Before I cut my hair short, I did a few tutorials for longer hair. This Ann Margret inspired updo makes me miss my long hair. Its tall like a beehive and 60s sophisticated. I've been in love with 60s styles lately but many of the elaborate hairstyles used hairpieces. Since my hair color fades with every wash and is livened up again every time I use my Overtone conditioner, its never quite the same shade so getting a hairpiece to match would be nearly impossible, I think. I decided to try this style with my own hair and a little help from a hair rat.


Section off your bangs and pin them out of the way



Section the top of your hair, as if you're doing a half-up, half-down do, leaving a little bit of hair down at each side. Wind the ends of your hair around the middle of the rat and roll it down towards your scalp, rolling the hair forward. Pin each end of the rat down. It will look pretty silly

Next, backcomb those side sections and sweep them back, towards the ends of the hair rat. Wind the ends into a little pin curl and pin into place, covering the end of the rat.



Back comb your bangs root for volume and sweep them off to one side. I had a little extra hair left out with my bangs so I swept it back and pinned the ends behind the roll.  I used a duckbill clip to hold it in place and gave it a good coat of hairspray.




Next twist the back of your hair up into a french roll and pin into place. You can tuck the ends of your hair into the french roll, leave them out and curl them or sweep them up and over the big roll and tuck them into the fold of the roll, like I did here.



Finish with hairspray and smooth any frizzies down with pomade. If the back of your hair is messy, like mine can be, cover it with a decorative comb, bow or hair flower.

Check out my other vintage hairstyle tutorials

 


Do you ever drive around town and see pretty places you've never been and thought "I should stop there some day". I always do but I never do stop! We had a break in the cold this week and while I was out going to the library and post office, I decided to finally stop at a beautiful historic college campus near by. This is Lindenwood University, which was founded in 1827 by early American pioneer, Mary Easton Sibley. The campus is packed with beautiful old buildings and trees that are so big and old that they could have been here when Mary was.



On the weekend, the parking lot and buildings were mostly empty and made for a perfect place to stop for outfit pictures. They have picnic tables and swing benches all over the wooded grounds, which my son, Rhys was pretty excited about. Today is his birthday, he turns 7! We're taking him bowling with his cousins tonight and out for a special outing with just the four of us this weekend.



There's a very pretty greenhouse here, which looks like it hasn't been in use very much over the winter but I hope they sweep it out and start using it soon. It's too beautiful to leave abandoned.

It's been months since my last post but I'm back after the winter with more outfits, craft and beauty tutorials and vintage inspiration for you! I started this blog over 8 years ago and after that long, it's not surprising that I was feeling a little burn-out. I spent much of the fall and winter just living life without a camera around, which was nice! Being a blogger who posts all the time causes one to forget how to live without constantly documenting every move. I went camping, set up my beautiful aluminum Christmas tree, volunteered for some events at my kids school, knitted, sewed and just lived life!


My long break was lovely but I definitely missed blogging. I love sharing my crafty ideas, sewing projects and daily outfits here with like-minded friends. I started this blog because I was a stay at home mom with a new baby and no adults to talk to about the things I love. Although my babies have grown up into hilarious, bright little people (who have PLENTY to talk to me about), its so important for stay at home parents to have a creative outlet and way to connect to the outside world. I love getting to know you through comments, emails and social media and I've also made some incredible in-person friends that I never would have met without my blog.


During the break, I took my time off to do some things I always wanted to learn how to do like play an instrument. I played percussion in the middle school band but as an adult I always wanted to have an instrument to play during downtime. My mom had my great grandpa's ukelele from their days in Hawaii and since its no longer playable she got a new one of her own. For Christmas this year, she surprised me with a ukelele of my own and a little instruction book. I'd never played a stringed instrument before but with the help of Youtube channels like Cynthia Lin and Ukutabs, I learned to play several songs in a week. I try to play a little every day, after my housework and yoga is done. There's something about the ukelele that just makes me so happy when I play it.


I painted my ukelele shortly after I got it. My mom painted one for my brother's girlfriend using acrylic glass paint from Walmart. I got the same paint, just the cheap stuff in the craft section. As long as its labeled for glass, it should hold up really well. I didn't even seal mine with a clear coat and its chip-free after months of daily play.

What did you do this winter?

Outfit
sweater- thrifted
vintage fish brooch- St. Charles Antique Mall
circle skirt- made by me
shoes- BAIT footwear
ukelele- Amazon*

* Va-Voom Vintage is an affiliate of Amazon.com. For more information on how I monetize this blog, please see my full disclosure page