Ombre! Ole!

In 2011, one of my New Year's Resolutions was to not cut my hair (other than split end trims) for the whole year. This was a major thing for me, because I get easily bored with my hair, and I change my style often (and usually drastically) on a whim. It took a ton of willpower, but I managed to keep my resolution into the new year. Although, I did give myself bangs because I had to cut *something*. Still, my hair is the longest it has been since I was a teenager. I love it, but that itch to change it up has been creeping up on me. So it was time to grab a box of bleach and go all ombre up in here. I figured that if I screwed it up, I could just cut off the bottom, right? Right.

But I won't have to do that because it turns out that I like it a lot. It is pretty drastic color change, but it doesn't seem like it for some reason. One thing I really like is that since I wear a lot of black, my hair doesn't get lost on all that darkness. Also, I bleached it out even more on the underside of my hair, so it doesn't look so drastic when my hair is down, but when I braid it, throw it in a bun, or otherwise style it up, it ends up beautifully variegated and textured.

You can see in this close-up that the ends are a wee-bit crunchy and dry. I probably should have had a trim before bleaching it. But I'm hoping a little TLC (and maybe a coat of this stuff) will get it back to normal in a week or two. Also, the color is a little bit brassy. It's okay for now, but once it is soft and smooth again, I may go even lighter. I love this color, getting to platinum at the ends:

And I have been dying to add some fun color. Maybe this summer:

Ha! Dying. No pun intended.
At any rate, I think this turned out way better than the last time I bleached my hair. Which was just about 20 years ago:

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Be Mine

Ah, Valentine's Day. I always thought it was kind of stupid. But that is another one of those surprising things that changed once I had kids. Now Valentine's Day is one of my favorites. I've come to embrace the cheesiness and syrupy sweetness of red frilly hearts, and I love the beautiful Valentines that my boys make for their friends and family.
This is the first year that we have had to bring valentines for an entire class. Huck's teacher sent home a note asking each child to bring in a box of valentines. No treats or prizes were allowed, and the kids would address and sign all of their valentines in class. I swear I was going to listen and follow directions and buy a box of valentines featuring Lightening McQueen or something, but it killed me, I mean it KILLED me to buy a box of pre-made valentines. I knew what we had to do.
I cut and folded a bunch of red cardstock and then I let the boys go at it with sponge pouncers, white paint, glitter glue and felt heart stickers. In the end we had very modern, gorgeous little cards.

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Miranda R. Mueller Original art for children and their rooms ❀ DIRT Cosmetics Made from earth Hearts & Home A vintage inspired life ❀ Literary Tease Customizable word-based jewelry and accessories