DIY Growth Chart

Awhile back I convinced my hubby to let me use a leftover board from a stair renovation for a small DIY project. What I love about using leftovers is that it is basically FREE!! I had the remainder of the supplies on hand too. So what if you didn't have all of these supplies on hand? This would still be an inexpensive project... $10 is my guess.

Below is the list of supplies and recommended steps. You'll have a cute growth chart in no time... or in less than two days. :)

Supplies:
1 wooden board, size doesn't necessarily matter. I used a board that was 1/8" thin and was cut to about 5'h x about 8"w.
1 small tin of wood stain or paint
A sharpie or other marker to write on the wood

Directions:
1. Sand board to smooth the edges. Use lower grit sandpaper and work up to a finer grit.
2. Stain or paint the board and give it proper time to dry. I waited 24 hours for the stain to dry.
3. Once dry, lightly mark (I used pencil) the board with the appropriate measurements. Since my board was 5' and I wanted it to record taller heights I planned on mounting the board 1' off the ground and that means the board measures up to 6'.
4. Use the marker or paint to mark the board over the pencil marks.
Optional: Add a monogram, your family name, a quote, or a bible verse to personalize it!

And there you have it! An awesome, basically free, growth chart to stop time on those little ones that are growing faster than the weeds. :)

<-Kassy->

DIY Dry Shampoo

Hi there! This evening I spent some time in my lab, *ehem* my kitchen, replenishing my favorite beauty DIYs. I ran out of body wash last week. Before you judge, I have been using my husband's body wash since mine ran out... did you think I was just not washing?! I ran out of dry shampoo this morning and I have about one dollop of makeup remover left. It was a good time to take of all of it! I realized when I was in my lab that I have not yet blogged about my dry shampoo. This dry shampoo has been my go-to for second day hair for well over a year. I seriously cannot live without it (hence an emergency lab session the same day I ran out). So now I am blessing all of you with it's amazingness. :)

A little bit of history on WHY I don't wash my hair everyday and the evolution of my DIY dry shampoo. I have oily/greasy hair. It is a pain! I could barely go 12 hours without my hair looking like a grease mop. Not only that but the oil weighed down my hair. Over time I researched it. I researched dermatologist, stylist, and user recommendations and reviews of how often to wash hair and what to do with your hair between washes. I slowly moved away from washing my hair everyday (A good time to jump start this was maternity leave... not going to work gave me time to experiment. Plus who has time to shower with a newborn?!). This meant trying out dry shampoos.

Most all store bought dry shampoos were (1) leaving my hair white and cakey (2) not great smelling (3) expensive (4) filled with just plain crap. If I haven't said it a thousand times on my blog... your skin is a sponge! Take care of it knowing that all products soak right in.

Disenchanted with store bought dry shampoos I started experimenting with homemade concoctions. My first attempt was with rubbing alcohol and some powder (I tried to block this out)... FAIL. Pinterest made me do it! Ha. Don't believe everything you see on Pinterest unless it comes from a valuable source, like say, Purposeful Productions. :) I found a few recipes using items I have in my kitchen. I love recipes like that because if I can eat it I surely feel comfortable using it on the rest of my body. I did end up finding something that works great....So on to the recipe already.

This is really simple. I am not even sure I can call this a "recipe".

Supplies: 
- Small container (I use an old foundation container)
- A makeup brush

Ingredients:
- Cocoa powder
- Arrowroot powder
- Rosemary essential oil (optional)

Instructions:
Mix 1:1 of the powders. Add 5 drops of rosemary essential oil per 1/4 cup of dry shampoo. Shake to mix all ingredients.

Ok yeah... told you it was simple!

A few tips/tricks to note:
- If you have dark hair... use more cocoa powder
- If you have light hair... use more arrowroot powder. Experiment to find the right ratio for your hair.
- I use rosemary oil to stimulate hair growth. It is optional. I cannot confirm or deny it's helped with hair growth because that is difficult to measure but I still use it.
- When applying it to your hair less is more. Lightly dip your makeup brush in the powder, tap most of it off, then brush it along your roots by sections. Once you have sufficiently applied the dry shampoo to all sections of your hair, let it sit for 5-10 minutes. Brush your teeth, finish applying your makeup, be patient young one. Then comb through. Reapply to any oily spot if needed.
- Here is an interesting article from NPR on washing your hair... check out the link at the bottom. An article from 1908 about washing your hair. Too funny.

And yes. You will smell of chocolate deliciousness when you shower next! :)

Want to know what else I was mixing up in the lab? Check out my posts on DIY Makeup Remover and DIY Body Wash.

If you try this out come back and let me know what you think. If you try any other variations I would love to know!

<-Kassy->