Make Your Own Hair Dye With Homemade Hair Dye Recipes

Posted on July 16, 2010 by loudmom22

With all of the dangerous chemicals and warnings on traditional hair dye kits, not to mention the high price of the kits, it’s no wonder that many people are looking for ways to make their own homemade hair dye. You can often get salon quality looks without putting your life at risk, or draining your wallet.

One of the main factors in choosing which homemade hair dye recipes to use is the shade of your natural hair color. Those who have very light hair will find it easy to darken it naturally, and those with darker shades can often lighten it without too much trouble. Experimenting on a test swatch of hair like pictured right is a great way to know exactly what color you will be getting without committing to it.

Natural Ways to Lighten Hair

If you are a brunette or have darker hair, there are many home remedies to lighten hair you can try. Lemon juice remains to be one of the most popular options, and with a few lemons costing less than a couple of dollars, it is certainly affordable.

When using a lemon juice treatment, you will want to first wash your hair as normal, and then squeeze out the lemon juice from the lemons. (Roll the lemons first on a flat surface to make juicing them easier!) Then apply to lemon juice to your entire head just as you would as a shampoo or conditioner, or choose specific areas that you would like to highlight.

Many people will mix different things with the lemon juice, such as Chamomile tea, rhubarb, or even honey. These are all different options to consider. To expedite the process and to get more dramatic results, it is best to go into direct sunlight for at least 30 minutes – just make sure you wear sunscreen! Be careful if you get any lemon juice on your skin, as this may cause it to burn more quickly.

Natural Ways to Darken Hair

For natural ways to darken your hair, using organic henna remains one of the most popular options. Henna is often used for tattoos and you should be able to find it in many natural stores and specialty shops near you, or you of course can usually find a very good price ordering it online. For example, Nupur Henna 100% Natural Powder is only $3.99 and will give you plenty of henna. Most recommend mixing it with either lemon juice or water and allowing it to sit anywhere from 6-12 hours until it forms into a paste you can apply thickly to the hair. It is usually a good idea to do a test patch to get the shade you want. For some it can cause the hair to turn bright red, so make sure you test first!

Tea bags and coffee are other ways to stain the hair a darker shade. Simply brew coffee or tea as you normally would, making it a very strong concentration. Then massage into your hair and allow it to sit as long as you can stand it before rinsing it out. (An hour at minimum, but longer will give you more noticeable results).

Homemade Dyes for Red Hair

If you want to make your hair a red or auburn color, you will need to find natural products that have a red or orange tint to them.

A mixture of beet juice and carrot juice is one of the most popular choices to try, and it is easy to mix the two together and apply and let it set for one hour before rinsing.

You can also find flowers such as marigolds, hibiscus flowers, and others that can produce nice results. You will want to pick the flowers and crush the petals and then boil them down in water until it takes on the color you want. After the water has cooled down to room temperature, apply to your hair and allow it to set for 15-20 minutes, or longer if necessary.

Making your own all natural hair dyes is a lot of fun, and you’ll be happy to know that they don’t include any dangerous chemicals or toxins. Remember to always do a test patch on your skin and your hair before proceeding, especially if using a new method you’ve never tried before. While allergic reactions are unlikely when using common everyday things such as lemons and carrots, flowers may cause irritation for some. It’s better to test and be sure than to have an allergic reaction!

Do you have any homemade hair dye recipes you have used? Share them in the comments section below!

Frugal Fashionista Tips

Posted on September 10, 2009 by loudmom22

Are you a frugal fashionista on a budget? These days everyone is trying to save money in any possible way they can, which unfortunately for many means spending less on new clothing. If you love fashion and designer prices but are on a budget, then you’ll love our frugal fashionista tips below:

1. Clean Out Your Closet & Clothes: If you love clothing, then there’s a good chance you already have quite the selection in your closet but may have forgotten about what you already own. The best bet for organizing your clothes is to first drag it all out and then lay it out in piles where you can see everything. You might just be surprised how much you have and what new combinations you can make. Set a special pile for clothes that no longer fit you or you don’t really wear too much anymore.

2. Organize a Clothing Swap: Organizing a clothing swap can not only be a great free way to update your look but also can be a lot of fun to do as well. Invite up to as many friends as you’d like and tell them to bring a bagful of clothes they no longer wear. Then lay it all out on a pile and let everyone fight for what they want. (Hopefully there really won’t actually be any fighting!) You may want to set a few ground rules such as all trades final. If you find that there are leftover clothes, you can always donate the to thrift stores or charities near you.

3. Choose Solid Basics: The cliche of the little black dress remains true: having a few solid anchor pieces can greatly stretch any wardrobe. Rather than buying all new clothes, consider having just a few basics that can be dramatically changed just by a few accessories.

4. Look for Designer Trends in Cheaper Clothing: If you look at what styles you like, the prices of high end designer items can be daunting. However, many times you can find comparable items and styles shopping at most discount retail stores. Nobody is going to realize or notice that what you’re wearing isn’t the name brand designer label.

5. Thrift Shopping is Cool: A lot of people roll their eyes at thrift shopping or second hand and consignment stores, but there is a lot to be gained by going to these types of stores. Often times you can find the designer labels if you have the patience to look – you can also almost always find something that imitates the style as well.

6. Set a Spending Limit: It’s important that you set a spending limit if you want to save money when shopping for clothes. Try to stretch the dollar as far as you possibly can – you can either buy one pair of jeans for $48 or you can go to a discount or thrift store and get 5 or 6 items for the same price. Keeping a budget will help you make sure that you are getting value.

7. Avoid the Temptation of a Sale If something regularly $159 is on clearance for $79 it sounds like a great sale, doesn’t it? However, tempting as it may be, think about how else that money could be spent or if you could find something similar somewhere else for less. If you’re spending money, you’re not really saving it.

8. Read the Care Labels: Clothes that require dry cleaning, steam cleaning, or other special care can cost you money in the long run, or you may even not wear it that often because it does require special care and that extra effort in keeping it clean. If something can be washed in the washing machine instead that can save you much more than taking it to the dry cleaners.

Do you have any frugal fashionista tips you’d like to share? Tell us what you do to save money on clothes and fashion in the comments below!

How to Keep a House Clean

Posted on July 21, 2009 by loudmom22

It can be somewhat of a challenge trying to keep a house clean, especially if you live with several people or young children who are busy and getting into everything. I’m often complimented on how clean my house seems even with three kids under the age 6 running underfoot, so I thought I would share some of my tips and pointers on what I do to make sure that the place isn’t a disaster area most of the time.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

1. Get Rid of Everything: Okay, well this may sound a little bit extreme. But it is true. If you get rid of everything, you don’t have very much to put away or dust and clean. We don’t have knick knacks on a coffee table. Heck, we don’t even have a coffee table. The kids have a few toys, probably more than I would like them to have. However, I usually purge through all of the things they get and either donate it or toss/recycle anything that is broken, worn, or missing pieces. It’s just a lot easier to clean up when there is not a lot of stuff you don’t use or need laying around everywhere. If you’re a packrat, this can be really hard to do. But once you get in that “simplified life” kind of mentality you’ll realize it’s a heck of a lot easier.

2. Establish a Routine: I try to keep a pretty consistent routine with the different household tasks I do. Obviously some days will be better than others and maybe sometimes I can’t always do my usual schedule. But by having a typical schedule of “Tuesday is laundry day” or my usual routine of doing the dishes right before bed is a good way for keeping the house a cleaner place.

3. Never Leave a Mess: Cleaning up after yourself seems like common sense, but most of the time if we get distracted or have a lot of things going on we might forget to put the peanut butter back in the cabinet after we made a sandwich or the kids might want to play with a different toy before cleaning up with the one they already had. By making a conscious effort to try and put things away as soon as you are done using them it will really help. (Note: Hopefully you already have some closet organization systems already in place for where things belong.)

4. Delegate: No one person can do all of the housework alone, unless maybe they are a maid and it is their full time job. (And even then, who is cleaning his/her house?) You have to delegate chores to other household members if you want to ever have a little time for yourself – otherwise they’ll be able to go enjoy everything and either your house will be a disaster zone or you will be stuck doing all the dirty work while they have fun, which can certainly add up a lot of resentment. Even young kids can have fun dusting or wiping down the bath tub, so getting them involved in it early will help them stick to it for a longer time.

5. If All Else Fails, Cheat: There will be times when you have unexpected company coming and you don’t have time to do a whole lot before they get there and arrive. When this happens, it is perfectly acceptable to cheat. Make the beds, light a richly scented candle to make the house smell nice and fresh, pick up everything off the floor and throw it in a box until you have time to return the items to their rightful place. (Just be careful you don’t let it go for too long, otherwise you’ll have worse problems!

These are just a few of the things I do that help our house stay nice and neat. A lot of people cannot even believe that we have kids – many of them are people without kids who say my house is cleaner than theirs! If you do these few simple things hopefully you’ll notice not only a difference in how good you feel about your house but also how much more simple your life seems as well.

Finding Free and Inexpensive Maternity Clothes

Posted on December 29, 2008 by loudmom22

Spending a lot of money on maternity clothes seems pointless, since chances are you’ll only be wearing them for a few months. The good news is there are a ton of places and ways to find cheap and inexpensive maternity clothes – and you might even be able to find some for free!

Here are some places to check out for inexpensive maternity clothes:

Craigslist: Craigslist is a free online classified ads website that has plenty of people listing and selling things they aren’t using anymore. Craigslist Website.

Thrift Shops: Our local goodwill store often has brand new maternity clothes from Target for less than $5. Many other maternity clothes are available as well. You can also check out local yard sales, church flea markets, and others to find great bargains and discounts.

Freecycle: Freecycle is THE way to get anything for free. Join a local group near you and post your request after you find something out of your closet you no longer need and can offer to give away for free. There’s probably tons of people more than happy to give you maternity clothes to wear!

Ebay: You can also find a ton of cheap and inexpensive maternity clothes on eBay. You may even be able to find someone locally to save on shipping costs.

Organize a Swap With Friends: Do you have other friends with kids? Maybe they have maternity clothes you can trade with them or assuming you’re not both pregnant at the same time, you might be able to borrow their clothes until they may need them again.

If you’re looking for some other ways to save money on maternity clothes, here are a few more tips:

Invest in a few key pieces: You can often get away with wearing non-maternity style shirts, but pants are another story. You probably only really need 2-3 pairs of pants, and investing in a few pairs of jeans or khakis can be a good idea. You can always sell them later, or if you plan on getting pregnant again you’ll certainly get your use out of them!

Buy Clothes Only as You Need Them: No two pregnancies are alike, and you won’t really know how big your belly will get, or what will be comfortable for the weather to really purchase maternity clothes in advance. While it can be a hassle to have “nothing to wear!” for a few days or a week, you will save a lot more money and have less clothes sitting unused in your closet.

Buy Nursing Clothes: If you’re planning on nursing the baby once he or she is born, you’ll need clothes that are comfortable to nurse in. Many maternity shirts and bras also double as nursing shirts, which will help you save even more money as you go back to your pre-baby weight.

Consider a BellaBand: A BellaBand is basically a wrap that goes around your belly and your regular pants that don’t fit right to transform them instantly and temporarily into maternity clothes. For $24.95, you might find that it extends not only your maternity wardrobe but your savings as well! You can check out and learn more about the BellaBand here.

Have any other tips for finding inexpensive maternity clothes? Share them in the comments below!

Shag Haircut and Styles

Posted on October 31, 2008 by loudmom22

The latest popular hairstyle for women is the shag haircut. Styles can vary from being absolutely messy to having neater lines. It’s no wonder why the shag haircut is a popular choice: it’s basically maintenance free and perfect for moms on the go.

Shag haircuts generally involve cutting the hair into various short layers. Each style for each person is somewhat different and there are naturally variations of the shag haircut and styles. Below we showcase a few of the different shag haircut styles.

The Short Shag

The short shag haircut is characterized by very short layers of hair. Each layer is of different lengths. This style works very well on just about any face shape.

Here is another variation of a short shag haircut style:

This style is a little bit longer and is characterized by wisps of hair going in pretty much every direction. Notice again the different layer lengths in this hair style.

Medium Long Shag Haurcut

This is a medium length version of the shag haircut, with multiple layers and lengths. Another popular variation is to include bangs in the front with the sides slightly longer.

Long Shag Haircut

If you have long hair, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to cut it all off to acheive a shag like hair cut, though typically shag hair cuts are for short to medium length hair. Layers are typically shorter in the front, though you could do longer in the front and shorter in the back as well.

Styling a shag hair cut often takes little more than running a comb or brush through it and perhaps spritzing it with a little gel or spray if you’d like it to stay in place. Many do very little more than this to get their hair ready, which is why for busy moms on the go it can be a great way to stay in style without a lot of maintenance or time involved to get ready in the morning.

Do you like the Shag haircut? Tell us about it in the comments below!

Homemade Lip Gloss

Posted on October 30, 2008 by loudmom22

Who doesn’t love lip gloss? It’s a quick and easy pick me up and can accessorize with just about anything. Homemade lip gloss is twice as sweet, since you can have control over the flavor and colors. It’s a great activity to do with family or can be used to make gifts as well. Best of all, it’s also super easy to make when you use a very basic household staple – Vaseline.

Step 1: Choose a Container

The first thing you will need before you start creating a recipe for homemade lip gloss is to make sure you have a good container to use and put it in when it is finished. You can wash and reuse empty lip gloss containers you have from before, or you can use small plastic containers, such as film canisters if you want it to be portable. If you’d like to make large batches, you can use small containers that you would use for leftovers.

Step 2: Melt the Vaseline

To make your homemade lip gloss, you will need to first melt the Vaseline. This can be done in a variety of ways. A microwave is probably the easiest, but you need to be very careful, since you do not want the vaseline to get too hot. You can melt it by placing it in a glass microwave safe dish and microwaving for 20-30 seconds, then stir in your ingredients. (Microwave temperatures and times will vary – it is better to cook just a little at a time than to cook for very long! If need be, continue in 30 second intervals until it becomes a liquid consistency.

Another alternative way to melting the Vaseline is to place the vaseline in a plastic zip tight bag and then running it under very hot water from your sink, or you can place the bag in a bowl of very hot water and let it sit until the Vaseline is melted. Once it is melted, you can add your ingredients and then stir together. This is the safest way to melt Vaseline.

Another thing you can do if you’d like to alternate the flavors of your homemade lip gloss is to consider using different bases besides vaseline. Beeswax is a popular choice, you can also use vegetable shortening. Always be careful when microwaving and heating the base for your lip gloss – you don’t want any burns or for it to catch on fire!

Step 3: Stir in Your Flavorings

If you can mix it with Vaseline, you can use it to flavor your lip gloss! Here are a few ideas for things you can stir into Vaseline to make your own flavor and color combination:

Another option for making your own lip gloss is to buy a lip gloss making kit. This Make Your Own Lip Balm Kit can be a great way to get started if you do not want to try it on your own with our easy directions above.

Enjoy your new homemade lip gloss!

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