Instant Waves

I keep seeing tutorials on pinterest for instant waves and decided to try it out.

I was taking the pictures myself while trying to braid my hair and the camera was freaking out and wouldn't let me turn the flash off.  So, sorry about the pictures.

First, start with clean, dry, hair...

*Or maybe a little hair spray or mousse to give it some hold.

Then braid your hair into 5-10 loose braids.

*Some advice:  you should curl the ends of your hair first so that you don't get the straight pieces at the bottom.

Then run your flat iron over each braid.

Spray lightly with hairspray and let each braid cool.

*I found that I had to run the flat iron over each braid a lot and very slowly otherwise the whole braid didn't get warm enough to hold the waves.

Then just undo each braid.  That's it!

As you can see, mine does look like I slept in braids, but it looks nothing like the pinterest picture.  I think I should have curled the ends first, and maybe only done about 4 braids instead of 9.  My waves were so small it looked like I crimped my hair.

My hair is really straight though, so maybe this would have worked better on someone with some natural wave to their hair.

Has anyone else ever tried this?  Did it work for you?  Maybe there is some secret that I'm missing.  I'm going to have to keep trying :)

No Heat Curls

I found this video link from pinterest and wanted to try it out.

No heat curls.

I have REALLY straight hair.

I used to have to sleep in sponge curlers as a kid if I wanted to have any hope of curls.

This looked like fun so I thought I'd try it out and show you how it went:

This was my first attempt at self-photography.

It was kind of tricky LOL.

Notice the broken mirror?

It's my camping mirror and is supposed to be really sturdy.

But, apparently it's not child proof.

Bridger somehow got the urge to stand on it,

and of course,

it cracked in half.

Fun, right?

It was so nice to wake up the next morning and not have to worry about doing my hair.

Mine turned out to be more like beachy waves than spiral curls, but I still liked it.

What we wore (in orange)

What we wore:

Since it's October, I've been feeling like ORANGE.

I dressed everyone up in orange and then asked my husband to snap a pic.

Of my skirt...specifically.

This is what we got:

Attempt #1:

(he missed half of the skirt).

Attempt #2:

Still missed the bottom of the skirt.

Attempt #3:

I clarified "Could you really try to get all of my skirt?"

Attempt #4:

Most of the skirt...cut off the shoes.

Sigh...oh well :)  He did try.

What I wore:

skirt: Surrealist

shirt: Surrealist

shoes: Steve Madden

earrings: forever 21

hair: my favorite french braid.

What Saxon wore:

shirt: Target

pants: H & M

skull tie: thrifted

What Dalton wore:

shirt: Target

pants: Hurley

shoes: Jack & Lily from Costco

What Bridger wore:

shirts: Children's Place

pants: H & M

Let me tell you a little bit about why I love our orange outfits...

My little brother Kenny married his wife Lisa on Halloween a few years ago.

This is what we wore:

(look familiar? LOL)

This is what Kenny & Lisa wore to their costume wedding:

Lisa painted eyeballs on her eye lids so she could take pictures with her eyes open or closed.  This picture is with eyes closed.  Cool, huh?

And Willy Wonka performed the ceremony.

It was classic.

Linking up at:

The Pleated Poppy

Momma Go Round

No Model Lady

Floating French Braid hair idea

Today I thought I'd show you another fun hair idea.

I curled my hair one day and loved it.

The next day, I wanted to still have curls, but they were looking a little flat.

Since I've been seeing the "floating french braid" idea a lot on pinterest a lot lately, I thought I'd give it a try to give my next-day-curls something excitement. 

For those of you who know how to french braid, a floating french braid is the same idea.

Start your french braid, but each time you go to "add to" the bottom piece,

instead, drop it and pick up a new piece.

You add to the top piece as usual.

This way, the top is connected, and the bottom is not.

It's fun, quick and easy...

Easier than it looks...I promise.

And it added some life back into my flat curls.

My cute Saxon wanted to pose with me :)

What do you think?

Linking to:
I {heart} Naptime

Easy-Chic side braid tutorial

I do my hair in a side braid a lot, and every time I do, some asks,

"Wow, did you do that yourself?"

It is so easy that I'm almost embarrassed.

I do my hair like this when I am in a hurry because it is easy, fast, and keeps it out of my way.

So, I thought I would show everyone how to do it...

Here's what it looks like (after a day of playing at the park):

It holds up pretty well...

 It seriously only takes a minute to do, and it's ok if there are pieces falling out.
It fits the look of a "loose side braid".  Don't worry about making it perfect.

At the end, I usually clip my bangs to the side (as long as I'm going for easy and functional).

And that's it...

Photos: Brittany Davis Photography

Flower clip: Love Stitched

Hair band: Lizzie Starr

Give it a try and tell me what you think :)