But We Just Did Your Hair!

You know that amazing sense of satisfaction when you finish a marathon styling session? Isn't it great?

I'm sure many of you also know that not-so-amazing feeling when you find out that your child is about to do something that could completely destroy the style that took hours to do, right? I just got to experience that feeling last week.

I spent 9 hours putting Syd's hair into the mini twist style she's currently wearing. Then, less than a week later, I heard the words "We're having a paint war at youth group!"

Yep, you read that right. A paint war. Followed by a water fight. My first thought was "That sounds like fun!" That was immediately followed by my second thought, which was "But we just did your hair!" Sigh.

Now, I would never make her miss out on a fun experience like that because of her hair, but for a minute there I was really wishing I could just tell her not to go. I mean, how on earth would we scrub paint out of her head full of twists without causing the frizz of the century? Those 200+ twists could very easily become casualties of the impending paint war.

But, as you may have expected, we did find a way for her to participate without destroying her twists. It worked like a charm and it was super easy. I'm sure most people would come up with something similar, but I wanted to show you what I did in case you find yourself in a similar situation (although I'm not sure paint wars are actually all that common...lol).

First, I used my fingers to part her twists down the center of her head and put her hair into 2 cornrows.

Then I wrapped the braids around her head and pinned them up on the sides.

Now her hair fit nicely up into a shower cap.

But the shower cap didn't fit very snugly. We were afraid it may not stay on all the way and some of her hair could still get covered in paint. A quick trip to the dollar store found our solution.

That shower cap wasn't going anywhere now! At first, Syd was a little self-conscious to look like this during the paint war. I mean, there were dozens of kids there, and she didn't want to be the only one wearing something on her head. To make her feel better, I picked up a few extra shower caps while we were at the dollar store. Her plan was to ask some friends to wear them with her so she wasn't the only one, but that's not exactly how things went. People ended up asking HER if they could have one to keep their hair protected! Syd was more than happy to pass them out.

And of course, she only wore the shower cap for the paint part of the evening. She removed the two layers of protection and unpinned her hair before the water fight.

I think it's safe to say we made a wise choice keeping her hair protected. Here's the "after" shot of her cap.

And at the end of the night, I had one very colorful, very wet tween (who still had paint-free hair).

The moral of this story is this: 

There have been many times I've heard about people limiting their children's activities because they don't want to destroy a hairstyle. But at the end of the day, it's only hair. There's usually a simple way to keep hair protected. There's just nothing that compares to watching children enjoy a crazy, messy childhood!

Turning Small Box Braids into Even Smaller Mini Twists

(Climbs out from under the rock I've been hiding under)

Hi there! I know it's been months since I've posted anything new. I would say I'm sorry, but....well...we've been having an absolutely amazing time just experiencing life and if I could do the last few months over again, I wouldn't change a thing! Opportunities presented themselves and we seem to always jump at the chance to step outside the box. If you've been following us for a while, you're probably aware of our recent missions trip to Guatemala. As expected, that was another life-changing trip for us. I'll make a separate post about that trip in the near future to tell you all about it!

Now....back to hair.

For the trip to Guatemala, Syd wore her hair in small box braids. I figured that was probably the easiest style for the rough conditions since there is no daily styling requirements. Just a bit of moisturizer every evening and she was done.

Syd's braids at the end of the trip

Those braids lasted a few weeks and survived some pretty harsh conditions. (If you want more details about how I do Syd's box braids, check out this post about small box braids.) The braids probably could have even lasted another week, but school was starting and every girl HAS to have a fresh style for that all-important first day of school. So we changed her box braids into mini twists. Here's how.

I wanted to do the new style on clean hair but didn't want to have a long detangling session, so Syd washed her hair while it was still in the braids. I tied most of it up out of the way, only working with a few braids at a time. I would unravel one braid, finger detangle that section to remove shed hair, added some Bee Mine Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer, and then turned the hair from that one braid into two new twists.

You could still see the part lines from the previous box braids style, but Syd's hair is so thick that those lines disappeared when we got further along in the style.

I did the back half of Syd's hair one afternoon, but we had somewhere to be that evening, so I stopped for the night. I pulled the top half of her hair back and she wore her hair half up for the night. The top half was in braids and the bottom half was in twists, but it really wasn't too noticeable.

We finished the twists the next day. It took just under 9 hours to complete the style. At first, I was shocked (and a little irritated) that it took so long, but then I remembered that I had removed over 100 braids, moisturized her hair, removed shed hair, AND created well over 200 new twists. So I suppose 9 hours isn't too bad, all things considered. (Patience, Rae....patience.) Regardless of how long it took to complete, her twists look great and she loves them.

Excuse the low photo quality here.

Syd is also back to running cross country this year, so the twists have spent a lot of time just being pulled back into a ponytail. But she did decide to style them for the first day of school. She french braided the front of one side along her hairline, and then pulled all of her hair into a low side ponytail. It's simple but cute...a perfect style for a 12 year old to do on herself!

I've missed you all.....it feels good to be back! Be blessed! =)

No Ponytails For Mom

I always take the time to make sure Syd's hair is properly cared for and styled nicely. She rarely walks out of the house with her hair just thrown up into a quick ponytail. Me, on the other hand? A messy, just-get-it-out-of-my-face ponytail has actually become my normal style. Sad, huh?

Well, things are going to change. I decided that I need to put as much love into my own hair as I put into Syd's. Working at home is no excuse for me to put no effort into my appearance. So for the next 3 weeks, I have decided to put an end to my ponytail habit.

From now until Mother's day, I will not allow myself to wear my hair in a ponytail. The only exception to this rule will be when I am working out. Running with my hair down just doesn't sound like a good idea.

To give you an idea of what I'm working with, here is a picture of my hair in its completely natural state. I washed it, combed it, and left it alone until it had completely air dried on its own (about 4 hours). It's very thick, very coarse, and can get pretty frizzy at times, despite being almost completely straight. (There goes the theory that frizz only attacks curly heads!)

Since I don't want to use a flat iron every day, I'm going to have to get creative. I have a feeling bobby pins are going to become some of my very good friends. I'll post pics every day or two on my facebook page in case other ponytail addicted moms want to see what I come up with. Check out that page at https://www.facebook.com/TweenyHairCommunity and feel free to post pictures of any styles you've done that might help me out!

Anyone else want to abandon ponytails with me???

Wordless Wednesday: A Throwback

Old Reliable - Box Braids

We decided that since we just had to trim Syd's hair due to damage, maybe it was time for a little protective styling. We've been doing twists almost non-stop for months, so we settled on one of our favorite protective styles - box braids.

I did these braids on Syd's straightened hair, which made parting her hair a breeze. I used my regular crescent shaped parts, starting in the back and making half-moon shaped parts that build on each other as I move up her head. I also added a bit of Bee Mine Curly Butter to each little section before I braided it.

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Since her hair was straight when I braided it, the ends didn't have any curl to keep the braid from unraveling. To fix that, we just wet the very ends of her braids with water and some Bee Mine Luscious Balanced Cream Moisturizer after the style was complete. The ends coiled right up, ensuring that the braids won't be able to unravel on their own.

These braids have already been in for almost a week and they still look fabulous. I wonder how long they will last!

Straightened Out And Cut Off

The ends of Syd's hair have been looking kind of rough for a while now. Several factors joined together to cause that damage, including the cold, dry winter, more "out" styles as she gets older, and the fact that Syd is learning to do her own hair. Let's face it - natural hair in the hands of a beginner is probably going to get a little damaged. No biggie, though. We just decided to cut the damaged ends off and keep moving. It's only hair...it will grow back in no time.

I usually trim her hair while it is in small twists (you can see a post about that HERE), but this time I decided to straighten it with a flat iron and then cut it. After all, it had been over 2 years since Syd's hair had been straightened. We were both interested in seeing how it looked all straightened out. Here's what we did:

Syd washed her hair and I detangled it, added some Bee Mine Luscious Moisturizer, and banded her hair overnight.

Starting in the back, I removed one section of bands. I added some heat protectant and used a flat iron (set to med-high) on somewhat small sections of hair at a time. I tried not to go over each section more than once, but I did need to make a second pass on a few sections. Bottom line, I used as little heat as possible to get the desired results. This took the first back section from this:

to this:

(Yes, I did this while we were both sitting on the floor....lol)

I then repeated the process for the other 3 sections of banded hair. When I finished, I was actually shocked that her hair reached her waist. I didn't realize it had gotten quite that long!

I let her wear her waist-length hair down for a day, but the following day I followed through with her hair cut. Instead of taking her to a salon, I opted to cut her hair myself. If you choose to do this, I cannot stress enough the importance of using hair shears. Do not use your regular household scissors, as they are not sharp enough to cut your hair cleanly. They can tug and pull at your hair as you're cutting, and you will have damaged ends on the hair that has just been cut. Talk about counter-productive! I digress...

I ended up cutting between 3 and 4 inches of Syd's hair, just to be sure we removed all the damage.

The shadows in this picture make the ends look really uneven, but by the time I realized it, her hair was no longer straight, so I couldn't take a better pic. :/

Day 3 of straight hair was Easter. Since her hair was still looking good, I decided not to do much styling. I just made 2 french braids around her hairline and brought them around to meet in the back. 4 minutes and we were done!

After 4 days of straight hair, Syd spent an afternoon being very physically active, so she got sweaty and her straight roots began to get puffy. We knew it was time to move into another style. She liked having her hair straight...she was amazed at how easy it was to comb. But that being said, she still truly loves big hair, so straightening will remain something that only happens on rare occasions. You just can't argue with her "bigger is better" hair theory!

BIG NEWS - We're Going Back!

Remember when Syd and I went on a missions trip to Guatemala last year? If not, you can see a bit about that trip HERE. Well, as you probably guessed from the title of this post, we're going back!

Take a look at the difference that can be made when a group of willing individuals team up for the good of others:

A pastor, his wife, and their FIVE children were living in the bamboo hut below when we arrived in Guatemala last year:

The kitchen was an open flame inside that filled the house with smoke whenever food was cooked.

And all seven people lived and slept in a single room:

But after we were finished, they had the concrete block house shown below...complete with 3 rooms and a separate kitchen so they never have to live in a smoke filled house again.

We also reached out to people like this poor little guy. He looks as though he's been crying, but that's not the case. In fact, he had a severe case of pink eye and his family didn't have the money to take him to a doctor. Things are different there. There is no such thing as a free clinic in town. If not for the medicine we gave him, there's no telling how long this little guy would have suffered.

We hope to make an even bigger difference this year!

Our trip will last 8 days, from August 4 - 11. During that time, we will be giving up the first-world luxuries we all take for granted - toilets, running water, hot showers, air conditioning, etc. We'll be trading those luxuries for the third world conditions the people of rural Guatemala face every day of their lives.


While we are there, we will be helping with construction projects, distributing food, conducting medical clinics, loving on the children of the village, and much more. We are so excited to go be a blessing to people, and we will definitely be sure to share our experiences with all of you again this year.

I mean COME ON! How can anyone resist the chance to go make a difference when it means you get to see adorable little faces like this one??? :D

 
The lifestyle there is rough, but another challenge for us when it comes to trips like this is the cost of the trip itself. The total cost of this trip is $1300 per person, which means $2600 for us. We are doing what we can to change our lifestyle while we raise the money....no more cable, a streamlined food budget, etc. But we could still use some help from those who are willing and able.

One way you can help is through the purchase of Huffleblossoms products. You may or may not know that I am the owner of Huffleblossoms, which has thus far been specializing in fabric and duct tape hair flowers. (Yes...you read that right....duct tape hair accessories!) But stay tuned because starting next week, Huffleblossoms will also be selling necklaces and earrings at very affordable prices. Super excited about that!

From now until we reach our financial goal, every bit of money Huffleblossoms brings in will go toward funding this missions trip. Visit our etsy store at huffleblossoms.etsy.com.

If you feel led to help us in a more substantial way, you can follow the link below, which will soon be added to the sidebar on the blog. It is simply a way to donate through paypal to help us reach our goal. Also, feel free to share the link!


http://www.payitsquare.com/collect-page/5219

If you're not able to sponsor us financially at this time, we completely understand. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!