Royalty BOWtique

Well, the last 29 days to be exact!

A friend and I have been working on opening an online boutique! Grand Opening is today (really this is not an April Fool's prank!) and we have lots for fun things to check out!!! It is call Royalty BOWtique because every little kid should feel like they are a prince or princess!

We will be doing weekly posts on all kinds of topics and tutorials and we will be doing monthly give aways! We are offering 10% off your first purchase right now AND we are giving away a tutu and matching bow set! So hurry this wont last long!

What are you waiting for? go check us out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another Green Day Craft- for the kids!

A Leprechaun Trap!!!
First start with a shoe box and cut a door/flap out of one side.

Everyone knows that a Leprechaun is attracted to shiny things. We used LOTS of sliver glitter and bright colored paper. I cut a piece of paper to be glued into the bottom of the shoe box and we cover it with glitter. You could use tin foil or just let your kids color the inside.
Get crazy in your decorating! I think the more the better for this particular craft! you can see we have used a lot of glitter... I think mirrors and stickers would be really fun too!

Then you will need to make the trap/maze part of it. I did not measure anything. I just eyeballed and cutout a bunch of pieces. *USE a HOT GLUE gun to put these pieces in. It was the easiest way for me to get it done! And it held up really well!

Then cover the top with plastic wrap so once his gets in he can't get out, and prop the door open with a toothpick.This is the Leprechaun's view... my son had a great idea to make an arrow to make sure he knew which way to get in!

Set it out and see what you can catch. We didn't get a pot of gold, but we did get some Pop Rocks and through out the day we kept find little gold coins. He even came in and got out while we were in the room! So build it well cause they are tricky little guys!

May the Luck of the Irish with you!

Giveaway!!!

Amy Call Photography go check her out, she does some really great work!
She is doing a session giveaway, I believe it is a $99 value, so hurry it wont last very long!!!!

St. Patrick's Day Craft

This was super fun and easy to make! I picked all of this stuff up at Ben Franklin before they closed so this actually cost me less than 2 dollars, otherwise I think it would have cost about $5-$7 dollars!
I got this board and painted it, I went with white.... Then picked up some of these wood clovers and painted them. I went with green...

Then, I pained some little wood letters and before the paint dried, I dipped them in some green glitter... I think those foam stickers would work too. For this craft, you will need enough to spell out "LUCKY CHARMS" I had two different kinds of St. Patrick's Day ribbon... I went with the green kind, But whatever you have or can find would be way cute! Hot glue to the bottom of the board, but make sure you wrap the edges around all the way to the back, so it wont fall off easily.Then I just hot glued the clovers to the top of the board, so the top half would stick up above the board. I added a raffia bow (just hot glued that too) at the last minute, but it really added a lot to the board! Then I printed pictures of my kids all about the same age (3 months old) and glued them to the clovers!
cute! easy! fun!

Pig Tails...

...are for big kids too!!!

For Sale

Okay everyone, I am going to be selling my stuff! Keep your eyes open for where to get this and more samples of what I will be selling!!! Match your ties to your bows...

These come in all different colors, but these are the sizes I will have!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sorry, I really wanted to get these up before Valentine's Day, but it just didn't happen. But maybe you can try it next year ;)
here is Baby Cookie's hair hearts....
Really easy, part the hair into two sections and pull as much hair as you want into pigtails. (not for maxim cuteness you will want to get it high on their head). Then use some kind of gel or palmaid (I use something similar by Garnier Fructis-Reshapble putty). You will want to make sure it is going to hold the little fly-aways in.
Get the little ponies wet but your 'gel' in, split them in half, and bend into a hear-shape. Secure with a tiny bobby pin until her hair is dry and you can then take the bobby pins out or leave them in depending on her hair (we took them out)
She had been crying because she couldn't get that little box open so her eyes are a little scary... but look at her hair and those adorable hearts!!! I put a little red ribbon around the elastic and I was done. It took longer to write this than it did to do the hair.

This is a really fun one- I have seen similar ideas on other blogs- If you need better "how-to" pictures let me know...

Okay so you are going to part the hair on the natural part. Then on the side with the most hair put two small sections into little elastics. Then do a REVERSE topsy tail (or pull through). then put in some "gel" twist and put into heart shape and put on elastic in the bottom.

Because this was her school party day we went extra crazy and added some little button hearts (that were just hot glued to bobby pins). For this one we just pulled her hair back into a half pony, and then did the same as above- reverse topsy tail, shaped, secured with elastic, and added some fun bobby pin hearts.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!

Twisty-Swirls

I did not ge a 'finished' picture on this one, but it is just a twisted headband.... I parted the hair and put the little sections in an elastics. Then twited and secured with the really little bobby pins. Then I put a few little curls in the ends (sorry no pic) and it was done!

YUM!

When I started this blog it was going to be an all around blog. Not just for hair, but it would seem like that is what it is turning into.
Anyway, I have some GREAT recipes for you to try...

This one came from Food for Thought.
Cinnamon Rolls
She halves it when she makes her's, I did the whole thing and it was a lot but we have a lot of people in our house. They are really easy and REALLY good!
Enjoy!
Dissolve 3 Tbsp. yeast in 3/4 cup warm water. Sprinkle with about 2 Tbsp. white sugar to help it along. Allow to set while mixing dough. **hint, when using yeast do not use medal bowls or spoons.

Heat in microwave (about 3 minutes):
2 cubes (1 cup) butter
2 cups milk
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. salt

Pour into mixing bowl and add:
4 cups flour
3 eggs
yeast mixture
about 4 more cups flour

Knead about 5 minutes in mixer

Remove dough hook, cover with damp towel and allow to raise until double - about 1 hour, or more.

Spray counter, thoroughly (flouring it will dry out dough).*** I did not know this, and it really made a huge difference!!
Remove dough from bowl; pat or roll out into rectangle -about 1/2 inch thick. spread with melted butter, sprinkle lightly with white sugar, then brown sugar and cinnamon. Roll up from long side and pinch closed at the end. The wider your rectangle, the bigger the rolls will be. Slice into about 1 - 1 1/2 inch slices and place on greased cookie sheet. Allow to raise again about an hour or so. Bake in preheated oven 375-400 about 10-15 minutes. Watch them closely the first time until you see how you want them and how your oven bakes.

Cream Cheese Frosting:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup butter, softened
2-3 tsp. milk
1 tsp. vanilla
2-4 cups powdered sugar.
Mix well (this will freeze fine)

Brownies
These are gooey in the middle and have a perfect, sweet, little crunch on the top! YUM!
And I don't do anything unless it is easy, so you know this is easy!

8 oz of unsweetened or semi-sweet chocolate chips or 8- 1 oz squares of baking chocolate
1 cup butter
5 eggs
3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla
1-1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt

Melt chocolate and butter in a saucepan over low heat; set aside. In a mixer mix eggs, sugar and vanilla at high speed for 10 minutes- you want to beat a lot of air into the batter. Blend in chocolate mixture, flour and salt until just mixed. Pour into 9x13 pan. When I grease my pans I use Wilton's Cake release. You may think I am crazy, but this stuff works like MAGIC! It is amazing!
Bake at 375 for 40 minutes and enjoy!

Fun!

This one is one that looks hard but really is so easy! part the front in 3 parts and secure with elastic. then pull all three together into one and secure with elastic. Then pull all hair into one pony tail. I used 2 small bobby pins to make the "messy bun look" (there are lots of ways to accomplish the messy bun look. I will do a few posts on how I do it in the following weeks, so watch for it.) Then I added a really big purple flower under the big pony tail's elastic. It really made the look complete! Baby Cheeto was not really happy to have her hair done today, let alone take pictures so this is the best I could get. Let me know if you want better pictures or a video.

Game Day

This is a spin on this style. Little Bean and Little Man had a cheer/dance clinic performance. This kept the hair out of her face, it so cute with her new shor hair do and I liked that I could put purple and white (the school's colors) in her hair with worrying about it falling out. I know it is hard to see the purple but it is there ;)

First I put a few curls in it with a small barrel curling iron. Then I parted the hair out. Then put the ribbon under the first layer and tied it lose in the back, leaving a bit hanging down her back.

Locks of Love

Locks of Love

I am so proud of my Little Bean! I told her it was taking lots of time doing her LONG hair every and asked if it would be okay if we cut it. She was a little sad, she loved having long hair. I told her that her hair was long enough to donate. I explained that I had done it a long time ago when I was in 8th grade and the hair I cut off short helped a little kid that was sick and needed my hair. And that her aunt did it about 2 or so years ago. She was all in as soon as she heard that she could help someone else.

3 braids and a Pony

Part the hair on one side and from ear to ear. Then braid into 3 french braids.side viewstake all the hair BUT the braids and put into a pont tail then wrap the ends of all 3 braids around the elastic secure with a small bobby pin. We needed to use a little hair clip along with the bobby pin this time Add some adorable hair bing and you are done!

Foam

Okay, I know how bad this can turn out, but here is a trick that I have learned. Most of you all ready but just in case you don't-
Depending on what kind of curl you want will help you pick your size of roller. We like lose curl at the end of the hair so we use the bigger ones.
Start by putting the roller up a little bit higher than the ends. tuck the ends under and roll up a bit to secure the ends. KEEP IT LOSE!you should not see any indentation in the roller. The foam should stay the same size as when you start. Really the key is to keep it just tight enough to keep the hair in place. Doing it too tight will make it really hard to unroll when it is dry and that is when you get frizz!This is a fun way to roll the hair, besides just keeping it straight. When you braid the hair it makes it look like a wavy perm. You don't have to french braid it to get a fun look. you can just do a regular braid with each section of hair. Give it a try and let me know how it turns out!