NuMe Wand Tutorial

For Christmas this year, I got a NuMe curling wand and today I will show you how to use it! Before the first time I used it, I looked at a bunch of tutorials, so by the time I got it out to try, I knew exactly what to do. That is why I decided to post my own tutorial. For clearer, larger photo, visit my Facebook page.

The exact wand I use is called The Classic Wand 25mm by NuMe. This one is a good one for beginners because all it has is an on/off switch. Also, it is coated in tourmaline, so it is better for keeping your hair healthy.

To start, I plugged the curling iron in and let it heat up. While it was heating up, I sectioned off my hair from the ear up and clipped it on top of my head. Then, I divided my hair that I left down into thirds, but if you have really thick hair you should probably do more. After that, put on your heat protectant glove that comes with the curling wands onto your dominant hand. 

Now, pick up the wand with your dominant hand and hold it upside down. Use your non dominant hand with the glove to take one piece of hair that we divided and wrap it around the wand, away from your face. Hold it there for about 10 seconds, then release. When doing the other side of your hair, you can switch the glove and hold the wand with the opposite hand, but I just kept it the way I did it on the other side, except I held my hands on the other side of my head. While curling the hair in the back of my head, you can hold the wand behind your head, but to be more careful so you don't burn yourself, I slightly turned my head, held the wand to one side, and pulled the hair over that way. I did this all in front of a mirror also. After that, you will put your wand down, take off your glove, and section the next layer of your hair. I sectioned it off by my temples, so I only had one more layer after that.i divided each layer into three sections, so I had 9 in total. After I clipped that back up, I repeated the other steps above on how to curl it. 

That is all to it! If you'd like to see the tutorial for the skirt I'm wearing, click here.

This is not a sponsored blog post.

Christmas Wreath

Today's blog post is a really cute and inexpensive  homemade wreath. All you need is some Christmas ornaments (I used plastic ones from the Dollar Tree), a hot glue gun, some holiday ribbon (also from the dollar tree), and a plain wreath. In this tutorial, we used a green wreath with nothing o it that looks like a real wreath (which you can get from Target or a craft store) but last year I made one using the same method out of a silver wreath from a different material.
(TO SEE THE CLEARER PHOTO, GO TO MY FACEBOOK PAGE)

To start, get out your ornaments and take off all of the hooks and ties that would've held it on the tree. Now, take your glue gun and plug it in and wait until it gets REALLY hot! It won't work of the glue gun isn't hot enough, and some glue guns don't even heat up to that temperature so be careful, but touch around the tip area (like on the side of the glue gun) to see if its's hot. Now, position your ornaments in the order you like, and be sure to leave a space for the bow, if you decide to do a bow. 

When the glue gun is ready, pick up the ornaments one at a time, and glue on the part where the hook would connect. Then place it deep into the wreath and hold it for a few seconds. Then, move some of the wreath and glue around the ornament to keep it held strong. Be aggressive with your glue and don't be afraid to use a ton. Do that on all of your ornaments. 

Now, I'd you are not putting a bow on, you're finished. If you are, you can either buy a bow made specifically for a wreath (sold at the same places you bought your wreath) or buy some thick ribbon and make your own. If you are making your own, fold your ribbon in the shape that you want it to be, make sure it's the right size, then cut on a diagonal. Tie your bow, then put a bunch of glue on the back middle of the ribbon and stick it in place. Again, glue around it, and maybe even glue the loop parts and the tails of the bow to the wreath. 

That's all to your Christmas wreath! We put ours on the back of our jeep by connecting it to the tire using zip ties. If you put it on your door, you will need to buy a wreath hook from the same place you bought your wreath. Merry Christmas to all and to all a buenas noches.

Pajama Pants

Today, I will show you how to make very easy Christmas jammie pants, that if you're experienced and calm, you could finish in 15 minutes. Unfortunately, I was not so calm, so it took me like two hours. It's the most wonderful time and the most stressful time of the year to get all of your handmade Christmas gifts ready, but it's possible! To see the pictures clearer, go to my Facebook page. Also, this is pretty similar to my Beginners Sewing Skirt, so if you need help, see if what you need is over there.

First, you will need to have a pair of pants that are the same size as the pants you are making. You will also need, sewing scissors, sewing pins, a safety pin, thread and a bobbin that match your fabric, fabric, 3/4 inch elastic (or whatever size is best for the size of your pants. I was making these for a toddler), and a sewing machine. If you feel rushed or uncertain of sewing, you may need a seam picker as well. I used mine twice!

To start, fold your pants one pant leg over the other, and pull the crotch out so you have a shape like this. Fold your fabric inside out four times and lay the folded pants over the fabric (not on a fold). Most fabrics come folded, so you will need to switch it to the good sides together, then fold it over once, so in total it is four pieces. Pin it, and cut around it leaving room for sewing, so you have four of the same pieces. Now take two of the pieces and lay the side with the design on the inside. Do that for both pieces and use the right ones so it matches up.

Sew from the top to the crotch, and don't forget to backstitch at the beginning and end. Do that for the other part too. Now unfold both pieces and lay them on top of eachother, good side to good side, and sew the sides. That is just a straight stitch on each side, so don't accidentally sew more than you should.

Now sew the inside of the pant legs. Start at the bottom and sew to where it meets up with the other stitches. Next, fold over the top opening about 1 inch (or a tiny bit more than your the thickness of your elastic), pin and sew. Keep about two inches open so there is room to put the elastic through. Take your safety pin and put it in the end of your elastic. Now insert it in the opening we left open, and hold onto the safety pin through the fabric to maneuver it through and out the opening we started from. Safety pin both ends together, and adjust the size by comparing the stretch in the elastic to the original pants. Once you find the right size, pin it like below, and sew both ends of the elastic to eachother. You now can sew that opening closed, or leave it open if you are gifting it to a sewer who can adjust the elastic to the exact size they need it.

Lastly, you will need the hem the leg holes. You can use a hemming foot, or you can fold it over like 3/4 inch and sew both leg holes entirely shut. That is all for your Christmas Pajama Pants! You can make them as a gift, or give them to wear before, during the Christmas season. If you make some, use the hashtag #CreNativity! I will add some pictures of my recipient in them, after Christmas!

Tulle Santa Jar

Today I will show you how to make a Tulle Santa Jar. This one is very similar to my Fall Tulle Pumpkin blog post, I did in October. Again, somethings wrong with the pictures or something, so visit The I in Creativity Facebook page to see them in detail.

 

Before you start, you will need a glass jar, 14 feet of red sparkly tulle, 3/8 thick black ribbon, scissors, a hot glue gun, and gold and white glittery twine or any cute gold string/thin ribbon to put around the lid and to use for the belt buckle. 

First, plug in your hot glue gun to let it heat up, while you cut the black ribbon to fit around the jar, which for me was about 17 inches. Always try to cut the ribbon on a diagonal, so it doesn't fray. Put a dab of glue on the back of the jar, and hold one end of the ribbon there for a few seconds. Then wrap it around the jar, and reach it back to where the dab of glue was. Add another dab of glue and stick that end overlapping where it started. 

Now, cut a small piece of your gold twine and glue the ends together, making a circle. Glue two microscopic dots of glue on each side of the circle and push and hold it in the spot where you want it, which for me was on the front, opposite to the overlapping, but you could put it on that side to cover the overlap if you want to make it two sided or something.

Cut a piece of the gold twine to wrap around the lid, and dab a dot of glue on the back of the lid and wrap it around. Lastly, measure your tulle. Measure out 14 feet of it (which was around half of my roll if you want to make two) and stuff all of it into the jar. 

That is all! I wanted to make it illuminant and use a tea light like I did for my Fall Tulle Pumpkin, but because the light was orange for Halloween, it didn't look Christmasy in the dark. If you can find a white light or red, I would DEFINATELY put it in there. Another option would be to take a string of white  battery powered lights like what we used for our Wire Christmas Tree and wrap it in with the tulle. I think it looks really cute just how it is though! To see my other #CreNativity blog posts of the season, click here!

Wire Christmas Tree

Merry Christmas, my friends! Today is my first week of my CreNativity series! Get it? Creativity, Nativity? I came up with it on my own, too! Oh, and I have no idea why the pictures come out blurry, but if you need to see the detail in a clearer picture, go to my Facebook page. 

Anyway, this week's blogpost is a Wire Christmas tree decoration, but I also added a few special items. Before you start, you'll need wire. I just bought craft wire used for jewelry and stuff, but it was a real difficulty for this project because it wasn't strong enough. Anyway, I got it in green and it was 8 feet and there was plenty, so no need to get more. You can use that same wire, but if craft projects are more difficult and stressful for you, or you need to do it quicker, than just buy copper wire, that you would find at a hardware store. Even though it's not green, it will be just fine! You will also need wire cutters (you can good ones for a dollar at the Dollar Tree), a star or snowflake charm from the jewelry department of your craft store, sparkly green tulle, a  foam cone similar to this one from the floral area in your craft store, and battery powered LED Christmas lights. I found mine in the dollar section at Target and I really like them because they are wire, a good size for this project, and the lights are small. If you get ones with bulbs, they will be really big, compared to the tree. Oh, and you'll need batteries to power your battery powered lights. Mine needed 2 double A batteries, but check with whatever lights you have before. 

Ok. Now for the tutorial. If you have strong, copper like wire, you should skip this step, but if you have the same wire I got, follow along. Take out your wire and fold it into three different parts and cut them with your wire cutters. Now twist all three pieces together to make one thicker piece of wire. 

Here's where you join back in if you had the copper wire. Take your styrofoam cone and wrap the wire in a complete circle at the base of the cone (the bigger end) and twist it to the beginning of the wire to make it be able to stand on its own. Now take the rest of the wire and begin wrapping it up the cone. Try to make the space between each rotation small so that it doesn't lean over to one side. Once you've wrapped it all the way to the top, twist the end into a small loop and twist it to secure the circle. 

Next, we will add the lights! You can twist the strand of lights in with your wire since it is also wire but I think it looks like there's more lights if you do it a different way. First, make sure you put in batteries. Now cut a small piece of green tulle and wrap your battery pack in it, and use a small piece of tape. Don't close up the sides though, so that you can still easily turn it on and off. Take your strand of lights and put the battery pack in the center of the wire tree, in the circle at the base. 

Here's where it gets a little tricky. Take the lights that come directly from the battery pack and pull them all the way to the top of the tree, and through the loop we made. Then take the end and go down
 the other side. Now, wrap the lights once around a part of the base to keep it held together while you wrap it around up and down the other sides. If necessary, use a small dab of hot glue to keep it in place. Do not glue the bulb, but glue the wire part of the strand of lights to the wire tree. Repeat wrapping the lights until you run out of lights. When there is not much lights left, make your last line going UP THE TREE! If there isn't enough to go back up, then undo one more to make sure it finishes up. Wrap the end around the loop at the top to keep it in place. Now string the star charm onto the end of the lights and twist the wire lights into a little loop around the charm to keep it on. I pointed mine up so that it doesn't blend into the tree. Now if you have any left, bend the rest down the  tree and since its wire lights, it should stay put easily. Lastly, just take some tulle, wrap it around the tree, and use small tape at the bottom and top to keep it in place, but tulle sticks to itself pretty well. I only used a light layer of tulle, so you can still see the wire tree and the lights.

 

That is all! I am so excited for this year's holiday crafts!!!! If you recreate any of my Christmas crafts, send me a picture via Instagram or Facebook, or use the hashtag #CreNativity!

Turkey Hairstyle

Today is the Sunday before Thanksgiving!!! I am doing my last Thansgiving blog post for this year, which is a hairstyle that looks like a turkey.

Before you begin, you'll need this SPR!TZ party favor bag kit for Thanksgiving. It's from Target, and it comes with paper turkeys, paper feathers, and a few other things that we won't be using. If you can't find it, you can always print out cartoon turkeys or something, and use real craft feathers. And if you want to use feathers ONLY, it can change from a fun turkey hairstyle, to a realistic Indian/Native American hairstyle that you could also wear for Thanksgiving. 

To start, part your model's hair from ear to ear (like how a headband would lay) and put all of the hair  that's on the back side of the head into a low ponytail to keep it out of the way. Feel free to make the part line a little farther back on the head, because you want a good amount of hair on the side closer to the forehead. Now brush the section that isn't in a ponytail towards the back of the head, and divide the hair into six sections. Divide each of the 6 sections into three sections and braid each one normally (not French braids or anything. Don't add in any hair). Now you should have 6 braids. Pull all of the braids together and put them in one elastic. Now, put the ponytail of braids and the low ponytail into one low ponytail and take out the other elastics. Now twist the ponytail into a bun and use bobbypins and hair pins to keep the bun secure. 

Then, take a paper or regular feather and put one in between all of the braids except the spot in the middle where the turkey will go, so there are four feathers in the hair and Bobby pin each one in. If you don't have a turkey, put a feather in the middle section too, and you'd be done. If you do have a paper turkey, take the turkey and put it in between the two braids in the middle and bobbypin it down. Now you'd be done with both the turkey or the Indian hairstyle.

If you don't have accessories, it would still look cute like this.

If your hair is thin, and you don't think the braids would look good, you can pancake it (pull out the sides) and it will make it look fuller. If you still don't like it, you can even do it without the braids, but you'll have to Bobby pin better than if you did do the braids. 

Happy thanksgiving and let me know if you do this hairstyle!

Ulta Beauty Haul

Hey guys! This week, I'm doing my very first haul! I went to Ulta Beauty and bought a few hair things that I will show you! I really like these products because they are super easy, inexpensive, and stylish!

Note: This is not a sponsored blog post.

First off, is a Pompadour Comb. When I bought it, the price was $4.99. You comb forward a section of hair in the front, top, of the head, slide the pompadour comb in right behind it, then flip the hair back over, and pin! That's all to it! Plus, it comes with bobby pins.

Next, I will show you a Bubble Ponytailer Kit. At my time of purchase, the Ulta price was $5.99. You put your hair into a ponytail, divide the hair in half, then sort of just put the bubble in and secure it all
 with an elastic. Do that with all of the bubbles, but if your hair is too short, you can even remove/add a few bubbles. On the last bubble of mine, I didn't add an elastic below the bubble, to add a more fluffed/thick tail.

And of course, this cute boy had to be included ;)

Lastly, is this jeweled headband type thing called Part Art. When I bought it, it was $7.99. You put it in your part line and gently push down and it will stay secure, adding a little fancy to your part. But that's not all! You can also wrap it around your ponytail, or bun, or wear it like a headband! I'll show you. 

Here is the regular way to wear it.

On these, I just combed it it like a headband, pulled hair from the sides to hide where it ends, over to the back of the head and tied the two pieces of hair together with an elastic.

Here I did a Princess Bun and just put the part art around the front of the base of the bun. It has little grips, so it shouldn't fall out.

Below, I did a regular bun just by twisting the hair and wrapping it around and securing with an elastic. I put the jewels in the middle of the bun this time and just tucked it into the middle.