how to cut your own hair

I've been thinking all day about today's topic, "educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at." I was having a hard time coming up with anything, so I was just going to skip it. But a thought finally came to me, and I know just what it is I'd like to share.

I wasn't really specific, when I posted about my recent hair cut, but I actually did that myself. And now I will share with you some tips on cutting your own hair.

First, consider what you want your hair to look like when you're done. Are you planning on cutting off just a few inches, or are you going for a more drastic cut? Have an idea of what you want, or you will probably end up disappointed.

Are you ready? Then you'll need to pick your location. I chose the bathroom. The important thing to consider when picking your location is mirrors. If you're lucky, your bathroom has the three-way fold-out mirror. (That helps you to see the back of your head as you're working on it.) If you're like me, then you'll be dealing with a flat, wall mounted mirror, and a hand-held mirror. Not the easiest thing to work with, but it is possible.

Next, gather your supplies. Scissors, squirt bottle, comb. Also, consider bringing the broom in with you before you start, so that you don't have to walk through the house with loose hair falling off of you to get it afterward.

Now that you have everything you need, let's get started. If your hair is half way down your back, and you just want to cut off a couple of inches, then this will be pretty simple. Grab a section, twirl it, and begin snipping away. Your main goal is to create some slight layering at the ends, while keeping an even length over all. Use your hand mirror to check the back. If it's all even, then you're done! If there is a spot that is a bit shorter than the rest, don't worry. Try to match up your other sections of hair to the shorter area, to get an even look all around.

If you do it the way I did, you'll find that you keep having one section that's just a little bit shorter. Each time you try to get the rest of your hair to match up, you'll manage to get one section just a little bit shorter than the rest. At this point you have two options.

1. Set the scissors down, and go pay someone to finish the job properly.

2. Keep trying for a uniform look.

Option 1 is best for those who really don't want to end up with their hair too short. Option 2 is for someone, like me, who wouldn't mind if their hair wound up being super short.

So, you're going to keep going, huh? Then this is where it get's tricky. Unless you have, like I mentioned before, the 3-way mirror that allows you to see the front and back at the same time.

Before now we've been working with dry hair, but once you decide to go for a shorter cut, you'll need to get your hair wet. It allows for a bit more control. Using your hand mirror, check the back of your head and pick an area that you want to work on specifically. Set your mirror down, grab your scissors, and blindly feel around for the area you were just examining. Cautiously grab bits of hair and snip away. Periodically grab your mirror to check your progress. Cleaning up the hair at the back of your head is the most difficult part, just keep checking with your mirror, to make sure you haven't given yourself a nasty bald spot.

Once the back is done the way you want, you can work on the front and sides. This is much easier, since you can see what you're doing in the mirror at all times. Remember, you always want to keep the top and sides longer than the back. We're not going for a mullet, here.

When you're finished, use your mirror to check your head from every angle, making sure things look nice and even. Touch up as needed.

If you feel like you've just made a mess on your head, you have two new options.

1. Tie a scarf around your head so you can go out in public, head over to the salon, and ask them to fix your work. Preferably without laughing at you.

2. Grab some electric clippers and give yourself a clean slate. It's hair, it'll grow back.

Or, you could save yourself all of this trouble by going to a salon in the first place.

that one time when I chopped off all of my hair...

...also known as: my first hair cut in over two and a half years.

hair cut

Before                                                                                                                                             After

He's needed it for quite a long time, and today it finally happened.
C got a hair cut, and oh, goodness. He is handsome!

He's also a silly-goose

favorite shots from our day.

coloring while Porcupine napped
hair-do improvised from this tutorial
reading a book together at the library
hogging the fountain, like he always does

i love playing with hair.

My brother got married while we were in Utah. Because I am super awesome, my mom asked me to do my little sister's hair for the celebration. The day before the wedding she'd come swimming at our hotel. After she'd had a bath I gave her braided pigtails. By the next day her ridiculously thick, normally straight hair had these perfect waves, that worked out so well with the waterfall braid.

My sister is 7, and she is super funny and smart. I'm sad that we live so far from each other. I remember when she was a little baby, and I'd hold her on my chest and zip my sweater up over both of us to walk home from church. Or, how she was everyone's favorite person at wedding. Everyone loved her, and wanted to take her home with them. Gosh, she was younger then than Z is now! Now she's 7, and sometimes sends me texts from my moms phone, like this one that I got on Saturday: "I....miss.....you......so.......much....." (I know it's her when the spacing is funky like that.) I miss you, too, little sis. Thanks for letting me play with your hair!

gratitude. days 24-30.

Haven't really been online much these past few days, so I'm finishing my month of gratitude in one go.
I used this apple pie recipe with the cinnamon roll crust. It was quite tasty, in case you were wondering.
I am grateful...
for delicious, easy recipes.
that we have some family in CO.
for a comfortable couch.
I am grateful...
for cozy beds and many blankets.
to have heat in our home.
for modern conveniences; indoor plumbing, a washer and dryer, stove, fridge, and microwave, etc.
I am grateful...
for wholesome, entertaining, educational movies.
for gum.
for chocolate.
I am grateful...
for adorable nieces and nephews.
for beautiful, wholesome music.
for a kitchen to clean.
I am grateful...
for a vehicle that fits my family comfortably.
for long drives with my family.
for adventures and new discoveries.
hair inspiration
I am grateful...
for the friends the children and I have made.
for water.
for leftovers.
I am grateful...
for glasses to help me see.
that my family has enough clothing.
for the Christmas season.

....

This is what happened when the children asked me to "flip your hair like a monster."
I am working on the zoo pictures for that post I promised...but there are a lot of pictures to sort through (I took over 200!) I've gotten the working total to about 90, but that's still a lot. Hopefully I'll have that post up by the end of the week. Get excited.

what we leave behind us is a part of ourselves

It is something I have wanted to do for a while. So on Friday, despite the the fact that Mr. Boss did not approve, I did what I had to do. I tamed the beast that was my baby's perfectly rowdy blonde hair.

(Technically it wasn't his first haircut, but I'm going to refer to it as such, since the previous cuts didn't take much hair.)I had an idea of what I wanted to do. Mostly I wanted to clean up the back, get it off of his neck, make him less susceptible to the outrageously adorable, but hard to manage bed-head. I also wanted to, as much was possible, leave the shaggy hair on top of his head in tact.

I put on a movie, sat on the couch, and pulled a towel and the shirtless lad onto my lap. Then it began. Snip-snip and down fell the little blondie locks. (Many of which ended up in a ziploc for safe keeping.) Thanks to the movie, he wasn't super wiggly, but he did start to get a bit impatient at the end, and he kept trying to slide off my lap. But I persevered, and finally we were done.


At first, I felt a little remorse for what I had done. Suddenly my baby didn't look so much like a baby, he looked like a very big boy. But he was so irresistibly handsome that I got over the heartache pretty quickly. All that was left was the big reveal to Mr. Boss, who had no idea what I'd been up to while he was at work.


To my surprise, he noticed right away. (He was oblivious the first few times I cut C's hair, even though thought it was obvious.) Not surprisingly, he was just as upset as I had anticipated. He called me a butcher and a dream-killer. (And then he started talking about Jesus and Samson and Porter Rockwell...) But I have told him before, and will continue to tell him, of my expectations for my boys to look respectable, which includes modest haircuts.
He still disagrees, but I think he at least understands. (At least I hope he does, or he is in for years of disappointment...)


Anyway, here is the "after":

Isn't he dreamy?

fun hair

I really love having a girl, and doing her hair. And I really love the hair blogs I've found. There is so much inspiration, and I've found things that I'd never done before. It has opened up the possibilities for me to be able to create new-to-me hairstyles.
One style that I absolutely love on Miss E is the side ponytail/messy bun. Because she's still got some short, wispy baby hairs I'm not bale to pull it together into a single ponytail. I usually have to connect several sections to get it how I want it. This is just another variation to achieve that side pony-tail. (And I'm no hair blogger, so I didn't take step by step pictures.)

This time I decided to simplify the sectioned-side-ponytail and only do three sections of hair.

But three plain sections was kind of boring, so I added the rope twists.

Then I combined the two rope twist "braids" to form this awesome chain-like braid
(or "hawser" braid...)

Then I connected the chain into the final section.
It could be left as a ponytail, but I like the messy bun.

Apparently there are several techniques to achieve the messy bun look.
I think mine is pretty simple, have hair pulled into pony-tail, grab a second elastic,
(hmmm, I don't know how to explain this part...)
pull random sections of the pony-tail through, which makes loops and the messy look.
Sorry I can't explain it better.

Anyway, here's the front. I left a few of the wispy hairs out around her face, so her bangs wouldn't be lonely.
If you wanted, you could curl the sections you leave out,
E's hair has a natural curl, though, so it did that on its own.

And here is her nerdy face to finish. Silly girl.

sometimes I make an effort with my own hair...

It's not often, but sometimes I do like to do a little something with my hair.
Because I love to do E's hair, and enjoy finding new ideas and tricks, I frequent a couple of hair blogs. Recently I came across this hairstyle and immediately wanted to try it out. On myself.
It was pretty easy, a little frustrating and, oh, my hair isn't quite long enough, so it doesn't really look the way it should. But I really did love how it turned out. A little messy, a little elegant, and out of my face. I'll probably do it again sometime, especially when my hair is longer. (Then I, maybe, won't have to use so many pins!):