White Out!

Bleaching Hair. Scary.

Well, if you're a hair coloring fiend (and I know you are), it's more than likely you've bleached out your hair. If you've bleached your hair multiple times, than its more than likely you're fried it and ended up hairless and pissed. Oh, I've gone through it all. Smoking hair, broom ends, stretchy strands. My hair has been to hell and back, but along the way I've learned some things about bleaching.

The first step is buying the right kind of bleach. You may have to experiment with a few brands before you find the one that suits you best (I personally love L'Oreal Oreor Creme Developer used with a compatible L'Oreal powder bleach). But the real magic is in the strength of the developer. Let's discuss it.

I'm really not sure how low developers get, but anything less than a 20 volume will not life hair darker than ash blonde.

20 volume is great for blondes and light brunettes. It will get you to a white or pale yellow in a matter of minutes. For darker shades, this volume will not lift very much color, but it can lift one or two shades and give a lighter golden tone to your hair. This bleach can be used on the scalp relatively safely, but you are still at risk for chemical burns.

30 volume can be used successfully on medium to dark brown hair and lift quite a few shades depending on the brand you use. This volume can be used on lighter shades of hair, but with caution. This can be used on the scalp, but not for very long without risking chemical burns.

40 volume is great for very quick lightening on very thick or coarse hair and dark brown to black. But it cannot be used near the scalp. You WILL get chemical burns. Don't even risk it. Use this near the ends or along the length of your hair. Just remember this bleach is very strong and your hair will be prone to breakage moreso with this volume than the others.

You can use higher volumes, but for my to recommend it would be crazy. Luckily they're hard to find.

Application is perhaps, the scariest part of bleaching one's hair. I would recommend that unless you're extremely talented with the back of your own head, you get some assistance in bleaching. Otherwise you might miss a large chunk that may not look so lovely.

Mix your bleach to a consistency that is kind of like pudding or glue (easily mistaken for one another...Do not eat your bleach). Not too thick or the bleach will dry out, but runny bleach will not stick to your hair and the bleaching process will take much longer than you want it. You may want to experiment with consistancy a little before you get into bleaching your whole head. Do a test on a small amount of hair (either attached to your head or some cut off...either way it'll fall off after being bleached twice if it undergoes double application).

With the help of your assistant, section your hair off depending on how thick it is. If you've got enough hair to supply 3 other heads, the more sections the better. You just want to be able to spread the bleach evenly along the lengths of your hair and the roots.
Apply the bleach to your hair starting from the bottom up. For the first application (unless you have light blonde hair) you will need to keep the bleach about a centimeter from your scalp in order to avoid over bleaching at the roots. Once your hair is only a few shades off the desired color, apply the bleach to the roots and leave it on until your hair is the color you want it.

Tips:
If you can help it, try not to wash your hair for at least two days prior to bleaching to avoid chemical burns on the scalp and protect your hair a little more.

Those with darker and thicker hair may find that they need to do multiple applications of bleach. Bleach twice at the most in one day. After the first two bleachings, if you still want it lighter wait about a week and make sure to condition your hair well during that time.

Safe and happy bleaching, everyone.

Yum Yum, Plum Plum

Mmm...there's nothing like edible treats. Especially when making them helps you use up food that would have otherwise just rotted.
We had a large container in our refridgerator filled with mini-plums (they were called "Italian Prunes). You can use any kind of plum you want for this recipe, but I found these ones to have a really nice cherry-like taste and consistency after they had cooked.
I don't have a beautiful picture for you, because the pie was eaten and mutilated within a few hours, but I guarentee it was delicious. I stole this recipe from some website, but I tweaked it so I'm claiming it as my own! :)

Here is what you need.

Crust:
3 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup white granulated sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
2/3 cup salted butter (slightly chilled)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons milk
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest

Topping:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons salted butter (room temperature)
Optional: 1/3 cup of chopped nuts

Filling:
5 cups plums, pitted and sliced
1 cup white granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Heat your oven to 370 F
To make the crust, in medium bowl combine the flour, sugar, and baking powder. In a food processor (or mixer) blend your butter until it's somewhat smooth (some texture is fine). Then add your eggs, vanilla, milk, and lemon zest and blend all those ingredients. Gradually blend the dry ingredients into this mix. If the ingredients didn't mix all the way, hand kneed them until the dough comes together. Then stick it in the fridge to chill for an hour or two.

To make the topping, in a medium bowl add the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon zest (and nuts if you're using them). Then add the butter and mix it all together with your finger tips until well blended and crumbly. Set this aside.

To make the filling, put your pitted and sliced plums in a large bowl. In a separate, medium sized bowl mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg until well blended. Then pour over your plums and mix until evenly coated. Set aside.

Now you can put it all together. Roll out your pie crust to about 1/4 of an inch thick. Its pretty handy to do this on wax or parchment paper so it doesn't stick to anything and you can just flip it into the pan. The pan you'll need for this will need to be 9-inches in diameter. So if you're buying special pie tins, make sure you get the correct size. Anyway, flip the dough into the pan and carefully pat down the edges (you don't want to thin them, just lower them). If you're feeling brave you can put edges on your pie, but they tend to burn for me.
Pour the pie filling in and evenly cover with the crumbly topping. Pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes (check on it after 35 minutes because ovens vary). Let it cool for a while and then dig in.

As a side note, if you're like me you will for some reason have enough dough leftover to make another pie. Well, I wasn't up for making another pie, so I just rolled these up into little balls and placed them on a cookie sheet, popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes. They're yummy little snacks because this dough is so sweet. If you're feeling adventurous you could make a little thumb print in each cookie and stuff a piece of sweetened (just sprinkle them with sugar and a dash of cinnamon) or dried fruit in the middle or just cook them with the imprint and plop your favorite jam on it later. Or, you can just cover them with whipped cream and eat them like that. It's all edible and delicious. Experiment.

Just so you know, this recipe can be used with cherries or apples as well.

Enjoy!

Oops, Sorry

I have come to realize that even though I have written about 10 new posts since the last time I actually added one to the blog, I haven't posted any of them. They're all saved as half-written drafts that may or may not be finished one day.
I keep finding that I forget to take pictures for each project I do, which can make a tutorial less visually fascinating.
I've been busy with college, but don't you worry. By the time you read this I may have posted ten new tutorials.
I have some bomb (delicious) recipes to share, some craft ideas, and some tutorials for sewing. If time allows, I'll be posting a lot in the following weeks and bringing this blog back from the dead.

Fabric Scraps 101

Fabric scraps...one of my biggest dilemmas. I hate wasting fabrics, so I literally keep bags full of scraps. If you're a a sewer or a crafter that deals with fabrics, its likely you have a bundle of scraps as well.


If you're into customizing your jackets, sweaters, pants, bags, and other items, you can easily turn these scraps into cute and custom appliques!



What You'll Need:
Fabric
Doublestick fusible web for fabric
An iron
A pencil or pen
Scissors
The item of clothing you want to apply the applique to



Get a sheet of the fusible web and draw the design you want on your applique.

First pick the fabric you plan to use for the applique. On the wrong side of the fabric iron on the fusible webbing. Cut out the design you drew. Peel the nonstick coating from the applique and put it on the right side of the clothing item you're adding it to. Iron it on.
In order to ensure that it stays on the clothes, you'll need to sew or stitch the edges. Make a decorative stitch to add some flair to your applique.

Look forward to more ideas for fabric scraps in the future.

Put to Use: Salt Dough.

In a previous post I introduced you to salt dough. So in the spirit of Halloween I've put the salt dough to use and made a cute haunted house and a witch out of some very simple and easy to find supplies.



You can really do any variation you want on these decorations.

The Haunted House

The ghosts were made with the salt dough

The witch
http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y61/superdobby/?action=view&current=IMG_9781.jpg
The witches head was made with salt dough

Look forward to tutorials on both of these projects

Salt Rocks...

This is one of my favorite recipes for a quick and easy decorative salt dough. You can make just about any decoration out of this easy-to-make dough.

What you'll need:
1 cup of salt
1 cup of flour
1 cup of water
A bowl to mix in
A microwave safe plate or cookie tray
A microwave or conventional oven

Pour the salt and flour into the bowl you plan on using to mix the ingredients. Gradually add the water (start with 1/2 a cup) and knead the dough. You might have quite a bit of water left over because the amount you mix into the dough depends on the consistancy you want it to be. The dough should be easily pliable but not sticky.

Tip: Don't have regular table salt? Using larger grained kosher salt is fine. Just dissolve the salt in water before you mix the flour in or if you want your dough a little less smooth, mix in the same fashion as you would with regular salt.

Now you're ready to shape your dough. You can either roll out your dough and use cookie cutters to cut out shapes or you can hand shape the dough.

Microwave cooking: Set your decoration on a microwave safe plate. Microwave the dough at 15 second intervals until the dough feels dry and hard on the outside (this usually takes about 45 seconds, but is prone to cracking). If you have a microwave with a tray that does not rotate, microwave at 10 second intervals and rotate the decoration. If you choose to microwave your dough make sure to check on your decoration and add water to any cracked surfaces.

To bake your dough set your oven to 200 degrees farenheit. Adjust baking time according to the size of your decoration. This method is better for larger pieces.

You may also choose to airdry your dough. If you choose this option it is better to sundry it so that the water will evaporate before the flour starts molding.

Properly dried decorations can last quite a while. The salt dries the flour out enough so that it won't be as prone to molding.

Have fun!

Make Your Flares Skinny

Skinny jeans are definitely a trend right now, but a lot of stores sell them for jacked up prices or people have old flare or bootcut jeans that they love the fit of, but don't like the pantleg style. Making your jeans skinny is just as easy as it looks. You can even make skinny jeans skinnier. All you need is a pair of jeans, a sewing machine (or lots of patience with a needle and thread), and pins. Optional: A fabric marker or pencil and a seam ripper.


There are two easy and well known methods to altering your pant legs.

Method One:

This is what I like to call the "pants on pants" method.
For this you'll need another pair of skinny jeans that you already like the fit of.



On a flat surface large enough to fit a pair of pants (the floor works great for this...Even Better: A carpeted floor so the clothes don't slip around while you're working!) lay the pair ot pants you plan to alter inside-out and flat.


Next, lay the pair you already like on top of the pants you plan to alter. I prefer to lay this pair out inside-out as well because it stays flatter and you can include seam allowances.


Lay the top pair out with the outter seam of the leg and crotch area of the pants lined up as much as possible. Using the pins or fabric pencil/marker (in this tutorial I used both) trace the inseam of the skinny jeans onto pair you plan to alter. Pin along the lines on the pant legs make sewing easier and avoid uneven legs or seams.


Tip: Although you don't have to sew along the inseam of the pants (you can taper the outter seam), I prefer to sew the inseam because it is easier to hide mistakes.


Now you can sew! Remember to keep the line as straight as possible and gradually meet with the orignial inseam of the pants.

Tip: If you are pinning parellel to (or on) the line, remember to remove pins as you sew to avoid breaking your needle on the plastic pinheads or having the machine foot getting caught on them. If you position the pins perpendicular to the line you sew you don't need to worry about this.

Before you cut the excess fabric off, try your newly altered pants on to make sure that you didn't sew the legs too tightly. Try them on inside-out because the excess fabric on the inside can sometimes fool you into thinking they're too tight. They'll always be slightly tighter when worn right-side-out depending on how much fabric you leave on the seam so its always better to sew them a bit looser. If you're satisfied with the results trim the excess fabric off.


Tip: Leave at least 1/8 inch of seam allowance so your seams don't slip and unravel.

Method Two:

The "wear and pin" method.

This method may be a little trickier, btu comes in handy for those who do not already have a pair of skinny jeans to copy off of.

Put the pair of pants you plan to alter on inside-out. It is usually better to pin while standing up so the seams stay even. Pin the inseam down your leg as tight as you would like the jeans to be (I like mine very tight, so I pin fairly close to my leg. Remember, pin slightly looser than you would like the pants to fit (give it about 1/8 inch) to allow room for the seam allowance and because the pants will fit slightly tighter when you wear them correctly.


Tip: Get someone else to pin them for you. Even the most flexible people may find pinning their own pants a difficult action. It only takes about a minute (or less) to pin them.


Once you pin you're ready to sew. Don't worry if the pins aren't in a very straight line. Just try to make a straight and gradual line from your first pin to your last pin.

Try them on. Cut the excess fabric off if you're satisfied with the results.



Finished pants:
The Left leg is method one, the right leg is method two.