Redpunzel

Wednesday Anti-Lice Updo

2013-05-08T10:48:00.002-07:00

You can read the starter post to this series HERE

This is the hairstyle I did today. I started with a simple low ponytail, split it into two sections- rubberband down each section and then tie in knots. I just looped the ends under the bun and pinned in a few spots. A nice simple-but-looks-complicated hairstyle.

I have been dreading this day....

2013-05-07T16:43:00.004-07:00

On Sunday night, Emma handed me this note-

(Yes, she waited all weekend to tell us, which could have potentially lead to a lice infestation catastrophe!)

So, I did the check- at the nape of the neck, behind the ears, all the places that they say lice love to hang out. Luckily, Emma did not have any sign of the little buggers.

BUT, I figured that there would be far less of a chance of her picking them up somewhere if her hair was up for the next few weeks. (Does anyone know if this is true? Makes sense to me.) :)

SO, that leads to the next few hairstyles- Creative ways to pull up hair that are not braids. (Emma has developed a small hatred of french braids. I'm naming them "ANTI-LICE Up-Dos" haha.

Has anyone out there dealt with lice? Did you use the regular shampoo or another home remedy?

Monday:

This one was just simple rubberbanned sections into a long ponytail...

Tuesday:
Cute trendy little top-knot with a headband...

Momma Do- Braided Tangle

2013-04-25T06:36:00.001-07:00

This took about 10 minutes with dry hair- 3 braids, 4 rubber bands and a few bobby pins.

Start by French braiding the top section of your hair- just below your ears. Braid to the end and band at the bottom. I then folded the braid in half and banded closer to my head to make a "bun"

Take the bottom section and split it in two making basic braids with each side. Band at the bottom.

I curled the hair at the ends of the braids so they wouldn't be fuzzy, but if you have nice cooperative hair, you can skip that.

Finally, take the two braids, pull them up and over the bun, and secure under the opposite side. (So the bun will be able to cover the ends) All that is left is to secure the bun around the ends of the hair!

I will most likely add a headband when I am out and about, but they hurt behind my ears for long term wear. Has anyone found a solution for this? Maybe I just have a bigger head than most. :)

Have a good morning!!

Makeover Time!

2013-04-24T14:51:00.001-07:00

If any of you have been following for the life of this blog, you will know that a makeover has been a LONG time due. I love this blog, and I love fixing hair, so I am going to make an effort to post more regularly!

Any suggestions or comments? Please email me or leave a comment below!

I am keeping this little cutie next to my computer to remind me to post! :)

One for the Boys...

2013-03-26T17:51:00.002-07:00

**I'm getting a lot of traffic from Pinterest from this post about these little guys. If you would like to buy a set, please visit my website on Etsy, PegBuddies THANKS!**

I finally finished these cute little Super Heroes! Michael loves them and is happy to finally have one of my projects be for boys. I guess with 3 girls I am usually doing girly things. :)

Such a bad blogger...

2013-03-22T16:39:00.003-07:00

I have been such a bad blogger over the last few months. It seems like things are constantly getting in the way, or I find things that are just more fun that sitting in front of the computer. I have been doing a lot of furniture refinishing and random painting over the last few months, as well as random other projects that seem to suck all of my free time away. I still do hair- most every day times 4 actually- but it's not pictured and made into tutorials anymore.

So I'm thinking I will be using this blog for random projects. Just fun things that I've been working on. So here's the most recent- Princess Peg People!

I'm sure you've seen these around blog world, I think the first place I ever saw them was LilBlueBoo and since painting nativity sets this Christmas, I've wanted to do more with these cute little pegs- I've done a family set, and ones that are painted to the specifications of kids, and all were really fun. These princesses were beyond fun though- I loved all of the hours it took to paint them. I'm glad someone ordered them without knowing exactly how they'd turn out so I had an excuse to finally get them done! This is the little princess army I created this week for a customer:

If anyone would like to order a custom set, here's my link! :)

KidsRoomCreations Etsy

A day of braids...

2012-10-05T08:18:00.001-07:00

Happy 9th Emma!

2012-06-22T11:35:00.000-07:00

Today is Emma's 9th birthday! Yehoo!

We are celebrating by taking a few of her friends to see Brave- how fun that they all thought about doing their hair in waves like Merida! :) Hope you all have a great weekend!

Pretty close with the red hair- I guess I need to build a bit more volume to match Merida. That girl has got some great hair. :)

The beginning...

2012-05-25T07:35:00.002-07:00

This is going to be my first post about my journey to a better, fitter, me. I don't care too much about getting super skinny, or fitting into some specific size of pants, although hopefully those will be nice side effects of just getting HEALTHY again.

I typed a long story, but I thought it was too much, so to make it short- my excuses were 4 pregnancies, 2 miscarriages, snacking like a mother does, and lack of effort on my part. I got up to 189 at one point- higher than during any of my pregnancies. (And I'm not a tall girl- at 5'2", I don't carry that weight well at all.) All through high school and college, before pregnancy, I was at the most 120. I played soccer, I hiked, and I was just generally more active and didn't eat as much.

Last year in January, my sister finally convinced me, after a good year of asking, to try running a marathon with her. I had all sorts of excuses before, but this time, the kids were all old enough to not need me all of the time, I was done having kids, and overall I was sick of being fat. I thought that for sure running would slim me down in no time with minimal effort on my part. I was so wrong.

I was DYING- this was my first 4 mile run and I had to stop at least every 1/2 mile.

Taken before my first training run ever

After a month-long bootcamp, training for 3 half marathons and now 2 full marathons, I weigh exactly the same as I did before I started running. I am definitely smaller in that I have more muscle tone and I am in much better shape cardio wise, but as far as the numbers on the scale, and the size of my waist measurement, I still have a long ways to go.

After running this last marathon, which came with a lot of injuries which I am positive were because of my weight, I decided it was time to give running a little break, and really concentrate on what I was eating. If I could out-eat a marathon training plan and not lose a single pound, I was doing something wrong somewhere. I knew I would justify some things- a 20 mile training run is a good excuse for a hamburger! :) But, it was in my daily eating that there was a problem.

So last week, I recommitted myself to Weight Watchers. I had signed up for a couple months after having Ruby, and the plan was good, but I just wasn't ready then. Now I am. I am ready to make the change for my health and to be an example to my children. I'm definitely ready to NOT look like I could announce a pregnancy at anytime. I'm ready to be comfortable in my clothes- and NOT in my clothes. I'm ready for a change. After this first week I can see that I was eating much more than I needed to be, and most of it was junky snacking during the day.

Also last week, I decided I needed something hard to keep me motivated. I decided on Insanity because I didn't have to go anywhere, I could do it when I had a chance at home (which that "chance" has been at 5:30 in the morning before anyone in the house is awake) and wouldn't have to rely on anyone else. So far, it is HARD. SO. HARD.

As most of you mothers can relate I'm sure, I have that guilt when I think, "Oh, I don't want someone to have to watch my kids, so I just won't go to the gym" and I knew that would be a downfall if I didn't plan accordingly, which is why I picked an at-home video instead of thinking I would always make it to the gym.

So in more of an effort to stick with it- I am putting all of this out there in the cyber-world. I will post some before/after pics when I get some good afters, but the "Underwear" before pictures will be embarrassing for me. Not something I would usually show the world, but I am hoping that through keeping myself accountable, I can help some other moms out there that may be in the same place that I am.

This picture was taken about a year ago at a friends house. I'm still the same size, and still have the same ugly clothes. :)

Starting Weight: 177.2
(official WW weigh in, but I was up to 186 the weekend before when I ate like CRAP because I knew it was my last hurrah...)

Pants/Dress: 14

5-23-12 Measurements

Waist: 43

Hips: 44

Bust: 42

Arms: 14

Dress Size: 14

Thighs: 26

SO FAR:
Week 1 Weigh In: 172.8 (-4.4 in one week.)

My reward for finishing Insanity:

Super cute retro swim suit for our lake-side family reunion in August.

Hello?...

2012-05-21T14:58:00.000-07:00

Once again, I have managed to go months without blogging. Here a few of my BIG reasons:

(In no particular order)

1. 4 kids

2. Mount Laundry, and a house to take care of (blah- housework!)

3. Working on redoing a few rooms in the house

4. Building (almost by myself!) new benches and a table for my kitchen (Used adapted farm house table plans from Ana White here just in case anyone is interested)

5. Finishing my Masters Degree (Yehoo!!)

6. Running the Pittsburgh Marathon (my second) with all seven of my siblings, a couple in-laws, one nephew, and my mom (Yay!)

I'm looking forward to getting a little more regular with my blog posts again! Let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas that you would like to see!

I am going to be making a few changes to the look of the blog, as well as some posting additions. I have just started Weight Watchers as well as Insanity (definitely lives up to it's name) last week, so I want to post about that journey to help keep myself a little more accountable. Hope no one minds.

So, after all of my time away, is there anyone still out there reading this? :)

Repeat! St. Patrick's Day Do...

2012-03-15T19:45:00.000-07:00

We will be doing this style for Em tomorrow for school since St. Pat's is on Saturday. Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Here's the "how to" That I made two years ago...

Cute little teen punk...

2012-02-24T16:30:00.000-08:00

This was a fun simple style on Mad. A nice tight Dutch braid on one side, lots of cute curls on the other.

Valentine's Day and some Puppies!

2012-02-15T07:19:00.000-08:00

As you can see, my blog has become one of the bottom things on my priority list. I'm a bit sad about it, but soon (APRIL!) I will be finished with my Master's program, and I can get back to the important things of blogging about hair! :)

Maia got a haircut last week, so we have been dealing with the short hair styles. I know I saw this one around on one of the other blogs, but this is what we did yesterday for her hair. Emma had this traditional one, but of course she snuck out of the house before I remembered to take a picture. :)

In other news, my mom has English Cream Golden Retrievers that she is selling- there are only 3 left, and they are the perfect family dog. They live at our house, so they have been raised with my kids, and are super fun and playful. She only has 2 girls and 1 boy left. She will ship them at cost within the US. Check out her blog for available puppies and prices, and for contact information. :)

Brookside English Goldens

I caught the three playing tug-o-war yesterday. It was sprinkling here in Las Vegas, so they were a little wet, not their usually fluffy white selves. :)

Inspired by: Pinterest!

2011-12-04T18:01:00.001-08:00

Pinterest is absolutely addictive. If you haven't signed up yet, you should. They have an entire section just for Hair & Beauty, but make sure you've got some time if you check it out. (Here is my hairstyles board if you'd like to follow it!)

I found this style a while ago, and tried it last week- super simple braids, but tight at the base of the head. It was a great one to do when my hair was wet, and worked well on my somewhat wavy hair, but would also look great on curled or straight hair as well.

I only used 2 rubberbands and a few bobbypins and it held all day long. It even looked better as it dried throughout the morning. (Also, I did a two-into-one braid on one side, as my bangs still aren't quite long enough to reach without falling back...) So here's the video, although it is long, and a little boring, so feel free to skip through the steps. :)

A fun Formal Style...

2011-10-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

So first of all, I would like to apologize for not posting lately. My class is getting nice and busy near the end, so I'm all sorts of busy with that in addition to all of the regular mom duties. The end is in sight though! :)

My niece had her 17th birthday party this weekend, and I had the chance to do her hair. I've started to get into doing coloring, do any of you readers like to dye your own or others' hair? I'm not professional in the least, but I've had fun learning new tricks. I started off with Savannah going to a light golden brown (she's naturally a dirty blond, but she's been dying it lately...) She wanted a fun touch of color, so I added the teal streak.

I started by ratting the crown of her head to make the big bump, then wrapped the hair around and used pins to secure. I did this while the hair was still straight, so I wouldn't have to mess with the texture on the front part of the style. It worked out great, and then I just curled them with my small Frankenstein curler for a wave style- not ringlets. The curls got more and more wavy and loose, and looked great throughout the night.

I thought I'd be able to hide the pins, but at the end, I needed a fun accessory to cover them. I tried this big bow, but it just didn't look perfect. I had some netting, feathers, and flowers, so I made this quick clip that looked perfect with her dress. (Sparkly pink and zebra print)

Here she is with her makeup and dress on- so beautiful! Happy Birthday, Savannah!

Sock buns!

2011-09-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

I just recently did a little YouTube research on sock buns- I'd never used them, and thought it was more of a pain since I could just pin the hair and have a little bun. I was wrong! So easy, and the way these are wrapped, with the hair wrapped up inside, there's no extra hair to wrap around the base of the hair. I did use two pins just to make sure they didnt unroll during school.

I used an old toddler size sock for these two buns, and I currently have a big sock bun in my hair too that I used a regular size sock for. So easy!

Today's project...

2011-09-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

I wanted a set of these little color matching people that I found on Pinterest, so this was my project today. I made some extra sets for friends that wanted them and built a cute little peg girl army. I think I love them. :)

(The little girls come out of the cups so kids can learn their colors.)

Curly Momma Do

2011-08-31T16:14:00.000-07:00

My hair has gotten more and more curly with each baby, and sometimes it's easier to deal with the curl than try to get rid of it. I just recently found this mousse by Suave, and I have to say it is one of my favorites. It goes on more like a lotion and less like a big sticky foam. (It's even called "Whipped Cream Mousse" Yum.) :) My hair doesn't feel weighed down like it does with usual mousse, so I would recommend trying it to anyone that might need mousse. I think it was maybe $3.

After that plug, here's the do.

I used:
3 rubberbands
1 big hairtie
10 (or so) bobby pins

Start by flipping your head upside down and add the mousse to damp hair. At this point, I gathered some of the back hair and did a simple braid.

Now, the cute little front bump, and two side braids. (I rubberbanded each of them, and then took them out after the big ponytail.)

Gather up all the hair and make a ponytail, then pin in place to bundle the hair into a little messy looking poof.

Super Simple Milkmaid Braids...

2011-08-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

Here's a super quick style for a short morning- simple milkmaid braids using a topsy tail. Takes maybe 10 minutes for all of the steps.

You'll need-

4 Rubberbands (I used two black, and two clear)
Bobby Pins
Topsy Tail

1. Start with basic pigtails- place them a little more forward than normal pigtails, these were a little too far back, I usually try for right above the ears.

2. Use a topsy tail to flip the pigtails up. (blech, sorry about the melted popsicle in the sink!)

3. Now braid the hair into simple braids and tie with a rubberband.

Now just flip them on top of the head, and pin into place. I try to hide the ends in the little "flip crevice" that was made from the topsy tail.

These are Emma's new prized possession. $15 at Target. Nice. :)

Simple Curlformers Style...

2011-08-28T08:37:00.000-07:00

I really like Curlformers, but have gotten out of the habit of using them. I think it's been a good 6 months at least since I'd done much with them. BUT, they are so nice and really make some cute styles really simply.

I put these in last night, using just some leave in conditioner to moisten the hair, and took them out this morning. I don't usually curl her bangs in with the curlers, but she wants to grow them out, so they're a little long for just keeping in her eyes. Anyway, I just used some bobby pins to pin back her bangs, and separated the girls a bit with some hair spray. Nice and cute!

Have any of you been to the Lowe's Build and Grow program? I took Emma and Michael for the first time yesterday, and they really loved it! A fun free program every Saturday. They do different projects, and when they finish they give them a cute little patch to sew onto their apron. We're planning to go back again soon.

Flip Through Ponytail Bun

2011-08-26T09:04:00.000-07:00

I'm positive this can't be original, but this was the first time I have done it, so it's original to me. :)

All you need is a ponytail, a topsy-tail, and a couple bobby pins.

1. Start with a simple ponytail, then use the topsy tail and pull it through the top. (So the loop is at the bottom, and the point is going up through the hair.) This picture is pulled through once.

2. Repeat! Just pull it through again, leaving this cute little bump. I just pinned the ends in a few places, and it was good to go. It looked great throughout the day, and took maybe 3 minutes total. I think it would have looked much cuter with a bow or something covering the "part" of the hair right above the ponytail, but Em's against bows at the moment. :)

Inspired by: Heidi Klum

2011-08-25T09:07:00.000-07:00

So I'd like to apologize in advance about my pictures- my kids got my "real" camera, and it's having some issues, so I've been using my phone instead. Not great pictures are the result. Too bad my husband doesn't think this is a big enough issue to get a new iPhone with a better camera. :)

Anyway, I caught the end of a Project Runway the other night, and of course, Heidi Klum had great hair like always. So here's my take on it...her's was a little fancy for laundry day, so I did a more casual version. :)

1. Start out with a small bun with the back half of your hair...Nothing fancy here, just a not-pulled-through-ponytail.

2. Now, with the top section, shape the little bump by smoothing the hair, adding a small twist, and then pinning in place. (If you X the bobby pins, they will hold better.)

3. Take the side section, smooth and twist a couple times. I just pulled this back to the bun and used a rubberband to keep in place.

4. Repeat on other side...(This is where a nicer phone would come in handy...check out that quality photography!)

There ya go! I super simple, easy style that looks great for any occasion. Best part is it takes all of 5 minutes, and you can do it with wet hair.

If it were a fancier date or something, I would curl the hair first, leave the hair in a ponytail during "construction" and then pin in into a messy bun after the front was all fixed into place.

Who needs expensive spas for mud baths?? Just have your brother dig a big hole in the backyard and fill with water. :)

M.I.A. Again...

2011-08-13T15:15:00.000-07:00

So I've been completely ignoring this blog again. I'm hoping once school starts again, we'll have some more styles and different stuff. It seems like we do a lot of braids and ponytails when we just hang around the house.

One thing I did the other day that was a little fun on Emma's french braids for gymnastics was to start them on the top of her head so they would just go straight down her head, instead of curving from the front and going back. Here's a quick shot. Just shows that tiny little changes can make a cute difference on a simple style.

Also, Emma was baptized this past weekend- she did so great, and we had a lot of fun family over to play that Saturday. I had to plan something that wouldn't require any work afterwards, so I went with some braids. Here's a picture of how I finished it- just kind of tied it in a little knot and twisted the ends around to hide them.

In other news, here's a fun project that I've been working on for the past week. I love refinishing furniture, but this was a HUGE job, and really tested my patience. I really loved the end product though, and it was totally worth the work.

Hope everyone is doing well and is having a super fun summer! (Although I know some of you have already gone back to school- we still have 2 weeks left!) I have some fun mom-dos planned for the next bit, and hopefully will have the tutorial up for the cute twisted flower that Emma wore with her baptism dress...they are super fun and easy to make, and you can add them to anything- bobby pins, headbands, ribbons, etc...

7 Bobby Pins and an iPhone...

2011-08-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

Sleeping on wet hair is not good for me. At least I used some product last night so it wasn't a complete frizzball-

I built a little bump using 3 bobby pins. If you have thinner hair, you'd get away with only 2...just make sure to cross them into an x and they'll hold all day. (And I know you can see that really well in this picture.) ;)

With the smaller section of side hair, I just did a regular braid and pulled it back and pinned with two bobby pins over the starting pins...

On the side with more hair, I had to do a twist to keep the front back, and then about 3-4 twists down, I brought that into a simple braid...kind of tricky while taking pictures. :) Pull it back and pin it with the others.

All finished! A cute 7-bobby-pin hairstyle! (This looks a little poofy from this direction, but you get the idea.) :)

I also thought it would be fun to show you my daily makeup. As a mom of 4 kids, 3 of which require hair fixing time, my mornings are pretty short. I've gotten my "face" down to about 5 minutes or less. I use mostly all drugstore products. Here are my favorites:

1. Maybelline Falsies mascara
2. Maybelline brow pencil in blonde (I just found this, and love it.)
3. Covergirl eye shadow brush. I have other brushes, even fancy MAC brushes, and this one is still my favorite. Just a short stubby brush that works great.
4. Almay eye shadow for hazel eyes.
5. Aveeno tinted moisturizer- It's hot here in Vegas, and heavy foundations just melt off of me. This one works great and gives me just the right amount of coverage.
6. Olay face lotion.

And that's it! That's what I use every day. (Well, every day that I actually put makeup on!)

Here's my total drawer- I like these little baskets because when the little girls are getting too grabby with it, I just take them out and put them in my closet shelf. You can see I have more than what I use, and I have more under the counter too, because I like trying stuff. Any suggestions on great products I should try?

Now, off to my day of freezer cooking!!! Does anyone else do freezer cooking? Any great recipes that you have? I'll post our finished products, but as a teaser, we bought 40 lbs of chicken and 20 lbs of hamburger meat. (for 3 families) Wish me luck!

Pinterest and Hair Romance...

2011-07-25T07:26:00.000-07:00

So, as I was wasting time on Pinterest* the other day, I came across this blog - Hair Romance - with some amazingly fun hairstyles for Mom's- She did a 30 day challenge of "twist and pin" hairstyles. Check it out!

*If you don't know what Pinterest is, save yourself some valuable time and don't find out. If you're a fan of getting sucked into amazing images and ideas, go ahead and look. :) If anyone would like an invite, let me know and I'd be happy to send you one!