Another Coconut Oil Pin....Can it make my hair silky smooth??

I haven't tried a coconut oil pin for awhile and thought I would give a new one a try that I found outside the list I had been using. This was another hair mask, but wasn't coconut oil alone so I figured it was worth a shot.

3 required ingredients

 

Spoon a few tablespoons of coconut oil into a microwave safe bowl (The more hair you have the more oil you'll need. I have medium length hair so I used around 3 big spoonfuls).

Coconut Oil

Microwave for about 30-45 seconds until the oil is completely melted. Then add in a tablespoon of honey (not much more according to the original pin, it probably would get pretty sticky) and one raw egg. Whisk together.

Finished product

Go to your bathroom, throw a towel around your shoulders and start spreading this on your dry unwashed hair.

My dry unwashed hair

The consistency is runny and surprise surprise very oily. It doesn't have a strong smell but their is a bit of a funkiness to the mixture, which I'm sure comes from the egg. Cover all of your hair and then when mixture is gone put a shower cap on or wrap you hair up in plastic wrap.

After the mixture was on my hair

My super sexy shower cap

Now set your timer for 30 minutes and find something to occupy your time for the next half an hour. I told Siri to play Bruno Mars and I picked up around the house, but to each their own. After the timer went off I got my shower. I used the spray nozzle to rinse as much of the mixture out as possible and then washed and conditioned as usual. I used Head and Shoulders shampoo and Loreal EverClear conditioner. After my shower I dried and styled as normal.

 

My assessment: My hair did seem softer and a bit shiner than after a normal shampoo and conditioning session but it wasn't anything amazing. The downside was that even after shampooing and conditioning I thought my hair still had a bit of that funky smell. Nothing too overpowering but I did still smell it. By the next day I didn't smell it at all anymore, but I also used a bit of dry shampoo to help cover it up. I'm not sure how often someone would have to do this treatment to see a huge difference, or if you would even if you did it frequently. It was worth a try and others who don't have color damaged hair like I do might have better results. I encourage everyone to give it a shot if they have the time and see if it works for them.



Styled as normal-Hair dryer and straighten with a flat iron









Our Take on a Superhero Nursery

Since I just posted the awesome superhero t-shirt quilt that my friend Z and I made, I thought I would share how the nursery came out. A few things to remember, we live in a rental house (although they let us pick out the color of the room) so we didn't want to hang up too much and have been serious users of Command brand hooks and picture hangers.

The letters were done back in January and the process can be seen on the blog http://pinterestingsummer2012.blogspot.com/2013/01/mod-podge-superhero-collagesay-that-3.html
The bookshelf is from Ikea, baskets from Walmart, and the glider is a hand-me-down from our daughters room.

The wall signs were from Amazon.com from a seller called Poster Revolution. They were around $9 a piece and we have Amazon Prime so we didn't have to pat for shipping. The quilt we made, the crib and sheet are from Target, and my friend Z made the chevron bed skirt from material she bought on Etsy.

We lucked out and the rental house had a built in desk and shelves that happened to be the perfect size for a changing table pad. The small baskets are from Target and the Fantastic Four comic picture was given to me at our baby shower and fit in perfectly.

The picture is from AllPosters.com and I got the frame from Michaels. I am going to put in a white wall shelf on one of the empty walls to hold some of the small superhero knick knacks that we have been given. I am very happy with how it turned out and glad we tried something out of the ordinary.

Superhero T-shirt Quilt

Before we knew if we were having a boy or a girl my husband and I decided that we wanted to do a retro looking Superhero nursery if we were in fact having a boy. Well, in November we found out that we were indeed having a boy and Pinterest has been consulted greatly in the decorating of his room. We didn't want to just choose one superhero or buy things that were too commercial so I knew that I (with a lot of help) would be creating some DIY stuff for his room. I came across an awesome t-shirt quilt picture on Pinterest that I knew I wanted to do for his bed (as I could find no bedding set on the market that matched what I was looking for).


This is the inspiration quilt- Picture from http://tinyurl.com/bwyu5eq

 

I just happen to have a friend who is an awesome seamstress and she said she would help/teach me to make a quilt like this. After a few trips to thrift shops, a donation from my wonderful husband, and a trip to Jo-Ann's for some flannel fabric we had all the pieces we needed to make the blanket. We decided to follow the picture above except to add an extra column, and not to use minky fabric (as I was told it can be a pain in the butt to work with).

Measuring and cutting the big squares



 

The big squares and starting to figure out the small ones

 

I won't pretend to be an expert on this process or try to give you a step by step account, it took a lot of work, time, and decision making to figure out exactly who we wanted the blanket to look.

With the small squares figured out

Starting to sew the fabric on the back of the big squares

 





We ended up using the yellow, cityscape, and extra grey fabric we had to make the back of the quilt. It was stressful at first trying to make the back look good and work with what we had but in the end we were pretty happy with how it turned out.

Sewing big squares to the little ones

 

My friend Z did a lot of the sewing but she showed me how to use her machine and by the end of it (after a lot of rethreading and small fixes) I felt like I had an OK handle on the process. I also realized that I want a sewing machine really bad (there is always Christmas) and I am excited to try other sewing projects. It took at least four different 3-4 hour long sessions to complete the quilt (and a lot of Fuzzy's Taco's Chicken Fajita salads) but in the end it was totally worth it (and not just because of the salads).

This is after it has been sewed, the ends of all the squares snipped, washed, and tumbled dry on low. It makes A LOT of lint so if you try this be prepared to be cleaning out the lint trap on the dryer.

Close up on a small square section

 

It definitely has it's imperfections, but I think that is what makes it special. I can tell my son that his Mom and Miss Z worked together to make him something unique and one of a kind. I love it and I hope he will appreciate it as well.

Hanging in his room, waiting to be used. (Miss Z also made the awesome grey chevron bed skirt as well, because she is awesome!)