To Bang or Not to Bang

Preface: this post is about hair.  I had a flash back to the early days of American Idol with that many bangs in that blog title.

For awhile now I've been on the side-swept bang bandwagon. Exhibit A:

 This was taken shortly after my last hair cut. I'm digging it!

However, I don't get my hair cut too much, so eventually my bangs grow out into the kind of blehhh area. I've reached that area and have been meaning to go in for my next hair cut when....

I watched Something Borrowed with Gennifer Goodwin in it looking SO FABULOUS in the full bang she-bang.

yes.

yes.

yes.

And then I start thinking to myself....what if I tried more full bangs???

So, it's 9:30PM on a Thursday night and I've drank a whole bottle of wine so I took this GLORIOUS photo of myself on my mac:

can't believe i just posted that :)

And then went to town uploading faux bang hairstyles!

My hair really isn't that dark, but the website I used didn't have one that matched my regular color really.

What do you think - could I pull it off??? My hair is not super thick - but not super fine.  Somewhere in the middle leaning toward the fine side.  I wonder if it will be full enough to have good coverage and not just end up all oily and spread out in clumps over my forehead at the end of the day.  I feel like bangs are such a major commitment as well - I'll be stuck with them for at LEAST a good six months to a year until they grow out. Le sigh. decisions decisions.

 

 

The 3rd Revolution!

Today I have a fun new online project and crafts community to share with you all: it's the 3rd Revolution!

The 3rd Revolution is a place to organize, showcase and collaborate on the awesome things you make! 

Here's how it works:

Organize: Keep track of all of your projects with their free online gallery, or start a project journal for complex products!

Share: Easily share your projects and the story behind them through your social media sites and within the community

Collaborate: Get feedback on your projects from the online community of the 3rd Revolution

 So of course I had to give it a try! In just a couple minutes I had my own profile set up and uploaded my very first project:

Bam! There's my Coral and Chain Necklace on the big screen! :) After just a couple clicks more I had my next project posted to my profile and ready for comments and feedback Uploading projects was super easy and not time consuming at all.

Another part of uploading your projects is tagging them into categories to make it easier for fellow craft enthusiasts to find your projects and for you find them as well!

 So, in the days of our Pinterest crazed society, what makes 3rd Revolution different than just another online gallery to add your projects to? I think that the community on 3R is what really makes it stand out from other sites out there.  There is a real encouragement to post your projects while they are in progress and not just when they arein the final stage all primped and prepped and ready for that final glamor blog short.

For example, I love this project posted by Katy Cornell where she expresses her frustration while coming up with a layout for a statement necklace she was working on.

I COMPLETELY understand.  Sometimes I go into my craft room and try and work on a new project and just sit for an hour pushing beads around on my workspace without being to figure out ANYTHING that looks good.  How nice to be able to have a community of fellow crafters who understand that and would be able to provide some feedback!

And there are tons of other categories on 3R besides jewelry making - there is quilting, sewing, wood carving, and even more manly things like building and car projects!

To learn more about 3rd Revolution and create your own free profile to start uploading your own free projects, visit www.3rdrevolution.com!


This is a sponsored post.  All ideas and opinions are my own.

Your Whims Wednesday #113 {And Features}

Time for another Your Whims Wednesday Party!

<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/YWWsnip.jpg"/></a></center>

Here are some of my favorites from last week!

Faux Boxwood Heart Wreath by Decorated Chaos

  Basic Cotton Top by Shannon Sews   Sweet Sixteen Cake by Sugar Tart Crafts   Blue Outfit from My Thrifty Chic   Whale Cupcake Toppers by Ashley's Dandelion Wishes   Thanks to all who linked up! Grab a button if you were featured :)  
<center> <a href="http://www.mygirlishwhims.blogspot.com/"><img border="0" src="http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y77/Becca187/featurededited.jpg"/></a></center>   Now... onto this weeks party!

I show off my girlish whims weekly on my blog, and now I want to see yours with 
Your Whims Wednesday!

Guidlines:

1. Link up as many projects as you would like: as long as it is one of your girly ways, you can link it! I'd love to see crafts, recipes, style posts, etc. Anything and everything feminine :)

2.Please add my button (code at the top of this post) to either your blog post or somewhere on your blog. 

3. Take a quick moment to comment on at least one other entry. We we all love comments!! 

4.I'd love if you would follow me as well :)

DIY Coral & Chain Necklace

When I was at the beach over mother's day weekend it was very rainy so my mom and I got to do some shopping.  One of the things I bought was a cute coral tshirt dress from Old Navy.  It's a cute dress but very plain so I knew I would need some fun accessories to fancy it up.  I looked for a matching necklace at Old Navy but couldn't find anything.  My mother asked me why I was even looking since I could just make something myself!

What a smart lady. So that's what I did! Here's this DIY Necklace on my cute new dress:

The best part was I had all these beads and supplies on hand (welcome to life as a bead hoarder) so I didn't have to pay anything extra for my matching necklace. Here's how to make it if you'd like a version for your own plain outfit!

DIY Coral & Chain Necklace

Supplies:

For this necklace you will need: head pins, eye pins, two jump rings, a clasp (I used all of these from the 145pc Starter Pack - Copper - Jewelry Basics Findings from Prima beads), chain (I used 5ft Link Chain - 7mm Links - Copper from Prima Beads as well) and then a selection of coral beads.

Updated to add: I bought all of these beads at a bead show so I don't have anywhere to link for them - sorry! However, these 6x8mm Crystazzi Rondelles from Prima beads are similar to the crystal beads I used! You could probably find similar stone beads for the other beads at Michaels.

Steps:

First step is to cut a short length of chain with wire cutters to start the end of the necklace

Use needle nose pliers to attach an eye pin to the last chain link and string on a large coral bead

Bend the pin 90 degrees

Trim down the tail using wire cutters

Then grab the end of the tail with round nose pliers and bend into a circle

Attach this new circle to the chain and squeeze it shut with pliers

Cut the chain again (I separated my beads with 9 links for this size chain) and repeat the process with another crystal bead.

Repeat this process until you've used up all your chain or reached your desired length for the necklace.  I wanted something long - I can wrap this around my neck two or three times.

Next, grab a head pin and slide on a round bead

Bend the pin 90 degrees right above the bead

Trim the tail with wire cutters

Bend into a loop with round nose pliers

And then attach this between the two beads on the mini lengths of chain.

Repeat until you've made it all through the necklace

Lastly, use two jump rings to attach a clasp to the ends of the chain

All done!

Such a pretty necklace.  I love the coral mixed with the heavy copper chain.  I don't use copper too much so it was an unexpected but pleasant surprise when I found the chain in my stash and saw how nicely it went with the coral beads.

And now I'm all set with my new outfit!

Note to self: suck it in more for blog photos. There ain't no baby in there...besides a food baby....

Hope I've helped inspire you to try making something yourself when you can't find what you want in the stores!

I'll be linking up to these parties:

Monday: CraftOManiac Monday, Making Monday Marvelous, Market Yourself Monday, Motivate Me Monday. Craftastic Monday, Just Something I Whipped Up,, Made By You Mondays,  Making the World Cuter,  

Tuesdays: Tip Me Tuesday, Tutorial Tuesday, Take-a-Look Tuesday, Show Me What Ya Got, Get Your Craft On, Homework

Wednesdays: Your Whims Wednesday, Creative Share Wednesday, We did it Wednesday, Sugar and Spice, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Show & Share,Lil Luna, The 36th Avenue 

Thursdays: Strut Your Stuff, Hookin Up With House of Hepworths, Catch a Glimpse

Friday: Friday Favs on Naptime Crafters, Weekend Wrap-Up Party, Frugal Friday, Show and Share Day, Weekend Bloggy Reading

Saturdays: Whatcha Got Weekend, Saturday Night Special, Show and Tell Saturdays, Scraptastic Saturday,  Positively Splendid

Sundays: Sundae Scoop, Sunday Showcase, Think Pink Sundays 

Custom Gifts from Cafe Press

 I recently had the opportunity to try out some products from Cafe Press - a website that offers THOUSANDS of custom t-shirts, unique gifts and SO much more!

Literally this website has something for everyone. I spent FOREVER trying to pick something out because there were so many options! This is the shirt I picked out for myself:

  

Ohhhh yeah. Keeping things crafty :)  I'm NOT a t shirt girl - but every now and then if it's the weekend and I'm only running to the grocery store or something like that I want to wear a t shirt - but something a little more classy than some old high school class shirt or something like that.  So - I'm completely digging the pink and crafty theme of this shirt!

Since there were so many options I even let hubby pick out a shirt for himself :)

He was so happy to be posing for blog photos haha....not.

Cafe Press has tons of categories of gifts, but I picked out a few crafting related ones that are pretty fun:

 I'm an Amazing Hooker Tote Bag

 Cross Stitch Queen Pillow

Bead Crazy Tank Top

But again, there are TONS of other categories besides crafting on there.  And if you CAN'T find something your style, you can upload your own design and see it on tons of different products. 

I also snagged two quippy magnets for my fridge (I'm working towards decorating my kitchen with a wine theme!)

"In wine there is truth, in beer there is strength, in water there is bacteria."   I literately loled after reading that one!

So, as you can see there really is something for everyone at Cafe Press.  If you need some ideas on where to start looking i'd suggest the sweatshirts, pajamas, custom shirts, and fun t shirts!!

Disclosure: I was provided these products for free but all opinions are my own!