Tickled Pink No. 146

Welcome to Tickled Pink! 

OK...seriously. I am not sure how this happened....

but my kids ONLY have 10 days left of school!

When do your kids get out of school? Are you ready?

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Last week was random around 504 Main!

 I played with DIY Hair Chalk (I am in LOVE!)
AND

Created vegetarian polenta eggplant stacks
AND

Participated in a Simple Service Project with my son to help end childhood hunger in the summer. Did you know only 1 out of 6 children who receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year continue to receive meals during the summer months. Low-income families with children face even more challenges during the summer when they stretch their food budget to provide additional meals for their children." quoted from Odwalla Hunger in the Summer

I urge you to rally, create a food drive, and help!

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Now for the really good stuff...
this week our SPOTLIGHT SELECTOR IS
 Megin from VMG206

Here is a bit about Megin!

I am a papercrafter, DIY'er and blogger using multi-media (paper, music sheets, book pages, digital, thrift store finds, furniture and paint) to create beautiful things.  A Seattle girl relocated to the Midwest who loves espresso, Burt's bees, cupcakes and bichon frisés. 

Be sure to check out some of Megin's great projects like her beautiful Downtown Abbey papercraft, or her tutorial on making a blog header, or her burlap ruffle wreath.
Just be sure to stop by say "Hi" to Megin!

Next week, Ruth from Farmgirl in My Heart
will be the Spotlight Selector.
Go on over and say hi!  
If you are interested in being a Spotlight Selector leave a comment or drop me an email! 

Just a note...you may see some bloggers getting featured more often. I am letting my Spotlight Selectors pick who they want...but we are trying to spread the love around!
 
I appreciate you coming by to linkup today! 
 (click on READ MORE to see the features and link up!)

Odwalla and The Hunger in the Summer Project #Odwalla4Kids

Too many kids (and families) are hungry in America.

When school is out for the summer, many children

lose access to their free or reduced lunches and will be hungry.

There is something we all can do about it.

I am thrilled to write this sponsored post as part of

 Collective Bias®, Odwalla, and Champions for Kids.

Please read it and see what you can do to help.

"When school lets out for the summer, millions of children lose access to the school breakfasts, lunches and after school snacks they receive during the regular school year. Only 1 out of 6 children who receive free or reduced-price meals during the school year continue to receive meals during the summer months. Low-income families with children face even more challenges during the summer when they stretch their food budget to provide additional meals for their children."

quoted from Odwalla Hunger in the Summer

 

I have always realized that hunger is a real problem in America. As I had my own kids and they started school, I saw children in their classes struggling with these issues. It is heartbreaking and hard to not want to help in any way you can.

Last year my husband lost his job and has not worked since.

Luckily we are still able to provide food and shelter and safety for our children,

but it did make me stop and really think about how close so many people

are to being in a situation where they are struggling to provide for their families.

While my own children have not had to face this issue head on,

I know their are many children that go to the same school

who have and who continue to have real needs.

(This is an important issue, please READ MORE to see how you can help)

Easy Polenta Eggplant Stacks (recipe) #FreshTake #Cbias

I like to play with food...

sometimes I get lucky and get paid to play with food

like in this sponsored post from Collective Bias 

where I used Kraft Fresh Take to create a simple recipe for an

Easy Eggplant Polenta Stack.

It is really good...don't miss it...keep on going for the recipe!

You know how you can sometimes get into a meal time rut?

Yep, I have been in one.

Seriously the kids are asking...every night, "That again?"

Between baseball and gymnastics, and homework, and life...and year end school activities...life is way crazy!

(Click on READ MORE for the yummy recipe! )

DIY Hair Chalk (tutorial)

A few days ago we were at a friends house and one of the older girls

used hair chalk on my daughter (with permission of course!).

Jules loved it - thought is was the best thing ever.

I had no idea what it was.

I had seen the girls dye their hair with Kool Aid...

I had seen the cans of spray on stuff...but the chalk thing was new to me.

Of course I had to try it!

I asked around and was told you could buy hair chalk at Claire's boutique
and I saw a kit at Target...
but being a DIY,
over the top,
I-have-to-have-more girl that I am...
I wanted lots of colors...lots of colors.

Then I started think...why can't I just use chalk?

No...that won't "stick" enough...ah-ha...
I had an art class flashback...pastels!

I did some digging around and thinking (it is amazing what you can think of!) 

all over and discovered this is a pretty simple process!
I also ran across this video tutorial from HauteBrillance and it is really good!

I do have to be honest at first I was hesitant.

My daughter is almost 6....and I wondered if hair chalk was too grown up.

After playing around a bit...I decided it is just plain fun

and I am all good with colorful hair (to an extent)...

and I am waiting for the comment that say they cannot believe I did this on a 6 year old.

BUT my husband even thought it was cute 

(and he is not a creative outside the box thinker!)

Here are some notes:

• This lasts with good color for about 1 day (maybe 2).
• It may take 2-3+ days for the color to completely wash out.
• Do this at your own risk (I see no/little risk... but think for a second...if you are taking senior portraits tomorrow or going to a wedding and multi-colored hair is not appropriate...WAIT until it is over!)
• The pastels may discolor your clothing while you are applying it...I have not had it happen...but there is the possibility.
• Different hair colors look better with different colors - experiment. I did this on a blonde girl and a girl with brunette hair...both looked great.
• I have done this method 2x now! Once as the tutorial states and, last night we reapplied chalk to her hair...I washed it, applied the chalk; blew it dry and braided it for her to sleep in. In the morning we heat set it.

SUPPLIES

• Pastels (find them in the art supply section). Aaron Brothers has them and so does Michael's and other craft stores...best yet look for a coupon...A set of 24 at my local store was $10.99 and I had a 40% coupon...Yippee! I have also seen sets for as little as $5 without a coupon!
• Small spray bottle and water
• Comb
• Blowdryer
• Curling iron or flat iron
• (Old) towel
• Gloves (optional)

How to Apply DIY Hair Chalk

• Drape an old towel around the shoulders to protect clothing from the pastels.
• (Optional) Wear gloves if you do not want you hands dirty. I did not use gloves and it all washed off easily.
• If you need to, you can section off the pieces and secure with a clip. I found it to be quite easy to start on one side of the head and grab 1" sections (some were bigger, some were smaller). I flipped the hair to one shoulder and worked my way across.

• Spray the small section of hair with the water. (I did try this twice and the second time...we did it fresh from the shower...so her whole head was wet)

• Select your color of pastel and working in a downward motion, begin to color the hair, from where you want your color to begin (top) through the end of the hair.
• You may have to go over the section 2-3 times (I also added some to the back as well).
• I alternated my colors randomly.
• NOTE: If you go up and down with the chalk it almost teases the hair. By just going in one direction (down) the hair will be less "teased."
•  Once you finish with your first section "move" it to the other shoulder and select another section...repeat as necessary.

• Once you have chalked all the pieces you want...the hair will most likely still be wet.
• Use a blow dryer and dry the hair thoroughly. 
• Once dry, use a curling iron or flat iron to heat set the color (this help it from discoloring your clothing, etc.)

That's it.
It is fun and actually kind of makes me happy when I look at the pretty colors in my daughters hair. I also may have told her that she is lucky to have a mom who likes to try crazy things!  

Have you tried Hair Chalk?

Would you try Hair Chalk?

This post is written and created at 504 Main by Holly Lefevre