Curls and Cowlicks

A couple of nights ago, my niece came over to play while her mom and dad took care of some preparations for her birthday party. I told asked my sister if I could play with her hair. I planned on doing a couple of styles. My niece wasn't having any of it. So, I told myself the same thing I tell my children. "You get what you get and you don't throw a fit".

Some essentials I keep on hand that worked BEAUTIFULLY with her curls and cowlicks.

First I wet her hair. I combed the Infusium 23 through her hair and then rubbed a nickel sized dollop of the cream gel through her hair.

Then I scrunched.

You can't see it very well in the picture, but she has three cowlicks on the back of her head. Her hair is SUPER thick up top and one time my sister and I jokingly (but lovingly) said she had Kramer hair. It was only because of those cowlicks. There are several things I have learned about cowlicks. You can try to tame them, or you can go with them. To tame them, you comb them in the opposite direction that they go. Eventually the hair gets heavy enough that they will lay flat. My spunky has a prominent cowlick on the right side of her head, but the hair on the front of her head grows towards the left. I part her hair on the left side of her head and the cowlick is hardly noticeable. The princess however has one on the right side of her crown. Her hair grows to the left, so we part her hair right through her cowlick.

I went with my nieces.

The fun thing about her cowlicks is that they gave her some fun body. As if the curls weren't enough.

She has fun hair.

I pulled a little bit of her hair from the front and put it in a little side ponytail and secured it with an elastic. Then I just put one of my daughter's pre-made bows right under the elastic. I love it when natural curls frame a child's face. There is something so vintage-y and wonderful about those curls. I am always sad when I see curls pulled up. What a waste of something so pretty. I understand the need, but the green monster in my gets sad just the same.

I let her curls air dry. As she was playing, I would go up behind her and scrunch them. She got to the point where she would swat me away.

And that girl is busy. I chased her all over my upstairs and finally cornered her in between the bathtub and the toilet to get her hair.

Even with the toilet in the picture, you can still see how swishy and swirly and lovely her curls are.

And I think it only prudent to tell you, as I look at her picture, I am breaking a commandment...for I am coveting.

Sigh.

Heidi of the Alps...With a Twist

I did this one early last week. We were originally going to do a normal "Heidi" hairstyle. It wasn't working out very well. So we improvised and I LOVE IT!

When I did this I used the large thick covered elastics that don't have the metal piece connecting the pieces.

Wet hair thoroughly

Apply heavy hold hair gel

Part the hair at a slant to the crown

Pull each half up into a ponytail

Wet the ponytail again

Braid about 3 inches to the bottom

Secure the braid with a clear elastic

Loop the braid up and pull the covered elastic out and pull the bottom of the braid through until the clear elastic is plush with the fabric elastic...it looked super cute pushed into the side and not on top

Piece the ends out and use a flat-iron to form the spikes

Tie a ribbon around the elastics

catching up...

A little out of order, but I wanted to catch up....

Eastern Oregon and Washington road trip....
Eric and I hit the road for Pendleton at 7pm on Friday evening, arriving around 11:30, safe and sound. On Saturday we worked and at the end of the day, we went to the Whitman Mission National Historic Site. It was a lovely site, if only known for the massacre that happened there. The weather was great -- the kind of sun and shadow you only get from the massive clouds that manage to look cheerful and ominous simultaneously. On Sunday, we headed north towards Clarkston, WA and Lewiston, ID. That's Lewiston in the background there.

We took the Lewis and Clark historic trail (the highway version of it, anyway) and took our time. We passed through Moscow and Coeur D'Alene, ID; Pullman and Spokane WA. Eric dropped me off at the quilting shop in Moscow while he gassed up (is he great or what?). That quilting shop is dangerous -- it's attached to a yarn shop.

Back in Seattle....
On the 19th, we went to the Roman Art from the Louve exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum, and on the 21st, I went to see the Yarn Harlot at her book signing. I brought my knitting and stood in line for a little while, but eventually had to give up on having her sign my book, as it was 9:30pm, the bus had already stopped running for the evening, and Eric would only be willing to come pick me up for a little longer. Fortunately, she's got another manuscript in the works, so I'll just have to go see her again (would anyway). By then, hopefully I'll have finished a sock, or even a pair!

The huge log cabin quilt top is off for quilting! When I see it next, it'll be a fully formed, beautiful quilt! In the meantime, I have two matching throw pillow shams to put together. This is it, right before it went off for quilting. Glass of water for scale.



Next up: baby quilt for baby Isabella Renee (born 29APR). Should be a quickie (famous last words).

This week, Eric has been in Glynco, Georgia for training. He was supposed to continue on to a second week of training in Charleston, but his grandmother passed away on Tuesday, so he's gone back to San Diego for her funeral this Wednesday. Nana was a strong, capable woman whom I admired. I know she stuck around to care for Papa, and once he was gone, she was finally able to rest. I didn't know either of them very well, but I will always fondly remember that Nana referred to the time that Papa was in the Navy as their time in the Navy. She considered herself every bit as involved in the Navy as he did. "Remember when we were studying for the Acadamy exam?" she once asked him. Not "when you were studying" but "when we were studying." A wonderful, sweet woman. She will be greatly missed.

OK, that's enough catching up for now. This weekend is all about the Garden of Bewilderment. I am pleased with the plan I have in my head -- I'll post pics once it's done (and once Eric brings the camera home... I feel a little lost without it).

We Have A Winner!!!!

Yay! One of you will go home with these super-scrumptious bows today...



I sincerely apologize for the grossness of the following pictures. My screen shot is not working right now as my DH and I found out last night.


Thank you to all who commented! We have a winner through purely scientific methods provided by the internet.

Here are the numbers....

And the WINNING number...

Let's see who LUCKY number 190 is...

AMBER! Amber, to claim your prize, would you please e-mail me at blackeyedsue2@gmail.com?

I am so sorry there couldn't be more than one winner...but I have a solution to that. Stay tuned for my next giveaway!

a goobernatorial phone call

me: hello?
caller: hi, I'm calling from Acme Poll, and I have a couple of questions for you about this year's gubernatorial election.
me: okay
caller: first, do you consider yourself to be a republican or a democrat?
me: neither.
caller: okay, by that do you mean you're an independent, or...?
me: no, I just don't affiliate myself with any one political party
[at this, I can practically hear him panic over the fact that there's nothing in the script for this answer]
caller: uhh, okay then, one last question: who do you plan to vote for in the upcoming gubernatorial race?
me: Christine Gregoire
caller: correct
me: (laughs) correct?!?
caller: oh, right...uh, thanks for your time!

Emo hair tips

Our hair denotes our identity. It is one of the most important aspects in our body. If our hair is beautiful, we feel great and confident. Out of various hairstyles we make, Emo hairstyle is one of the best. An emo hair, is a style created by your own, a style that is completely different from the others.

Here are some tips for creating an emo hair:

• Mess around with your hair until you get it how you like it without the part. (there are some general rules about parting hair, and if you want a side part then I'd say pick which side of your face you like better and part it 1/4 way from the side.)
• To get the visible part out of your hair, you need to bring your hair forward from much further back (closer to the crown of your head). Also, layer at the top (sort of a scene mullet.)
• Blonde hair works great with emo hair, you can add some cool, brightly hued highlight. Dye it black, plum or navy or get brown w/ blue, black and plum streaks.
• To make your hair grow, do cornrolls and use organic shampoo.
• Emo hair won’t look good with a round race. Try long hair with layers and bangs off to one side instead.
• You can dye your hair with a dark, shiny, sexy shade like a black-pink combination or a dark brown, which are the most common colors.
• You can highlight the tips of your hair with purple or blue that should be well mixed with the above used color.
• Go like heaps of layers and longish kinda spike at the back with all different color blondes through it.
• Leave it long, color it black and get thick blunt front bangs that go down to your eyes but don't cover them. If you are exotic looking, you can pull off black. Maybe get a chunk of blonde to peek through the side (one side only.) Layer the front around your face.
• Spiderweb isn’t that great. Try some smoky eyes instead.
• Unfortunately you can never not have a part in your hair, unless maybe you’ve got an afro that sticks straight out everywhere. There are two types of parts, your natural part (where your hair naturally falls) and a forced part (one you force yourself). Just train your hair to go where you want it to by forcing it into that position everyday until it falls that way itself.
• When you need a more laid back kinda look you can just have it straightened with a bit of hair spray for volume.
• Emo hairstyles needs a lot of maintenance such as blow drying, STRAIGHTENING, & coloring. Invest in good straighteners!
• Emo hair can look good on a guy but NEVER take it to the point where people can’t tell your gender.
• Photobucket is your friend ;)

Emo hair tips

Our hair denotes our identity. It is one of the most important aspects in our body. If our hair is beautiful, we feel great and confident. Out of various hairstyles we make, Emo hairstyle is one of the best. An emo hair, is a style created by your own, a style that is completely different from the others.

Here are some tips for creating an emo hair:

• Mess around with your hair until you get it how you like it without the part. (there are some general rules about parting hair, and if you want a side part then I'd say pick which side of your face you like better and part it 1/4 way from the side.)
• To get the visible part out of your hair, you need to bring your hair forward from much further back (closer to the crown of your head). Also, layer at the top (sort of a scene mullet.)
• Blonde hair works great with emo hair, you can add some cool, brightly hued highlight. Dye it black, plum or navy or get brown w/ blue, black and plum streaks.
• To make your hair grow, do cornrolls and use organic shampoo.
• Emo hair won’t look good with a round race. Try long hair with layers and bangs off to one side instead.
• You can dye your hair with a dark, shiny, sexy shade like a black-pink combination or a dark brown, which are the most common colors.
• You can highlight the tips of your hair with purple or blue that should be well mixed with the above used color.
• Go like heaps of layers and longish kinda spike at the back with all different color blondes through it.
• Leave it long, color it black and get thick blunt front bangs that go down to your eyes but don't cover them. If you are exotic looking, you can pull off black. Maybe get a chunk of blonde to peek through the side (one side only.) Layer the front around your face.
• Spiderweb isn’t that great. Try some smoky eyes instead.
• Unfortunately you can never not have a part in your hair, unless maybe you’ve got an afro that sticks straight out everywhere. There are two types of parts, your natural part (where your hair naturally falls) and a forced part (one you force yourself). Just train your hair to go where you want it to by forcing it into that position everyday until it falls that way itself.
• When you need a more laid back kinda look you can just have it straightened with a bit of hair spray for volume.
• Emo hairstyles needs a lot of maintenance such as blow drying, STRAIGHTENING, & coloring. Invest in good straighteners!
• Emo hair can look good on a guy but NEVER take it to the point where people can’t tell your gender.
• Photobucket is your friend ;)