How I dyed my hair pastel blue and messed up a lot on the way.

I dyed my hair blue yesterday! It was so ridiculously tedious though. I went from a deep red/brown to a sort of periwinkle looking color in less than 24 hours. So here's how I did it.

Step One: Lightening

I had to do two bleach sessions to get my hair light enough to dye over. For the first round I used a lightening kit from Splat. My hair was quite pink after that (thanks to the vampire red dye still in my hair) so my darling boyfriend went to Sally's to get me two packets of blue bleach, which I mixed with 20 vol. developer. I left each batch in my hair for about an  hour and conditioned inbetween, which may not have been a smart idea since conditioner creates a barrier on the hair. I think the second bleaching could have been more effective if I'd only shampooed but oh well.

I didn't take a picture of my hair after the bleach, but it was white at the roots (where my hair hadn't been touched by dye yet) and it was a very light shade of orangey-pink along the lengths. Not perfectly white like I wanted, but still light enough to dye over.

*NOTE: my hair was in extremely healthy condition before I did this. I hadn't used any harsh chemicals on it in over two months, I use sulfate free shampoos, I wash my hair only twice a week, and I'd just given it a trim. I take very good care of it which is why I decided to bleach it twice. It's not advisable to do so if your hair isn't healthy enough to take the damage.

Step Two: Dying

I decided to use Manic Panic dyes, they have a good reputation for vibrant color and they're super gentle on hair, and I definitely did not want to use anything harsh on my hair after all that bleach. I mixed some After Midnight Blue in a bowl with a lot of plain white conditioner (I used Tresemee but the brand doesn't matter). This dye is really dark in the jar, and diluting it with conditioner will give you a pastel version of whatever color you choose. I mixed in enough dye to make the mixture look darker than the results I wanted, since using too little dye would barely affect my hair. I used a brush to apply the dye, popped on a shower cap and left it in for an hour. When I rinsed it looked like this:





It came out really bright turquoise with really green undertones thanks to the funky undertones left in my hair after the bleaching. Since this is not the look I was going for, I needed a plan of attack. I went to bed to give my hair a break and started with the damage control in the morning.






Because I'm such a smart girl, I also had a bottle of Shimmer Lights shampoo on hand. Shimmer Lights is a purple shampoo that helps to get brassy tones out of hair. It has saved me through several unfortunate home lightening adventures. I dumped some Shimmer Lights and a little hint of the blue dye into a bowl to help tone down the turqoise and left it in my hair for half an hour. I specifically used the shampoo because shampoo helps to strip out Manic Panic color faster and the turquoise needed some serious lightening before moving on.

The next thing I did kind of failed. I just put more blue dye and conditioner in my hair and it came out a slightly less greenish turquoise but still not what I wanted. Then comes my best friend Vampire Red. I had a whole bottle of the amplified version of this dye left over from my previous attempt at red hair (hallelujah).Since my hair had green tones to it that I didn't want, the red tones of this dye theoretically would cancel those out. So I mixed another batch of conditioner and blue dye and added a little red until it was a nice violet color (still mostly blue). 

It looked really purple on my hair but when I rinsed it had done the trick! 

It's much darker than I wanted it to be, but since I couldn't get my hair white in one day, it'll do. Next time I bleach I shouldn't get too many funky undertones and I'll finally be able to reach my goal of ice queen blue hair. One day my hair will look as perfect as this: 

I'm no professional, but if anyone would like to ask me a question about dying hair, feel free to give it a shot :)

My life lately

After the absolute madness of fall, it almost feels nice to sink into the sleepy winter routine this year. I normally hate winter, but I'm feeling okay with it for now. It helps that I'm taking a two month break from school! Yet another perk to online college, I get to pick my vacations. I've just been soaking up the relaxation time and I've been horrendously lazy. I have gotten a few fun projects done, and I actually am quite proud of myself for having my Christmas shopping list down to a science. It's like I'm a grown up or something.
Aside from work, I've just been reading, listening to music and getting creative. I finished three or four books last month, including Matched by Ally Condie. I don't think I'd rank it among my personal favorites but the story line is definitely gripping. I was on the edge of my seat the first two books feverishly flipping pages to see what happens.
I'm also totally and completely enamored with Lorde lately. Her music is fantastic, I love how pared down it is, how she creates amazing sound with just a few instruments or just swelling vocals of herself recorded at different harmonies to create a chorus of voices. It's all I can listen to for the past two months. Bravado and Buzzcut Season are my faaavorites right now, I can't get over how much I love this girl's music. And she's only 17! That blows my mind, but I'm gonna stop fangirling now and just post some pictures, okay? Okay.

Oh, also I have had a few new fun changes this month. I finally re-entered the age of the smartphone (my old one got eyebrow raises from the bestbuy employees when I traded it in, it's that old) and I have begun the process of turning my hair bright red, but it's kinda burgundy right now and downright impossible to capture accurately in a photo. Boooo. So without further adieu, my month in pictures:

The hairrr. I used Manic Panic vampire red over medium brown hair, this is what happens in case you were wondering. Did I mention it looks stellar in the sun? It turns bright ruby red and I wish it did that always. Maybe next month.

The dress I'm working on, the top lace is refashioned from what once was a super matronly dress that I found at Salvation Army.

And here we have another handmade skirt of mine. I was feeling very inspired by the long skirts and dresses worn and designed by Ulyana Sergeenko. She is loveliness. (Note to self, gathering, not pleats next time.)

This is my gloriously witchy looking collaged journal. I love it soooo.

My two lovely vintage finds at various shops around Concord. The first is a post card from the Concord State hospital (AKA the asylum). I used to live across the street from it and I used to just stare at the empty windows with my morning coffee in hand trying to imagine life inside those walls. It's no longer in use as a hospital, most of the wings are locked off except for the main building which is offices nowadays. Also, a lovely copy of Romeo and Juliet featuring cover art from the 1960's movie!

My obligatory fall apple picking adventure.

I'm so sad that fall is almost officially gone. Only 21 days more of technical "fall" and then we are totally and undeniably in winter. At least I have an electric fireplace and by boyfriend and cat for snuggle buddies.

NaNoWriMo. Also, I am a nerd.

So November 1st marks the beginning of national novel writing month and I'm feeling determined to participate this year. Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge book nerd. Here I present photographic evidence:

Pardon my silly looking webcam capture of my senior yearbook. But I digress. I haven't the faintest idea what I'm going to write about. I'm feeling very inspired by historic fiction (always my favorite genre) that takes place anywhere from the 1890's to the 1930's. I'm also very drawn to the paranormal, minus the vampires and werewolves. Think mystic powers and clairvoyance. Novels from Libba Bray, Cat Winters, Sonia Gensler and Shannon Hale are among my favorites, some of them with fairy tale like qualities that make me believe anything is possible. So this month, my goal is to create a world that readers can lose themselves in for a few hours. The goal is to write 50,000 words in one month. I have a tendency to write too much, but then again I've never written anything on this scale, and since I'm taking a term off from online classes, I may as well spend my otherwise scholarly time wisely. Are any other readers out there participating in NaNoWriMo, or just simply dream of being novelists? Tell me about what you'd write about, I love hearing from others :) 

New Vintage Haul in my Etsy Shop!

I've finally gotten off my lazy butt and posted oodles of lovely things in my shop today! My shop views have already improved (hallelujah!) and I am absolutely determined to make my first sale before 2014 comes around. I've got so many gorgeous pieces, an oxblood pencil skirt, a classic black chiffon dress, a vintage dress that look just like the one worn by Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games and more! Click HERE to see what else I've listed!

Etsy shop final sale on summer items!

I just dropped some prices super low, these summer items must go! Oh that rhymes, neat. I have a lot of spare time this week so I'll be adding a bunch of new items, vintage AND hand made by yours truly :) I also need to find a way to sell some of the pristine, but sadly not vintage items, that have been sitting neglected in my closet for far too long. Any suggestions on how I can share my overly full closet with the world? Leave a comment with suggestions! And go see my small but growing Etsy shop LilacsAndBirch, formerly BreannasEtsyShop :)

October Photography Experiment: The Inspiration.

I am so excited about all of the things brewing in my mind this month! October is my favorite month so I've been reading and watching all kinds of spooky things. I just finished a book called In The Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters (what a fantastic name right?!). It's a perfectly haunting book that takes place during the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918 and centers around a 16 year old girl navigating San Francisco. In the book, a family friend of hers claims to be a "Spirit Photographer," inviting people to his studio to sit for a portrait and catch a photo of a loved one's ghost in the process. The leading lady, being of the scientific mindset that she is, believes it all to be a hoax made up to prey on the grieving souls of those who lost loved ones to the flu and World War I. You'll just have to read the book though to know if she is right or wrong about the hoax theory.

The story goes over the ways photos were doctored back then, usually a double exposure, though long exposures create a similar effect. I used to try double and long exposure photography back when I was working with film but I absolutely hated waiting for the results to be developed and the possibility of wasting a perfectly good frame on a roll of film, so this month I'm going to attempt it digitally! I'm making a white dress for the occasion to get a fun antique feel to the photos, we'll see how it turns out!

In the mean time, here's a few of my experimental photos:

And a few photos that have sparked my imagination:

Novel by Cat Winters, cover photo by Symon Chow

Oh Mylanta.

I can't believe September is almost over and I haven't made a single post this month. It's been a super busy month for me. I've started my second year of online schooling (yay!) taken a short trip to Florida for my brother's wedding, have my two year anniversary with my boyfriend and I've gotten a second job just recently as a photographer at Lifetouch Portrait Studios! I can't believe I can have fit that much into less than 30 days but there you have it ladies and gents.
Going to Florida was quite an event in itself. It was my boyfriend's first time flying, and first time leaving the three upper states of New England (bless his heart). I think I must be one of the only crazy people who doesn't like Florida all that much. It's too hot and sticky for me, even at the beginning of September. It was a crazy emotional three days, from seeing my only blood sibling marry the love of his life, to meeting my paternal grandfather for the first time in my life (seriously). I brought my camera with me but I was so all over the place that I didn't get to take any pictures except one of our hotel room.

Also, I'm super duper unbelievably thrilled about my new photography job. This finally gives me some professional experience and I'm the luckiest girl that I got my first choice. I hadn't applied to a single other place before I had an interview and then a job offer a few days later! Portraits have always been my weak spot, I always preferred inanimate subjects, with the exception of my cat but he's pretty close to inanimate too. Strengthening my skills in that area is going to be such a challenge but I've already learned so much in the past two training days.

I haven't had hardly any time for creative endeavors this much, but I've managed to do a few things that I love. 

I found the most beautiful little grouping of thistles next to the highway at work that just made me so happy. Thistles have been a recurring theme this year, Thistle is the name of one of my favorite online magazines, and the thistle is featured on my favorite Scottish ginger beer, so when I found these beauties I decided it must be a good omen for me :)

And last but not least I have put my first hand made item in my Etsy shop!

I call this the picnic day top. The blue checks remind me of a picnic blanket on a warm but breezy summer day, check it out HERE.

Alright, now the world is caught up on how my September has gone. Prepare for loads of Halloween madness next month because it is my absolute favorite holiday and I can't wait!

My Secret Garden

       Here's a little photo-shoot I did about two weeks ago :) I found my old copy of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson-Burnett and it's rekindled the little girl in me, so I got all dressed up, found a precious hat and took some pictures just as the sun was going down (although you really can't tell the time of day when you're surrounded by so many trees.) The dress I'm wearing is hand-made by myself. I drafted the pattern and used a gingham fabric I got from my boyfriend's gram with pastel pinks greens and yellows in it. It's so

springtime and adorable. The cardigan is from Marshall's, shoes are super fancy from G.H. Bass &Co. (my personal favorite as of late), the hat and scarf were vintage buys from the Concord Antique Gallery, and the pocket watch necklace is from Modcloth.com :) I'm also finally getting the hang of using Gimp to edit my photos! I've mostly just played with the colors and edited an unsightly cold sore in the close-up picture, but I'm super spiffed with the results.

        I've been reading The Secret Garden all week now and I'm feeling super nostalgic for my childhood. Life was so simple. I used to climb trees, search for wild strawberries in the summer and make girl-sized bird nests in the hay loft at my aunt's farm. I miss all of that so much, being a grown-up stinks. Do you have a certain book that always takes you back to your childhood? Share in the comments, I'd love to hear from any readers that stumble upon my humble little blog here :)

My favoritest online reading resources

I've always been a reader. I love reading to the ends of the earth and back. I was that kid that got caught reading in the middle of the night instead of playing with toys (and consequently was punished with threats of my books being taken away, which thankfully never happened.) The world has been coming up with loads of ways to read without actually holding a book, which I adamantly rejected for years, because how could a Nook possibly compare to the vanilla-y scent of and old book, to the soft sound of turning pages? It doesn't but I can't deny that I do an awful lot of reading via technology (I caved this past winter and got a Nook, by the way. It doesn't smell nice but you can't beat the convenience of buying a new book without getting out of bed.) 

I've been developing a love for following websites for years now, which started at the tender age of 14 with a website all about the goings-on in Green Day (favorite band at the time). I've gotten a bit more cultured over time, don't worry. so without further adieu, here are my frequent online haunts.

Rookiemag.com

Rookie is an online magazine aimed at teenage girls, and despite the fact that I am 22 and no longer in the throes of adolescence, I can't help but love this site. Run by the adorkably lovely Tavi Gevinson (her personal blog here) and a massive team of men and women of a wide variety of ages, Rookie provides a getaway full of fun tutorials, photo sets and informational articles made mostly for teenage girls (but really, at what age do we stop acting like teenage girls ladies?) It covers everything from making flower crowns to talking about sesssuality. Each month is given a theme which contributors bounce ideas off of, which is actually amazing for stirring up some creativity. This months theme is imitation, next month shall be thrills & chills. Rookie is unabashedly honest about what it's like being a teenage girl, young woman, experienced adult woman, what have you. I seriously wish this had been around during my angsty years, but luckily I have a 14 year old cousin whom I love dearly who gets to enjoy all of this wonderfulness at just the right age, so at least someone around me will benefit from the awesome creativity that is Rookiemag.com. 

hellogiggles.com

Rookie led me to what I think of as the grown-up version of Rookiemag.com: HelloGiggles. Founded by Zooey Deschanel, Molly Mcaleer and Sophie Rossi, it goes over similar topics: DIY projects, beauty, sex & relationships, etc. etc. I literally have spent hours perusing their DIY section (best resource for manicure ideas. Seriously.) HelloGiggles divides articles up into generalized sections such as Nails of the Day, Illustrated Tweet of the Day, Teaspoon of Happy, Hot or Not, and so many more. This is where I find my daily dose of cute, funny, deeply insightful or seriously sarcastic entertainment, and it is, in my humble opinion, much better than some of the magazines strewn about the stands at the local grocery store. I'll take HelloGiggles over Cosmo all day every day.

thistlemag.tumblr.com

I literally just stumbled upon this one today, and I am so enchanted with it that it deserves recognition. I have yet to go through both available issues in their entirety (unlike the previous two sites, this one is actually presented in magazine format, kinda like an e-book) but I love it already. So far I've seen interviews with a few bloggers I admire, some seriously jaw-droppingly gorgeous photography, poetry, and book reviews. Everything I could ever ask for in a publication. Thistle also follows a monthly theme, the first was secrets, the second was freedom. It seems to be very young but I can't wait to see what this blossoms into. You can read the first issue here, and the second issue here. 

Oh, and I forgot to mention the best thing about all of these lovely publications. ANYONE CAN CONTRIBUTE. You, me, your great aunt Mabel. Anyone. Naturally, not all submissions will make the cut, but why let that stop you from trying? Get your creativity flowing and see if you can become a part of any of these amazing websites. 

One more small bit: Rookie and Thistle both offer printed content for any real-book lovers out there. Rookie made a year book (a compendium of their favorite articles from their first year) which you can get at your local book store or just get Rookie Yearbook One by Tavi Gevinson shipped to your door via Amazon.com. Thistle can be found HERE and since they are such a young publication, each purchase ensures their ability to continue creating beautiful magazines for us to enjoy!

Peach Scalloped Hem Shorts

So I went thrifting last week and I always find myself face to face with loads of nice quality but unflattering golf shorts. I've been cooking up ideas for ages on how to improve them and I think I've just about nailed the scalloped hem technique :) I learned the hard way that the curves must be stitched in a curvy fashion (no points at the top of the curve like I drew out in my pattern). Fortunately, that was easily remedied with a seam picker. I happen to love high waisted shorts and the peachy color of these was just singing to me from the Salvation Army racks. What do you think?

 

^This is the part where I should have made the line curvier, rather than making points at the top of each curve.

Ready to stitch.

Finished product!

I just need to finish the inside edges to keep them securely in place and they'll be up for sale in my Etsy shop which you can check out here. There's not much up just yet, but it'll be a bounty of vintage finds by the end of the week :)

Pretty things to come.

I went thrift shopping todayyy. I feel like I haven't been in forever, so I needed some inexpensive retail therapy. I found so many handmade clothes! I love finding unique pieces. I found a few things that will need a teeny bit of tweaking, like a pair of peach shorts that are begging for scalloped edges and another pair in need of bleach and studs. I found one impeccable handmade vintage dress with a lovely floral pattern and an adorable collar. I can't wait to take some pictures and get a few of these posted on my Etsy shop and into the hands of someone who appreciates detail as much as I do :) No pictures quite yet, because I'm exhausted and have to work at 5:30 in the morning, but I felt like writing a quick blurb before passing out. Keep an eye on my shop for new things by clicking HERE and religously refreshing the page every 10 minutes, okay? Is that a bit much? Okay fine, but seriously, there will be fun things. I promise.

Refashioned Tom's! (Psst, it's a tutorial)

My Tom's are among my favorite shoes. They are the comfiest things ever and every pair bought brings a new pair of shoes to a child in need. I love the shoes, I love the charity, but as a part-time grocery store cake decorator, I don't love their price tag :( And, as I'm sure many people know, their minimalist design and dedication to natural materials means that the canvas doesn't last as long as the other shoes in our wardrobes, so to add another summer to their life (and a few dollars kept in my pocket) I have completely recovered them in new fabric! I took a slightly lazy approach to recovering these, so here's the tutorial on how I did it.

First, get together some supplies:

Old Tom's

Scissors

Sewing needle

Thread

New fabric

Fabric glue* (not pictured) 

My first step was to take the Tom's label off so I can put them over the new fabric and keep them looking authentic.

Next, I cut a square of fabric bigger than I needed and started folding the edges under and pinning it into place to get the shape of the shoe.

I cut a slit near the middle to keep the v shape, since they'd lose their stretch if I had covered over it. For the upper piece, I left the bottom edge raw since I was going to put the lower panel of fabric over it. 

Keeping all of my folds in place, I took the fabric off the shoe, trimmed any excess fabric, and started stitching around the borders. I hand stitched them with a back stitch and doubled thread because I liked the look, but a sewing machine will make it that much easier :)

This is what all of my pieces looked like after I had pinned them into the right shapes. Two panels over the toe, and one long panel to cover the back. I made sure to make the lower toe panel so that it would overlap the raw edge of the upper panel, which also keeps the diagonal seam over the top (they look so real!)

The lazy part comes in with the fabric glue, because once I had all of my pieces stitched together, I just glued them to the shoe. I had originally tried to stitch the fabric to the shoes, but some parts of the fabric are so thick that I needed a thimble and I bent two sewing needles before using the glue method. By stitching the fabric pieces, we are creating the illusion that we worked really hard when we only used glue! Yay laziness! 

Another small detail I did to keep their look was to make the lower toe panel a little bigger than needed over the toe so I could put the folds in the front.

Here's the contrast between the worn out shoe and the pretty shoe brought back to life by floral loveliness. 

See how the diagonal stitch over the top makes it look almost like an original? (You are going to fool so many people!)

Here's the side view, which shows how I glued the heel panel under the Tom's tag on the side, another little detail that will keep your shoes looking like Tom's, rather than knock-offs.

 And the last step is to glue the Tom's tag on the heel, let everything dry for about 24 hours, depending on the glue you used, and voila! Your Tom's are prettier than ever!

Make sure to take lots of pictures so you can admire your handiwork and show your friends.

This is my very first tutorial, so please excuse any sloppiness. Questions and comments are fully welcome :)

*Note: A washable fabric adhesive will work best, as you can still wear them in wet conditions without worrying about the glue dissolving.