Tom Turkey

I hope everyone has an amazing Thanksgiving.  It's important to take the time to appreciate what we have, and be thankful.  It definitely gives me a new outlook on my life.

Alright, enough seriousness.  I made this adorable turkey for my daughter.  It can make a fun craft to do with your kids, while waiting for the real deal to cook.

Very minimal sewing, I promise.

Isn't he cute?  I call him Tom.  

First I cut out all of my pieces from felt.  This is the style I chose to do my feathers for the tail.  You can use any style you want.  Maybe even real feathers.

Two Turkey bodies, two eyes, two feet, one beak, and four of each color feather.

I also cut out the eyes with white felt, and used black sharpie for the pupils.  You could use googly eyes, or buttons if you would like.  Lot of room to play around with this.  I just used supplies I had on hand.

Next, I sewed the turkey body pieces together, leaving a small hole at the bottom.

Don't you love the hot pink thread?  I didn't want to rethread my machine, and I knew it wouldn't be seen.

Now flip your turkey inside out, and stuff with fiberfill.  Really cheap at Wal-Mart.

Now sew your opening closed, and begin working on the tail.  I hot glued all the feathers together, then glued them to the turkey.  I ended up using all of my feathers, for a very full tail, but you could use as many, or as few, as you like.

Then hot glue on your feet, eyes, and beak.  I didn't post patterns, because I think this is a project that everyone can use their own imagination for.  Create your very own one of a kind turkey.  There are definitely things I will do different when I make it again.  Have fun with it, and have a great holiday!

11/26/13 Two Crazy Navy Wives Beauty Product Review.

The Zoo

So Melanie and I had the brilliant idea of getting all of our kids together, and doing a craft.  When daddies are on deployment, we come up with lots of genius ideas like this to entertain the kids.

Melanie saw this adorable picture on Pinterest, so we decided, how hard can it be?

We grabbed some popsicle sticks (tongue depressors would have worked better), foam, and glue from the Dollar Tree.  We also grabbed the project scraps we knew we saved for some reason.  We printed the picture off, set out all the supplies, sat the kids down, and let them have at it.  After listening to them bickering over supplies, scissors, and who had the printout last, I was pretty impressed by their creativity. In fact, Melanie, and I couldn't help but join in, and make a couple ourselves.

I Whip My Hair Back And Forth

I had red hair for about three years.  I loved it!  I used henna from Henna Hut (best, purest, easiest henna around IMO).  My hair was in the greatest shape it had ever been in.  I highly reccommend henna for dying, if you like the limited color options.  Just make sure to research thoroughly where you get your henna from.

Problem is, I got bored with it.  I decided I wanted to go back to my natural blonde.  This was a very loooong, damaging process.  First I had to let it fade, ugh.  When that started looking awful, I dyed over it with brunette.  (Be careful about dying over henna!  Make sure you have a pure henna with NO METALLIC SALTS, or disasters can happen).  Next, when it had faded enough, I used a color stripper to take the rest out (as much as possible).  Finally, I dyed it a blonde closest to my natural color.

Now, like I said, this was a very damaging process.  I took a long time with it to minimize damage, and did once to twice weekly coconut oil conditioning treatments.  My hair did not come out of the process damage free, however.  Henna is great because it coats the hair shaft, whereas chemical dyes force the color into the hair shaft.  Opening up the hair shaft causes hair to become dry, brittle, and prone to breakage.  So how do I get my hair back in good condition?  Protein treatments.

Your hair is about 91% protein.  When your hair becomes weak and damaged, it might need protein put back into it.  I decided to try two ways of doing this.  A chemical treatment, and an at-home DIY treatment.  I researched protein treatments to death, and decided on ApHogee 2-Step Protein Treatment.

I purchased it at Sally Beauty supply for around $4.00.  I have a Sally Beauty Card that normally costs $10 a year (although I hear they are doing a $5 special right now), but that I get for free because I'm a military dependent.  I read a million reviews and how to's on this product, everyone loves it!  The clerk at checkout even said "This stuff is Amazing!", as I was checking out.  Even with all the praise, I was terrified to use it.  I read all the warnings about not touching your hair once it is in because your hair will break off.  Rinse carefully, because your hair will break.  Don't use a cap, because your hair will break.  You get the idea.  I had it for about two weeks before I finally summoned up the courage to use it.

It's a very simple process.  Put Step 1 into your hair (I used a spray bottle for easy even coverage).  Then apply heat for around 30 min.  Your hair will get hard, and helmet like.  I only have a regular, hand-held, hair dryer, so this was a little much, but not too bad.  (I swear I took pictures of this part, but I can't find them anywhere).  Then you get into the shower, rinse carefully with warm water, then apply Step 2.  Leave in for a few minutes, then rinse.  You're done!  Well... almost.

Adding protein to your hair dries it out, a lot.  The moisture is pulled from your hair to make room for the protein.  I read that you need to immediately follow a protein treatment with a deep conditioning mask.  So that's what I did.  I used the following ingredients:

EVOO, Coconut Oil, My favorite conditioning mask, a wide-toothed comb, and a microfiber hair towel purchased at the dollar store.

I mixed the ingredients together, combed through my hair, and let set for about 5 hours, while I did other things, then shampooed out.

The results?  My hair did feel stronger, but not as much stronger as I was expecting.  The conditioning treatment definitely made my hair crazy soft, but duh, lol.  I think I was so afraid of breaking my hair, that I didn't give it quite the heat it desired.  I would like to try it again, now that I have a better idea of what I'm getting into.

The Second Protein Treatment.

Now, if you read The One Where We Go Au Naturale, you would know, that I love to use natural ingredients, as much as possible.  I am actively trying to eliminate as many chemicals from my home as possible, so I was eager to try the DIY recipe.  I waited six weeks to try the next method, as directed, because adding protein to your hair too often can result in stiff, dry hair that breaks easily.

The recipe for a DIY protein treatment is.... egg yolks.  That's it.  Separate 1-3 egg yolks, depending on your hair length, and thickness, and apply to hair.  Wrap with plastic (I then added my microfiber hair wrap over the top), and allow to set for about 30 minutes.  You can apply heat if you want, I didn't.  Shampoo out in lukewarm water, not too hot, or you'll cook the egg, and be pulling egg out of your hair forever.  Finally, use a deep conditioning mask to replenish moisture.  I used the same one as before.

The results?  Amazing!  As grossed out as I was putting egg yolks into my hair, my hair felt amazing!  It felt stronger, softer, and was seriously shiny.  Again, I can't find what I did with the pictures, don't hate me.

So overall, I would go with the egg yolks.  I can use it every 4 weeks, it doesn't smell as bad as the ApHogee, and I wasn't as terrified of breaking it.  Plus, it's something you almost always have in the house already, and they're really cheap (not that the ApHogee was expensive).  You don't even have to throw away the whites.  Mix them with a little lemon juice, and make a fantastic face mask.  Melanie made one, and loved the results.

Only use egg yolks for a strengthening protein treatment.  If you want a more moisturizing treatment, mix yolks with some coconut oil, or an avocado.  Have fun with your protein treatments, but make sure to follow directions carefully!

And Justice For All

I have six kids. This in no way makes me an expert in parenting or anything else and I feel strongly that every parent finds their own way and use the tools that works for them. By following that belief I have been, so far, highly successful. Do you hear it? There is a giant HOWEVER coming your way. Sometimes my kids throw me a curve ball.

 I have one child that we shall call Cubby. He is 11 and  he doesn't just hate chores. This one is a champion skate-out-of-chores gold medalist. Once I decided if I had him help in the kitchen where I was cooking, there would be no way he could get out of it, right? No sooner had I turned my back for one second did he disappear.  I have tried charts with and without stickers, graphs, pebbles in a jar, prize boxes, treasure chests, trips to the dollar store, prize on a shelf and anything else you can possibly think of including just asking him to do his chores.

I dreaded his first parent teacher conference. But I got nothing but glowing praise. I've never heard anything but what a pleasure he is in class and how hard he works. I've gotten used to it. I just smile and tell the teacher thank you and say things like I wish I knew that boy. Which brings us to a random Tuesday. He wanted to play outside. The following VERY typical conversation ensued.
I asked "Did you do your homework?"
He said "of course."
I said "let's go check.
He said "Okay."
And he did do his homework.

I asked "Did you clean your room?"
He said "of course."
I said "let's go check.
He said "Okay."
And I said "But if it's not you aren't going outside."

 So we went to look, and of course it hadn't been touched, but then he knew that. He argued that he'd do it now and I felt it was too late. He thought it was unfair because I hadn't been clear enough. He said he thought we'd check his room and then he'd clean it. I walked into the living room and asked the oldest two kids to have a seat. I introduced Cubby to Judge Daddyman. My husband is always happy to play along. So he called to order the family court. I presented my case. Cubby took a turn presenting his. The jury members reached a verdict and the Judge handed down the sentence. The Jury felt I had given clear instruction. The Judge said Cubby had a choice to make. He needed to clean his room and do one chore that would make ME happy. And he had to think of it on his own and complete it or he could forfeit his outside time. The room got clean and I also got a clean backyard. We had some laughs and talked more about it at dinner too.


So all in all this worked out beautifully for us. It was very impromptu and fly-by-the-seat-of my-pants. It took what had become a very regular exchange and added a little fun drama to it. I made sure to keep it light. I didn't want him to feel he was being picked on and he didn't. I think in certain situations I would absolutely do it again. I wouldn't choose to make it an every Tuesday kinda thing though. I'm pretty sure my kids would start to feel it to was a chore but I am sure the kids will meet with Judge Daddyman again.