enjoy the process or results so this is merely a personal preference. I would suggest using a heat protectant spray, then blow drying ( or air drying if you are patient enough), then using a hot tool to "lock" in the color.

 

6.I have also read that using hair spray then a  hot tool can help the color stick around as well. Now bare in mind I haven't tried this, but I have done a some research here and there and these are all just suggestions.

 

7.Another suggestion: This is for girls who have bleach blonde hair this can stain for a REALLY long time, if you are ok with that go for it, if not be warned! Your hair is more porous from lightening and can tend to pick up colors really easy. You probably already know this if you go to the pool a lot (green tint anyone? Be cautious Gwen Stefani's of the world! Even the one day color spray (think Halloween) can have BAD affects on your light locks!

 

8.Tonya stated that the hair had a stiff icky texture, I would venture to say that sounds about right. If we look at it really we are ironing chalk into the hair. Don't expect your hair to feel silky smooth, but it also won't be sticking straight up either. It will feel different, but its not forever and if you can handle parts of your hair feeling a little stiff for a bit of colors sake then I say go for it.

 

9.Here is where I think Tonya ran into trouble: brushing. While going through and doing some research a lot of places said to get rid of the color before trying to wash it out they brushed it really good. So there you have it, if it is intensely tangled LIGHTLY comb through it with a pick or your fingers but be gentle and don't over do it. Tonya brushed her daughters hair after all the steps and the color all but disappeared....just a heads up! Its a bummer too because I wouldn't think that that would make all the difference, and if the hair was tangly I too would think " Well let's just brush it real quick and then we'll be done!" but now we know. Thanks for testing that one out for us Tonya (and daughter), and I'm sorry it didn't work for you because that color was just fabulous!

 

10.I need to also add that blues and greens are hard tones to keep and it may take more "chalking" then you anticipated to get your hair to the desired shade.

 

So there you have it, my ten thoughts on Hair Chalking.

Try it out, try different colors, brands, methods and let us know! Anyone have any experience with this?! I am writing this from a  hairdressers experience and expertise but if you have done this before and have some fun pointers we would love to hear them!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Mix It Up Monday: May Day Pockets

 Happy Monday everyone. I know...most people don't like Mondays, but I love them. Mondays are the only day that the hubs and I have off together (well...and Sunday, but there's church and we both teach classes at church so it doesn't feel like a "day off" oddly enough). We spent all evening yesterday making guacamole, salsa, freshly squeezed strawberry lemonade, and black bean lime chicken to take on a picnic with us today (everything but the chicken and black beans in that list of food came from my Bountiful Baskets food...I love it). As soon as I finish this post we're packing up and heading off on an adventure and picnic. So I'm excited that today is Monday? Why else do I like Mondays? Because that means it's Mix It Up Monday! The day where we share some Pin Wins, tutorials, random funny pictures, etc. 

So today I have a Pin Win/Pin Spin and a tutorial for you. This past Wednesday was May Day. Last year in June I saw this pin:

http://beehiveartsalon.blogspot.com/2012/04/may-day-pockets.html

What is it? It's a May Day Pocket! I thought that was so cute and I loved the idea of leaving fun May Day bags on people's doors. I read up a little on the tradition and I couldn't wait for May Day to roll around so that I could do this. So the end of April hit and my 11 month wait was finally over! I was so excited to make these. I even have a big bag of burlap I could use. I went to go pull it out and realized that it is at the bottom of a pile in this room:

Okay...so that room is only half that full now. We had our carpets cleaned and that is our only room with linoleum (minus the kitchen, but we wanted access to the fridge), so our entire house (minus the bed, table, and couch) got stuffed into that room. We have all the essentials put away, but there are still 4 or 5 book shelves, all the crafting supplies, photography supplies, costumes, and our TV still piled in there. 

So anyway...the burlap was not accessible and I didn't want to buy more burlap...so I decided I'd buy me some new fat quarters (because my fabric stash is also buried and for some reason buying more fabric is better than buying more burlap). So I got looking for cute little bags I could make out of fabric and I found this one:

http://patternpile.com/sewing-patterns/zest-tote-bag-pattern/

I loved the look of those...but they were way bigger than I wanted. So I got looking for mini tote bag patterns and found this little gem:

http://www.diaryofaquilter.com/2012/07/easy-fat-quarter-bag-tutorial.html

This still was bigger than I wanted and it didn't have the fun little cuff at the top that I liked, so I decided to be adventurous and see if I could Pin Spin the project, shrinking the design and changing it to get the cuff I wanted. I based my design off the diary of a quilter bag, using the same method to assemble, I just had to make some tweaks to get the size and cuff I wanted. 

First...here's what I ended up with:

Once I got the method figured out and streamlined, these came together super fast and easy. I could get 3 5.5" x 6.5" mini totes from 2 fat quarters in about 30-45 minutes (I made 9 bags total). 

Alright, now for the tutorial. 

Supplies you'll need for 1 bag:

2 coordinating fabrics, one for the cuff and lining (Fabric A), and one for the outside and straps (Fabric B)

Scissors

A cutting mat and rotary cutter come in super handy

Iron and ironing board

All your basic sewing supplies

A pencil or fabric marking pen

Cutting Instructions:

From Fabric A, cut one 18" by 6" rectangle. This will be your cuff and lining. 

From Fabric B, cut one 10" by 6" rectangle. This will be the outside body of your bag. 

From Fabric B, cut two 11" by 2" rectangles (I goofed on one and ended up having to sew two 6" by 2" pieces together and trimming to size and it worked just fine). These will be your two straps. 

Sewing Instructions:

I'll just say it here really quick before we start...all seams are 1/4". 

1. Take one strap strip and iron it in half.

2. Open the strip back up and make sure the wrong side of the fabric (the side without the print) is facing up. 

3. Fold the top and bottom edges to meet the crease line in the middle that you made in step 1. Press in place. 

4. Fold the strap in half so all the raw edges are in the middle. Press in place. 

5. Sew a seam down both ends of the strap.

Fold and sew the other strap the same way. 

6. Grab the fabric you cut for the outside body of the bag. On the two short ends, make a mark 1 1/2" from the edges. These lines mark where you will place your straps. 

7. Line up your straps on the inside of each line and pin in place... 

...like so:

8. Take your cuff/lining piece and your body piece and stack them right sides together, matching the two short ends. Pin in place and sew just the short ends. The cuff/lining piece will be bigger than the body piece, don't freak out, this is good.  

When the two ends are sewn together, this is what it will look like (the pink is my cuff/lining, the turquoise is my outside fabric). 

9. Fold your bag in half, so that the two seams you just sewed match up and your fabrics are "separated" on either side. Like this:

See how the two seams are matched up with the pink on the left and the turquoise on the right? That's what you want. 

10. Sew down both long sides, making sure not to catch the straps in either seam. Leave a 3" opening on one side to turn your bag right-side-out. 

11. Turn the bag right-side-out through the opening you just left (just reach in and flip it right side out like you would a sock). Sew the 3" opening closed. This is going to be inside your bag and no one will ever see it, so it doesn't have to be beautiful. Press the bag, especially the edges, to get it nice and crisp.

12. Pull the two layers apart from each other...

 

...and tuck the lining down inside the bag (think of folding socks). Press your edges really well.  

13. From here you can either leave the cuff as it is, or fold it down once to make it smaller. I did both and can't decide which I like better. 

If you want a smaller cuff, fold the top edge of the cuff down towards the seam where the cuff and the body of the bag meet. If you want to add prairie points or any other embellishment under the cuff, pin those in at this point. 

14. If you folded down the cuff, sew the bottom edge down, like you see here:

Make sure to flip your straps up so that the seam runs over them as well. 

Sew another seam along the top of the cuff to fasten down the straps and to give the top a more finished look. 

Bag with Prairie Points and folded cuff

Bag with folded cuff

Bat with full size cuff.  This one I goofed on and had to sew the edges...just ignore that unless you like the look..then sew a seam down the edges. 

Like a dummy, I didn't get pictures of the other bags I made, but I did 3 different color combos (black/white/yellow bags, red/lime green/white bags, and these coral/turquoise bags). It was fun to stuff them, find coordinating flowers, and sneak up to people's doors to leave them. 

I think I'll make a bunch more of these in various sizes to have on hand as gift bags. They're so cute, easy, and can be reused over and over as a gift bag. 

Anyone else have any great May Day bags they put together? We'd love to see them. 

Cork Monogram Troubles

As promised earlier, here is today's Pinstrosity. But this isn't just any normal Pinstrosity...you get a tutorial as well. Well...sorta. You'll see. 

So corks are all the rage right now. Cork boards, cork birdhouses, cork trivets, cork earring holders (I even made one of those for a bridal shower once), but especially big right now are the cork monograms. Kristen found one on Pinterest that she wanted to try out and had some issues with it. 

Here's how she starts her story: "I decided today was a good day to shirk my housewifely/ mommy duties and get crafty! I have been looking for months at all those cute wine cork projects out there and narrowed down all my wine-o pins to this one.  It was simple, to the point and would probably take me as long to "craft" as the baby had left to sleep. PERFECT!! I wanted mine to be a little larger than the idea shown because, I just recently scored a cute black iron frame at a thrift shop that I wanted the monogram to be framed in on the wall. So I gathered my wine corks, hot glue, computer and camera (something told me it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought) and got started! First I clicked on the picture to get the "how to's and what for's", well all I got was a picture."  Sadly...that's all too common on Pinterest. You see a lovely pin, click on the picture and the link is dead. Great. Here's the photo she found:

The Original Pin

http://winerefrigeratornow.com/blog/wine-cork-letter/

So what do you do if that happens? Can you find the original source? Sometimes. Let me share what I do when I find a pin on Pinstrosity that does not link back to any site. Because of all the different types of computers and operating systems, this might be slightly different for yours...but here's what I do on my computer (I'll give you two ways to do this):

Method 1:

1. Pull up the photo you want to find the source for. 

2. Right click on the photo. Click "Copy Image URL". 

3. Open up Google Images (I have it pinned to my toolbar). 

4. You see that camera icon in the search bar? Click on it. 

5. Right click in the search bar and select paste (or just ctrl+v in the search bar). 

6. Click the "Search by Image" button. This is the screen you will see next:

7. You can click on the sites it brings up where it thinks the photo may have originated from, or you can click "All sizes" up there by the top photo. This brings up a new page with all the instances of that photo online, and usually the first photo on the list is the original. Now...this doesn't work 100% of the time, but it does pretty good. 

If you don't want to deal with copying and pasting the photo's url, you can drag and drop the photo straight into google images. Here's how:

1. In two separate windows (not tabs...tabs won't work), open Google Images, and the photo you are trying to find the source for. Have them open side by side. 

2. Drag and drop the photo you want to find onto the search bar. 

So, that's what I did to find the link to the photo that Kristen had pinned. Hope that helps someone out there. 

Okay, back to the story. 

Kristen took a look at her linkless photo and decided, "No problemo this is easy-peasy!" Oh how these crafts taunt us sometimes. She continues her story: "I started arranging the corks and even got a thumbs up on the 1st draft from the hubby! So jazzed! Then I started to think about how I was going to glue each individual cork together and still have it keep this awesome and completely symmetrical shape. Insert awake baby here. Coincidentally, here is where the project started to nose dive. I started gluing my heart out in between cries for hugs and cheerios. Lesson #1 Hot Glue and the actual cork corks do not mix. They do not hold AT ALL. The plastic corks did ok, but the overall shape wasn't doing well so I took it apart. So after nap #2 started I re-configured the letter onto a piece of cardboard, traced around it so I could glue the corks together AND to the cardboard for strength, took all the corks off (again...) found my industrial strength glue aaaaaand............... Quit. Folded, threw in the towel, flat gave up. Rather than potentially waste years of good wine drinking evidence, I stopped. There was no way this project would hold together on the wall. I have seen other variations where they used a wooden letter from a craft store, that would be better for a more consistent shape. We live 2 hrs away from the nearest craft tore, so maybe I will look into a wooden letter for next time."

The Pinstrosity

It's so frustrating to see the finished product in your head and not be able to get there. I decided to try this one out to see what I could come up with. I still had a bag of corks (which I found at our awesome Antique Mall) left over from making the cork earring holder for my cousin, and I've needed something to do with them. This was perfect. I pulled them out and got to work. I read through the instructions on the page I found and set to making my awesome monogram. Only there were a few bumps in the road. I'll show you what I did and how I finally ended up with the finished monogram. 

I save cardboard like crazy. It comes in so handy when crafting. This made step one easy: Find a piece of cardboard and draw the letter/symbol you want on it. Done. 

From there I arranged the corks over the top of my M. I was picky with the corks I used. I wanted them to all be the same height and I didn't want any of the red stained sides to show. 

After all the corks are arranged, start gluing them one by one. I know Kristen had trouble with the hot glue not sticking to the corks, but I thought I'd try what the instructions said first and go from there...so I used hot glue. 

Seemed to work just fine...at first. 

Keep gluing the corks in place, one by one. 

I got my corks all glued together and let them dry for 15 or so minutes and then figured I could move the monogram just long enough to hold it against the wall to see what it looked like. It crumbled. 

So I reglued all the pieces back together, but I knew it would just crumble again...so I had to figure out how to secure them. Here was my first idea:

 Over a year ago I saw this in the craft aisle and saw it was on sale and thought I could come up with some cool project for it. Well...I haven't come up with anything yet...so it was still sitting in my craft drawer. I thought I could make it work for backing for the corks. 

So I took out the center part, mixed three of my paints, and painted it turquoise/muted robin's egg/no-clue-what-color-that-is. 

I almost just glued the monogram straight to the painted board, but thought I should take a step back and see if I liked it first. 

Nope. I did not. Back to the drawing board. One of the many perks to being the daughter of a general contractor is that he gives us scraps from his construction sites for us to use in our crafting. A little while back he gave us a wad of wire in all shapes and sizes...I figured I could make this work. So I cut pieces to size and bent them into shape. I tried bending it into shape while pressing it down onto the corks and ended up having to reglue corks back together. Finally I got it all in the shapes I wanted:

I then ran a thick line of hot glue all along the back of the monogram and gently pushed the wire into the glue-stream. After it stuck, I went back with the glue gun and spread more glue along the sides of the wire, securing it more firmly to the corks. 

And it worked! I could then hang it on the wall without it crumbling! 

I even found a cork with 2006 printed on it...the year Cameron and I got married! I love happy accidents like that. 

 So there it is, by our entryway display (which isn't all that beautiful, I know...but I'm happy with it). 

If you read out last post, you might be wondering why we have 3 umbrellas when we live where it doesn't rain. I like umbrellas. And I used them for photography props once upon a time. For anyone interested, instructions to make your own watercolor portrait like the one we have hanging can be found at: http://growcreative.blogspot.com/2012/09/easy-watercolor-portrait-tutorial.html. It truly is an easy project, even if you aren't a painter at all. 

It took more work than I anticipated at first, but it wasn't too bad. I think had I done a thicker letter/arrangement, it would have held together a little better, but I didn't want a chunky letter. What methods do you use? Anyone have a better glue to suggest?