Relaxed Curls & Bun on a New Model w/ a New Flower

Please welcome my lovely niece, The Princess! A beautiful child with enough attitude for 2-13 yr old girls. ;) She agreed to model for me and I was so excited to fix her curly locks!

The Princess has naturally curly hair, very curly! I relaxed the curls with a replenishing spray and a touch of silk'n'curl. I brushed through her hair gently with an air-cushion brush. And then it was time for the style...

I put the top half of her hair into a ponytail, leaving her "bangs" and a bit at the sides out. I parted the bangs far to one side. I added the bangs to the side hair and made a simple braid, adding the braid  to the ponytail.

The same for the other side...

Next I made a very loose bun by simply picking up the hair, giving it two twists and then wrapping it around the ponytail. I left the ends sticking out slightly and secured it with a clear elastic. One great thing about curly hair, you never have to "do something" with the ends. ;)

I let the princess pick her accessory. (and I loved her choice!) This is a flower clip that I don't think I've featured on my blog before. It is cotton candy pink & white with a touch of feathers in the center.

Our mini modeling session was a blast; she was super serious about it! ;)

She was so pretty and walked around like the princess she is, all afternoon! ;)

Product Review Time:

This spray is on my mind today, mostly because I ran out and can't find it anywhere, AGHH! ;) I searched Dove's website to find a retailer... KMart on the other side of town, that's it! ugh, I don't really shop at kmart... at least not in the last 7 or so years. Sheesh! Walgreens is willing to have it sent from another location and that will take 2 weeks as it travels by truck, nice... I "ordered" 4 bottles. Lol, does that tell you how awesome this stuff is?! Okay, here's the deal.

DOVE Daily Moisture, Damage Therapy, Daily Hydrating/Replenishing Mist. (It has had other names, but the formulas are almost identical. The most recent does not have glycerin, a good thing I promise!) This works wonderfully for girls with dry or damaged hair. I use it on myself and on Alex. I have also used it on other little girls. In fact, I prefer to use it rather than water when dampening the hair. It does exactly as it says, replenishes the hair. I like to test limits and I've been using this stuff for a long time. I have drenched Alex's hair with it and when it dried, it was as though I'd just washed and conditioned her hair. No joke, it's the best stuff ever! ;) I have used it for every hair type, including one little girl with slightly oily hair. It even seemed to freshen her hair up and leave it less oily! I highly recommend this to help keep yours and your daughter's hair healthy!

Fabulous, Step by Step

Just in case anyone missed it, there is a GIVEAWAY in the post about Alex's recital. http://tinydiva.blogspot.com/2010/07/be-my-little-baby-bumblebee.html

A pair of hairbows available to one lucky winner, so comment away! ;)

And now for the 'do that I did for Alexandra's Faboulous photos... The up close, step by step pics I took of this hairstyle...

I started, as usual, by separating two sections in front and holding them back. I put the bottom into a low side ponytail. (Oh, and please ignore the sand... we have it under their playground/fort and it's always in her hair!)

Next, I parted the front into smaller sections and started some french braids. I put three on one side and just one on the other.

I pulled everything together into a messy bun type thing. I had to use one bobby pin for that last braid that wouldn't quite stay. Then some hairspray because her hair was frizzed out!

Add a bow and some sass and there you have it! ;)

I want FABULOUS! Give me Fabulous!

Alex loves HSM and that song is her favorite. That's how she decided to describe this set when she first tried it on! ;) It is definitely over-the-top... and I just LOVE it! ;)

This is an all new outfit from the Fairie*Kisses Couture Line. (For those who don't know, that's me.;) I have made tutus and bows for quite a while and I've done some simple skirts and tops. But this project was a major feat! ;) I love all the steampunk stuff that I've seen on Etsy and other places, so I just had to try my hand at it! This was a blast to make and Alex just fell in love with it! ;)

Ruffles always make things better! Alex insists on them every time I start a new project!

Lace is great too, so girly! And then, of course I had to make a mtaching hairbow.

We had to do a special hair-do for the pictures too... I parted out the sections I wanted and held each aside with a ponytail. I put a french braid in each section then pulled all the ends and the rest of the hair together in a low side-tail. I made a messy bun then topped it off with her new bow. Voila! ;)

I like how the whole thing turned out! It looked adorable on Alex and she felt simply "Faboolus"! ;)

Hello? Anyone there?!

It's been months! ;) As I was reading a blog yesterday, I realized how terribly I miss this world!!! I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season... Christmas, New Year, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day... Geez, it's almost Easter! ;) I haven't read or posted in so long, I'm not sure I remember what to do. Lol! But I will try! I have done a ton of new hairstyles since last fall, but I think I'll just start with now. ;) For my first post back, I'll just post a few pics of my favorite little models... my kids. ;)

First is my Michael-man ;) He didn't really want to do pictures, but at least I got one sweet smile from him! Oh, and that smile is getting ready to change big time... he's losing a front tooth, so cute!

And here's my sweet Joshy. The charmer and adorable blue-eyed blonde of the family! He's starting to get these beyond cute freckles on his nose and cheeks! ;)

And last, that firecracker you know as Alexandra. ;) Still cute and red as ever, she has been doing some modeling and online pageants and tons of playing! ;) Currently, she is in a cute kid contest and would love to have your vote! It is just a one-time vote by this Friday, so really not much work. ;) Thank you for supporting her!

My Favorite Style... on an adult ;)

Finally back online after the cruise... Holidays can be so crazy! ;) Anyway, this is my go-to style when I can't think of anything else. And I found that it looks very nice on adults also. But first, here is a sunset shot I took from the ship...

Okay, so french twist braids from each side and then pulled together in back.
I started the braids just above her ears and continued them back. When I got to the back area, I stopped doing a french twist and just continued with a regular twist braid. I had her hold that while I did the other side and then I pulled them together in the middle.

I think this looked so nice! ;) A very sleek style. I loved it with her straightened hair.

Okay, so glad to be back! I have tons of new things going up in my Etsy shop. Bows make great stocking stuffers. ;) Also, I'll have one last giveaway for the year coming next week! Miss all of you, blog family! ;)

Fall Colors... Photography post

This week coming up at iHeart Faces has the theme Fall Colors. Since I am leaving for my cruise tonight, I decided to get a jump on things. I am posting all these pics first and later tonight I will pick one to enter...

So, photo A. My mom and I laugh about this one a lot. ;) This is Alex and her on a chilly day. We were on the other side of the park from her apartment and it started to get windy. So, I wrapped my scarf around Alex's ears and Mom did the same with her own. If you can't tell, my mom is German(not 100%, but enough;). Anyway, I just really like the feel of it.

Picture B: All three munchkins in one shot... Very Rare!!! ;) Mr. Cool was showing off his class pet which we brought to the zoo with us. Lol, it is a webkinz; he goes to eschool. ;)
Picture C: On the same day in the "jungle", an awesome, HUGE greenhouse that includes a walkthrough aquarium. So cool! ;) Anyway, Alex was peaking at a bird...

D: Alex playing in the leaves. (obviously, duh) We don't exactly have all the pretty fall colors around here, so we make our own with bold outfits! Alex, of course, chose pink! ;)

E: I was so far away from her when I took this. I was using my zoom lens and just clicking whenever one of the kids' faces turned my way. ;)

F: Oh my goodness, this is one of my favorite pictures, EVER! This was an impromptu photo shoot with big brother and it ended up being one of my favorite sessions. The kids were in the perfect mood to take pictures, it was bright but cloudy, and it was almost cold enough for a jacket, but not quite. Actually, if I send this one in, I'll probably do a little cropping. You think?

Okay, so there are my favorite pictures depicting fall colors. If you want to vote for your fav, just comment with the letter, or you can email me. ;)

And for you HAIR FOLLOWERS, sorry for the boring week! I will be back the 15th, hopefully with pics of lots of crazy hairstyles from the Western Caribbean. ;) That is if Alex doesn't make it into the top 20 for the Gap casting call, in which case we would leave the 16th and be back later that week...

I Heart Faces ... Balloons

Alex had heart balloons painted on her cheek at a corn maze... so fun! I didn't get the mirror in the picture, but she was concentrating so hard to see her "harp boons" ;)

Take a look at the other entries. There are some really incredible pictures! Just click the button below...

Tinkerbell

Okay, so I think I have already posted this picture once before, but I missed the i Heart faces again this week. It was for costumes... anyway, I still loved Alex in this so I'm posting it! ;)

As for the hair... this was incredibly simple. I had her lay down and pulled her hair into a very high ponytail, using mousse to hold it together. I folded the hair over once at the end. I left out quite a bit of bangs and some tendrils at the sides. I used a 1/4" curling iron to get the baby curls. I used a piece of matching ribbon and tied a bow, nothing fancy. A quick mist of hairspray and she was good to go!

Old 'do, new bows. :)

This is by far my favorite style for toddlers when mom's in a hurry. ;) I have done this one with two or three, or even four little piggies. I just parted out the top of her hair and put it in little piggies. On the last time around with the elastic, I pull the hair halfway through. Then I just kind of scatter the ends a little. Add some clippies and voila!

Here is a shot from the back, doesn't really tell you anything more... Anyway, when I made these clips I thought I was being so super creative. Then I found a lady on etsy who uses the little puffballs quite often... still cute, I think. :)

Both Gymboree and Gap have popular Apple lines, and I originally was just wanting something simple for my Alex to wear. I really liked how these turned out, so I am adding them to my shop too. ;)

Thanks for stopping by... I have some exciting styles in the works... oh, and I kidnapped my hubby's camera, so at least the pics will be in more than 2mp. ;)

Sunflower field. Not a new style... yet!

As I was going through last month's pictures to see if maybe I missed a hairstyle - I didn't, dang! - I found these. ;) This is out by the sunflower field behind our church. Okay, so just a ponytail, but she does have a new flower in her hair, which is going up in the etsy shop soon. ;)

This first picture made me laugh because she was scared of the bugs. She refused for quite a while to take her hands out of her pockets.
And then I just loved this last one... not sure why, I just really like it. ;)
Okay, thanks for visiting another off-topic post... actual hair posts coming soon!

Lost without my Camera...

I got a strange error on my nikon d40x the other day, saying to press the shutter release button again...

So my poor baby is in the shop and will probably be there until mid-October. :( So sad!!! Lol, I have a small digital camera I have been using, but it just isn't the same. I will try to do what I can as far as hair styles.

This one I didn't get a close up of. I am so used to being able to crop;) Anyway, pretty simple...

I parted her hair then did pull-through pony braids on one side and a french braid on the other. I made low pigtails and added some new bows. It looked really cute. ;)

I Heart Faces Before & After... and a new Flower Clip

So this iHeart Faces challenge for this week is before and after. It isn't about editing your photos, but about what you've learned on your journey. So, here goes.

These first two pics were at a time when I started really getting serious about photography. I was mostly doing point and click on auto focus. And there was absolutely zero post-editing.
Although I loved these pictures, I know I could do better now. I have been reading magazines and blogs. I've taken a few lessons/classes and enjoyed learning new things.
This picture I just took a few days ago and I just love how it came out;) I know I still have a long way to go! I have a better camera and have learned to go manual;)

I've also learned some basic editing and use Adobe Photoshop Elements. It has some wonderful features and is a great place to start. At least I think so;) I did very simple stuff here. I used the magic wand tool to select her skin, hair and the flower then created a new layer with them. I warmed up the tones a little, increasing the red and lightening the midtones. (I think I could have done this a little more). I set this layer at 65% opacity. I created a third layer with just her irises and used the burn tool on 21%(that was random, but worked great;) This layer I set at 85% opacity. I'm sure there is a simpler way to do these things, but this is what I ended up with;) And for this last pic, I cropped, simple as that;)
Beautiful!

And for you hair fanatics out there, this flower hat will be available during the upcoming holiday season;)