DIY Temporary Ombre Hair Color

Lately I've been seeing a lot of ombre/dip dye hair coloring everywhere (oh, why did my 'uncool' hair styles from high school have to be fashionable now? hah), and I decided to look into one product in particular, Color Bug by Kevin Murphy.

This is what's got everyone talking.

Apparently its a chalk like block that you rub into your hair for temporary colouring. After looking up a few reviews online (mostly good, besides the mess it makes of your hands and shirt during application) I decided to look at a video by the creator. He was saying it was inspiring by people in India who used pure pigment to dye their hair, and in the video he just used loose pigment, not the block form that sells for ~$25. It also apparently works much better for blondes than brunettes, but if there's a will there's a way!

Watching the video, I remembered a blush sample I bought online from Bad Bitch Cosmetics (one of my favourite eye shadow companies) simply because of what a ridiculous pink it was. I would never use it as a blush but it's not eye safe so I've been holding onto it.

I'm so sick right now, but at least my hair looks cool! PS: Look who got that Harry Potter shirt!!!

It came out pretty good for a first try! I was also surprised to see that not too much blush fell out/rubbed off onto my face. A little tiny bit but barely noticeable.

After trying to put it in my hand first, and then put it on the hair, I realized that that does not work with this blush. It sticks too much to my hands and doesn't put anything in my hair. But when I grabbed some hair and kind of dunked it into the jar, it stuck to my hair really well, and then I worked my fingers over my hair a few times to smooth it out.

Verdict? Super cheap and easy way to achieve the same look. Messy? Yes, but I don't think much more so than the color bug version (from what reviews have said), and with such color payout for dark hair, its a plus. I'll probably buy a full sized jar of the blush next time I order from them since I'm only working with a sample right now, and put more in next time I do this.

PS: I did this with no product in dry hair. I tried it with a little hair putty and it didn't make a difference, but I think hairspray might make it hold more.

I also tried 2 cheap packed eyeshadows that I got from Sally Beauty, that was easier to apply since it was closer to the color bug version.

Holiday Nails

I've been keeping my eyes open for the holiday nails slowly popping up online, and I've found some where for you. Also, if you want holiday glitter but can't find it anywhere, make it! Mix red and green glitter (and maybe some gold) and you're all ready. I know that's what I'm going to do :).

I especially love the squiggly trees on the thumbs.

A regular french tip outlined in stick/glue on gems.

Snowflake nail art stamps

Put thin strips of painters tape over white base coat, then paint red over and peel off :).

Use tape to mark off half your nail.

Gorgeous french tips!

Tape off parts of your nail for each color, add top coat.

If you have lots of patience.. tacky winter sweater pattern!

Glass Photo Ornament tutorial

First, let me say this. If my mom, or Mark's mom is reading this.. Step away from the computer! My dad doesn't have a computer (I know, right?!) so I don't have to worry about him. This year is all about home made gifts, and this is one of the tutorials I want to share with you. I have a few others planned but for fear of discovery I cannot post them until after the 18th.

I made these darling ornaments for the holidays and they're fairly easy to do.

What you need:
Glass cabochons/flat marbles (mine are sizes 40x30. If you don't know where to get these, check out etsy. There are hundreds of listings for these)
Strong liquid glue
Hot glue
Ribbon/string/beads
Photos
Pretty paper/xmas cards
And preferably, glitter. Cause what's the holidays without glitter???

How to:

First thing, make sure your pictures are tiny enough to fit under the glass pieces (I got my photos printed at one of those Kodak instant kiosks that have the option to put 4 or 9 photos on a regular 4x6 sheet to ensure they're tiny).

Choose where you want to lay the glass down, and coat the picture in that area. I had some laminating stickers that I put on the picture so the ink wouldn't run (I hoped it wouldn't the first time, and when everyones faces melted into ugly blobs I had to peel the glass off and print more pictures..) Cut the piece out. I cut out a hole on paper so I could see exactly where I wanted to lay the glass.

Glue the glass down to the picture and press down hard to remove all the excess glue and any air bubbles.

You can do 2 photos, but what I decided to do was one photo and a little message and the year on some holiday colored paper. (A perfect use for some of those paint chips lying around..)

Now glue both sides together! Let them dry really smooshed together good. One option is to add the loop now. Cut some ribbon and stick it between the layers so that when everything is dry, its all ready to go.

Once those are dry, if you didn't add the loop in the previous step, get out the glue gun and hot glue the ribbon/beads around the seam. Make sure to put a loop at the top so that it can be hung. I used glass beads on wire, that I hot glued around with an extra blob at the top that I covered in glitter.

Embellish with charms, bows, glitter to your liking and it's all ready!

If you plan on putting this tutorial anywhere, or making your own, I would love to see! Just, as always, do not use my tutorials for commercial gain. :)

Random Tutorial Generator

Okay, I stumbled upon the greatest website ever. In history.

Its called the 'Random Tutorial Generator', and when you click the button (which is actually a button, adorable!) Someone's blog pops up in another window with a tutorial they submitted.

I have been finding new, wonderful things to do and read all day. Though I must say, a lot of the links that come up do not interest me, and there are others that are not my style nor are within the areas of crafting and DIYing that I like to do, its still fun to see new things to find inspiration where you would least expect it.

Want to see what the site has to offer? This is some of what I've found so far..

Must make these!

Tutorial found here

Tutorial

I make these all the time, they're so easy and look so great. 

Super Chewy Cinnamon 'Roll' Cookies (Recipe)

All day today I had the urge to make something sweet. And I really wanted cinnamon rolls, but I also really wanted cookies. And I don't have a rolling pin.

So this is what I came up with! Cinnamon 'roll' cookies.

Cinnamon and sugar mixture.

Nummy dough!

Using a standard cookie recipe, I rolled the dough into balls then cut a tiny slit.

Inserted a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon and becel (no butter in the house for baking, boo!) and smooshed the sides back together. Then I put them in the oven.

They came out oh so tasty, and because the mixture in the middle, they're oh so gooey and chewy. And amazing. Now to try and not eat them all tonight..

On a side not, has anyone seen the thing on pinterest where they say you can grow green onions in a cup of water? Works surprisingly well, and surprisingly fast. They grew about a foot in a week and a half!! And that's while sitting next to a window half the time with frost/snow on the other side. Though I must say this. They were softer than traditional 'fresh' green onions, didn't have as strong of a smell or taste. I'm guessing they'll only grow for so long before there is absolutely no nutrition left to them since they're not getting anything from soil. Still, it was an interesting experiment. (It also became the home for a spider for a little while.. Little guy probably thought he was outside, right by the window and all..)

Look at those beasts! I only added water up to where it turns from white to green, and topped it up once. See those tiny little dead sprouts near the top of the glass? That's how high they were when I put them in there. 

Peppermint Heaven

I have a confession.. I have an unhealthy obsession with mint in all its forms. I want everything in a mint alternative.

Then one day I stumbled across a website called 'foodgawker' and their peppermint section. Oh. My. God. Go to this link for the full (and ever updating list), or check out my favourites below.

Peppermint Patties

Icecream.. Oh my gosh yes.

Peppermint simple syrup and cocktail recipes.

Mint. Freakin'. Oreos.

Brownies with peppermint bark topping

Flavoured sugar

Xmas tree shaped bark. Great as a gift don't you think? 

The picture isn't pretty like the others but don't forget my mint hot chocolate!

Super cute rice crispy balls. 

Is it possible to overdose on mint? I hope not but I think I'll find out.

Nail Ideas

I was going through some old photos tonight looking for pictures to use in an upcoming tutorial (need a few more supplies then I can share it!) And I came across these pictures I had of some nail art ideas and thought I would share.

Start with a gray base coat, then go over with black horizontal lines, and then gold. I love this style of nails and the best part is that you can do it with your bad hand sometimes better than your good one! Its allowed to be messy, it looks better that way! And how amazing would this look with red and green sparkles over white? I should pick up some new polishes for some Christmas-y nail ideas.

I started with the same gray base coat, then drew graffiti styled letters with a white paint pen, followed by outlining them in black sharpie. Should have been a black paint pen but I didn't have one. Topcoat to hold it all together and I had cool graffiti nails that said my name.

Double french tip nails from the craft show last week. I used the french tip stickers to make the lines on my nails (a couple millimeters lower than where the nail bed ends to make my nails look longer than they were) and did 2 coats of purple, and when that was dry, peeled the stickers off and freehanded gold stripes following the same curve. Topcoated twice to smooth down the glitter bumps.. These nails are so classy looking, and you can go with any color combination for whatever you're doing.