New Projects

I am always trying to find new projects to try to keep me busy in the little bit of free time that I have. I decided to try out a couple projects I saw on Pinterest, an anchor charm bracelet and a washer and ribbon necklace.

What do you guys think?

Kitchen Chalkboard | DIY

In my house we have a serious spice issue. The spices are all over the place and constantly on the counter instead of in the cabinet...it drives me nuts. So I decided to make this adorable magnetic chalkboard to go above the stove that will (eventually) have spices jars on it. I purchased 6 little jars to start off with and am going to attach a magnet to the lid. When they are on the chalkboard you can write which spice it is underneath. I also liked it for hanging a recipe that you are making right above the stove. 

To make it I purchased an 11"x16" picture frame from Target. I also purchased a 12"x18" piece of sheet metal from Lowes. I then took the glass out of the frame and put it on top of the sheet metal and traced around it. I used tough kitchen shears to trim the sheet metal to the 11"x16" that I needed. 

I then sprayed the metal with Rust Oleum metal primer and then sprayed it with chalkboard paint.

I also sprayed the picture frame (which was originally black) this great teal color (my favorite color). 

I love how it looks! And maybe this will solve our spice issue (but probably not haha). 

Mmm...my fiancé is making Egglant Parmesan tonight

OMBRÉ HAIR | DIY

I was so excited (and nervous) to do this to my hair. I've wanted to have ombre hair color for a couple of years now - ever since I saw it on Alexa Chung. It is so easy to do and so low maintenance because it is gradual from dark to light so you don't have a straight line of color like you get when you lighten all your hair and then your roots start to grow in.

 I first asked my friend Kristine (see picture below of her hair), who is going to the Aveda institute and recently did her hair ombre, how she went about it. She recommended I watch some DIY Ombre YouTube videos, which is what she did. I went to Sally Beauty to buy my products and a ridiculously helpful woman there showed me everything I would need. I used a packet of bleach with 30 developer on the ends for about 15 minutes  and then rinsed it out. After that I did a round of Wella color (#12W Malibu Blonde) with 30 developer for 30 minutes on the ends and then added more to the middle part of my hair for 20 more minutes. After that was rinsed out my hair was a disgusting orange/brassy/yuck color so I used a Wella blue/violet toner for 30 more minutes with 20 developer. And ta-da! All done! I made sure to do a restorative mask at the end of everything to help put some moisture back in my hair. All in all it was a very easy process, especially if there is something good on TV to watch while you wait. I called my normal salon a few days ago about having this done to my hair and they wanted $150! I spent probably $35 TOTAL to do this at home - and that's including a restorative mask to put on after I bleached my hair. I love how it turned out! I'm so glad I decided to do it at home rather than paying a fortune for the same result. 

Here are some example pictures and helpful links for tutorials on how to get ombre hair at home:

Here's how my hair turned out ^

Kristine's hair

Tutorial from Britnee Can

This is the video I watched:

Enjoy!