DIY Life

I caught a re-run of Shear Genius last week, and the topic was timely for me. During the show, hair stylists cut and styled women's hair. But the twist was that for judging, the women needed to replicate the style on their own.

I know I've been in that type of predicament with my hair before. I'll sit in a stylist's chair and love, love, love what they did. But the next day I discover that I'm completely incapable of recreating the style on my own. Unless you're lucky enough to have the funds to pay for a personal stylist, what good is a hair cut if you can't style it yourself?

Last Friday I got a pretty drastic hair cut. I sat there watching inches of my hair fall to the floor and worried that I wouldn't be able to style it myself. Then I remembered the episode of Shear Genius, and I decided to take a few tips from the show. I'll share some ideas after the break.

Your 'do is getting a bit faded, but you just don't have time to get to the stylist , or you don't want to fork out that much money so soon. You could put off the trip to the salon another three or four weeks if it weren't for your bangs, which are in your eyes and driving you crazy!

What to do?

With this very simple trick from Darla at Chic Critique, you can get yourself those extra days, and you can do it yourself!

You know how it is: gals with straight hair envy their curly-haired friends, and ladies with straight hair wish they could have bouncy ringlets. As a member of the curly-hair club, I've always envied the people I know whose stick-straight hair looks terrific first thing in the morning -- and doesn't go frizzy at the first sign of humidity.

After years (and years, and years) of trying to wrestle my locks into submission, I've learned to embrace the corkscrews and go with the flow. With a little patience, you can learn to love your locks, and here are some of the best tips I've found:

My hair is super straight and pretty boring. I recently bought some of those pink sponge rollers, the kind my mother used to put in my hair every night before bed. I had forgotten how incredibly uncomfortable they were. Not to mention the weird creases they left in my hair where the plastic closing piece connects.

In a search for more comfortable hair rollers, I stumbled upon this brilliant tutorial. It never occurred to me that I could just make my own.

They look really nice, and will give me the opportunity to use up some of my fabric scraps. And, they look really comfortable. No big plastic pieces!

You'll need fabric, buttons, stuffing, thread, hand sewing needle, scissors, and a sewing machine (with zipper foot if possible). If you are uncomfortable with creating button holes, you can always use Velcro. If you do use Velcro, it would probably be best and cheapest to purchase it by the yard since you'll need a lot more of the loop portion of the velcro.

I guarantee I'll have the most impressive and comfortable curlers on my block!

Do-it-yourself healthy hair? What do you mean, you thought hair had to do with genetics?

To an extent, it does. You can't change your hair's thickness, for instance. But with the right diet you can have do-it-yourself healthy hair.

Web MD has published a list of the top ten foods to eat for healthy hair. If you are health-conscious, the good news is that you are probably already eating many of these foods. So have you looked in the mirror lately? If your hair has great body and shine, your diet may be to thank.

For example, if you eat lots of salmon or other sources of omega-3 fatty acids, you will combat dry scalp and hair. Dark green veggies contain vitamins that help make sebum, you body's natural hair conditioner.

Check the Web MD article for all ten foods and you'll be on your way to healthy, beautiful hair.

When things start to melt, I get really excited. Maybe it is the fact that I can see my lawn again, or just that the air is starting to lose that cold little nip. Even though I can't pin down exactly what it is, the promise of springtime excites me.

With Spring's arrival, though, comes some new concerns. Capri pants and short sleeved shirts, for example. Not only do you have to start shaving your legs again, but you have got to do something about that winter dry skin.

Read on for recipes to get your skin ready to be bared, with scents to bring the fresh springtime air right into your bath.

Got no romantic plans for Valentine's Day? How about staying home for a pamper-yourself evening? In the realm of DIY beauty, we have already tackled some haircare basics. (Check out our posts on cutting your own hair and cutting your baby's hair, for example.) Now let's move onto something equally tricky: plucking your own eyebrows.

According to NZGirl ("NZ" stands for New Zealand, but the site has no connection to this Kiwi), the key to brows that are shapely, yet natural-looking, is to have them echo the shape of your eyes. How, you ask? Here are some tips:
1. Check out photos in magazines and use your favorite examples as your guide.

Recently, Unclutterer posted some useful information for those of us who drown in piles of pet hair. In response to a post about speedy house-cleaning, a reader asked what to do about piles of fur shed by their Chocolate Lab. The question came up because most "Clean your house really quickly!" plans don't take pet ownership into account.

Erin from Unclutterer responded with a number of tips for dog and cat owners. In summary, and with a few parenthetical comments from me, they are:

• Pick up pet-hair dust-bunnies with damp paper towels daily.
• Bathe pets as frequently as you can: a lot of excess fur will go down the drain with the water. (Bathing a dog more often than every few weeks can really dry out their skin, so be careful with this one. Also, it can clog your drains.)
• Brush pets regularly. (A shedding loop/blade may be more helpful for longer-haired or double-coated dogs.)

Find the rest of the tips, more ideas about how you can put them into action, and information about equipment that might help you, all after the break!

My baby was overdue for her first haircut. She was getting an unenviable grizzly-old-man look thanks to all those straggly hairs falling over her ears and down her neck. Oh, and when dry winter air meets fleece baby clothes you get static electricity...making it stick up and out. Not good. But I was reluctant to pay for a salon cut when just a trim was all that was required. On the other hand, I'll confess I was very afraid I'd screw up and baby would end up looking like Lloyd, Jim Carrey's unforgettable buck-toothed character with a bowl-cut in Dumb and Dumber. So I did a little Web-exploration, seeking advice, then had a go. Here are some tips from me, inspired by other pointers courtesy of EHow. Check out my gallery at the end of this post to see how it went.

I often assume that the only way to achieve cool hair rolls is with one of those "as seen on TV" tools. You know the ones that you buy each time thinking it might be better than the last, but ultimately it's pulling out your hair and snapping apart, leaving your solution for an off-the-face do to the classic and ever so boring pony tail.

Never fear, you can get that "as seen on TV" hair roll on your own. It's simple and painless. Along with your own beautiful hair, here's what you'll need:

1. Brush or large tooth comb
2. Bobby pins
3. Hair tie or large barrette

The full instructions have pictures through each stage of this hair-do. Having tried this out myself, I'd say the key is rolling your hair to the point of slight discomfort; it will loosen in seconds and still be tight enough to stay put. As you can tell from the picture, my hair would have worked better and the roll looked smoother if I'd straightened it first. Here's how to straighten your hair at home. If you are still partial to the pony tail, try spicing it up with one of Maureen's beaded pony tail holders.

I loved Maureen's post about making your own hair bows. With balloons and curling ribbon, she showed us how to make fun hair clips that any girl would adore. Here's the seasonal twist on homemade hair bows: The Christmas tree clip.

This little Christmas bow is one of the cutest things ever. I can just imagine how precious it would look in a little girl's hair. You can work together making it, she'll love to be the crafter and have even more fun showing it off to her friends. The instructions clearly illustrate how to make the Christmas clip. You'll attach it onto an alligator clip. I'm sure that you could modify it for any size clip depending on what you're looking for.

If you're looking to add a little extra flair this Christmas, or have a little girl on your Christmas list, make one of these sweet little pieces.

Lots of people seem to be wearing bandanas on their heads lately. I've noticed many soccer players wearing them in the cooler weather to keep a little bit warmer on the field. If kids aren't quite ready to trade in their ball cap for a toque, then a snug fitting bandana under the hat should keep them warm. Choose your favorite piece of cloth or buy a bandana with your chosen pattern. Tying the bandana is a simple task that still gives many people difficulty. Learning how to tie a bandana will make sure you get the best look.

How to tie a bandana

1. Fold the bandana diagonally making a triangle
2. Position the flat edge at your hairline (or wherever you want it to sit)
3. Tie the corners at the base of your neck with a square or granny knot. Watch out for stray hairs!
4. Adjust the positioning
5. Tuck the corners in

It might take a few tries, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be putting it on in no time. Enjoy your new look, and remember, bandanas aren't just for cowboys anymore.

Do you have any idea how difficult it is to get a head into a jar? I mean, sure: you can try to squeeze it into a bulk mayo jar with a wide mouth. But believe me, that skull is going to get in the way. And you can't just go around beheading people until you find a head that's the right size to actually fit: that would be totally uncool, and it would keep you from getting invited to the better Halloween parties.

...Or so I've heard.

But faking it? Faking it is easy. Check out these Head in a Jar instructions from Mad Haus Creative.

All you need is a large jar -- the sort that looks like it might be large enough to hold a head -- and a photo of a corpse-like face. In this instance, the photo is a texture map created for 3-D animators. Print it out, pop it into the jar, push it around until it looks right (or, more to the point, utterly sick and wrong), maybe add some hair... and bam, you're in the garage scene from Silence of the Lambs.

Deeply squicky, yet almost completely effortless! That's my kind of scary.

I love coming out of the spa, feeling so relaxed and refreshed. It's like I'm a whole new person. Honestly though, aside from the luxury of a good massage, I'm not really a fan of the spa experience. I like what I get out of it, but I don't particularly like the pretentious environment or the pressure sales at the end. I'm not very good at the soft whisper and light movement that seem to match the tranquil music and mild mannered estheticians.

Spa treatments aren't something I indulge in often, but you can achieve some pretty close results at home. I've collected some DIY spa treatments. I'll try things out as we go and let you know what I think. Today, we'll start with your head (well, actually your hair) with a deep condition, and in the coming days work our way down to that perfect pedicure.

Deep conditioning
The occasional deep condition can go a long way toward healthier hair, especially if yours is exposed to color, straightening, or perm treatments. Most regular conditioners add moisture. This is very important for your hair, but it isn't the only thing it needs. You'll want to add protein if your hair is in need of a little reconstruction. Today I tried this homemade deep conditioner recipe. After the break I'll let you know how it went.

What are Odango meatballs you may ask. That's a good question and the answer is simple. Odango atama is the hairstyle made famous by anime sensation Sailor Moon. I believe that in technical terms the name translates as "dumpling head."

Meatballs are just another designation of the same thing, balls of hair formed by tying a carefully placed knot in the hair where pigtails are gathered at the scalp. Be advised that you need a bountiful amount of hair length to pull off this hairstyle. I tried the technique in my mustache but it didn't work worth a dang.