Lock Love Wednesday

 Happy Lock Love Wednesday! I started LLW to keep this hairstylist accountable. It is so easy to get in a hair rut and not style my own hair! I have fun sharing with you anything Hair related! Today, is Before + After day! I even colored my hair this week! Join with me below and link up and show off your styling techniques or beautiful hair! Follow me on Instagram @ talahairlife #locklovewed and #locklovewednesday 

My lovely Before + After. I had 6 weeks of regrowth going on. I had ombred my hair back before the holidays, and it was time to do a touch up. I went a level lighter this time round (knowing I will want brighter for Spring). I freshened up my ends with blonde too. I like my ombre to have lots of bright pieces around my face, so I don't look washed out.

a side shot for you.

This is my friend, Megan! I took 4" off her hair and cut it assymetrical. Her left side is a few inches longer than her right side. Her goal is to grow out her fringe and eventually rock out a middle part. So, I cleaned up her bangs and gave them a side swept look. She looks beautiful! 

Side shot of the longer side!

 I love Elizabeth's blonde hair! I did a bleach/tone on her! She loves change and has been having fun walking around with blonde hair! 

 Miss Sally has amazing hair and I always have fun switching it up for her! I colored her hair with a rich dark brown and gave her 10 foils or so of a neutral caramel to soften up the tone. It looks amazing! 

Curtis loves a vintage inspired cut. Thank You Jesus for letting me cut that shag off. (this is my sister's hus) He surprised my sister with this cut! AMEN! Lookin' good Bird.

Join with me below and show off your hair locks!

Wall Display + Organizing Games

I thought it would be fun to show you some progress on my family room, in our basement. I will share with you more updates in the next couple weeks on our basement. We have been making baby steps to finishing it off. I still need carpet and painting the glorious trim……. But look at this wall. I love gallery walls! Check out here for more gallery displays in my home! 

It is coming together little by little. I love spending time in our basement with our friends and family. It is our only room with a TV, so we get lots of movie nights down here. I have been gathering frames from TJ Maxx, Hobby Lobby, West Elm and Target. Majority of the photography is from our friends, Fagan Studios and my Sister and bro in law, KT ELEMENTS. 

 check out the "C" nail art tutuorial here! 

couch- HOM furniture

pillows- target, pottery barn, etsy

blanket- handmade from my Mother in law :)

quilt (on left) target

Lamp- Flea market find and made into a lamp by my HUS

Wall color- Sherwin Williams- Mindful Gray

I have been claiming the month of January for my ORGANIZE my life month!! I am driving my familly nuts with all of the purging and organizing…….but it needs to be done. I have been trying to go through every square inch of our home and evaluting if we need it/ use it, or not. 

One area, that was a hot mess was the corner space in our family room. I wish I had a before picture for you! Oh my word, it was embarrassing. I scored this shelving unit for FREE from Old Navy! The shelves are used for art in my home/studio Here. I love the industrial look of it! It goes well with our space! I started by clearing off the shelves and putting our huge supply of games in baskets! Seriously, this is all games!!! We use them though! I hope to have built ins some day to hide them, but for now this works great! 

I owned all of the baskets already. They are Target except the big on in the middle is TJ Maxx. I hope to stain the big one with a gray wash this spring! 

 Are you working on any organizing in your home? Do have any fun tips or resources to use? 

DIY PLAYDOUGH for the kiddos in your life

Being a mom is awesome. 

I get to relive my favorite childhood memories.

I get a do over at many amazing things that are for KIDS.

I get to make and create with my little ladies.

This past weekend, we took advantage of the snowy day and made Playdough! It was super fun and messy! I tried two recipes and from here and here. One thing I loved was using JELL-O for the scent/coloring!

The recipe we tweaked:

1 cup of flour

1 cup of water (reviews say to use warm water)

1/8 cup of salt

2 T. of Cream of Tartar

1 T. of cooking oil (I used canola oil)

1 box of JELL-O

food coloring for a extra punch of color

Glitter (my daughter is obsessed with all things sparkly)

and that is it……. we are totally going to be making a rainbow of colors this week! I am going to buy the neon food coloring! 

Mix all of the ingredients in the pot! I let my daughter do all the dumping and stirring! She was soooo PROUD! It is amazing how excited kids get when we involve them on these projects! 

For the glitter- you can use a lot! I let my daughter sprinkle as much as she wanted! 

Once everything is mixed, you will stir the ingredients over medium heat for 5-10 minutes. Make sure that you keep stirring the whole time. It is ready for the next step when it turns into a big clump. You will know when this is happening! Mama needed to help the 3 year old-, it was too heavy to stir! :) 

Here is the first batch after it turned into a ball. Transfer the play dough to a floured surface and allow to cool for a bit. We let it cool for 20 minutes! 

While it was cooling, we started another batch! 

Once the playdough is at a good temputure, you can start kneading the dough to your desired consistency. We added 1/8-1/4 c. of flour to the dough at this point. Use your judgement on what it needs! 

The little lady was not a fan of this part! I took over for her, which I didn't mind at all! 

We are storing our playdough in some rubbermaid plastic containers. I am super happy about how it turned out! 

I will keep you posted on our next batch! 

Happy Monday! Have you been up to any fun DIY activities lately? January in Minnesota is such a great time for craft projects! 

Valentines guide!

Valentines is such a fun holiday to celebrate. I love showing my loved ones that I care. I put together a fun LOVE themed wish list for you today. Enjoy! 

1. How cute is this banner?! I love it! Felt is the way to go.

2. If you love literature, this is a great book for a guest room or a coffee table. 

3. Oh, Rifle Paper Co. you are dangerous. I love all of your work! I love this heart print! 

4. I love decorative little dishes/trays/bowls for little items in your home. This one is presh!

5. Cards are so fun to pick out! I love when cards can be art as well! I would frame this one! 

6. I love typography art! Especially, this one! 

7. Heart shaped pillows are so fun. I love gold and coral! This one is perfect! 

8. I love these little love bird salt & pepper shakers! 

9. I think this headband is adorable for my little ladies! I would wear it too! 

10. Heart shaped jewelry is so sweet. I love Lisa Leonard everything! 

Do you have any fun ideas for Valentines? Please share! 

Happy Love season! 

Lock Love Wednesday!

Wednesdays are fun over here at Tala Hair Life. I share with you hair related posts! Here are some before and afters:

I took 4 inches off Carissa's hair and gave her lots of dimension. I foiled in a rich caramel and colored her hair with a rich deep brown.

 Melanie had a ombre going on…..we decided to start brightening it up for spring. We can dream, right? I foiled it with two lighter tones to brighten it up ;)

Love Kati's blonde hair right now!

Top right was before-- we gave Mickael a fresh new look with highlights! It is the perfect timeless cut for fine hair.

Shari is a mama of 4 and one busy lady- Short/Sassy is the perfect look for her!

 Brittney has gorgeous curly hair. I cut her hair asymmetrical and colored her hair all over with a shiny, rich brown and painted some over her tips with a caramel. I love her look!

Tanya had drab hair and we needed to give her hair a overall! I colored her hair with a rich chestnut/gold and painted her ends with a blonde. It looks stunning!

 I love this makeover! Becky has lovely hair with great texture. We don't want the maintenance of coloring her hair with an all over tint. I put in a ash brown and platinum foils to break up her hair and add dimension. I gave her a modern wedge and I love how classy it is!

Taylor rocks an amazing Ombre (before is top left). We wanted to brighten it up and add more blonde on the tips! She has amazing fringe as well! I love her hair!!!

Link up with below and show off your locks!

DIY- lamp shades and lights!

I had a little fun this week with some lamps in our bedroom. I had seen the toilet paper roll idea for a stencil on Pinterest and thought it would be fun. 

Here is my room before- I had spray painted the lamps a couple years ago yellow. 

before the project.

i used 3 colors for paint and my good ole' toilet paper roll. I just went to town with the paint and made it up as I went. 

I used Mod Podge and embroidery floss on the base of the lamp. I simply soaked the string in the mod podge (styrofoam bowl) and randomly put the string on the lamp. I let it dry for a few hours. It is random and fun. 

 Here is the after:

What do you think? If anything, it holds me over from buying a lamp tomorrow. Ha I love DIY projects!