Are Elastic Headbands Good for Curly Hair?

Long-lasting hairstyles are often a dilemma for women with naturally bouncy and curly hair. Styling curly hair can be difficult for the sole reason that it is unpredictable, difficult to tame, and is, oftentimes, roughly textured by itself. To work with curly hair, a stylist may either use more chemicals or hair products than usual, or perhaps, temporarily straighten hair by letting it go through high amounts of heat. Although both methods may come back with some impressive results, too much use of hair chemicals or a hair straightening iron could damage your hair, in the long run.

Having naturally curly hair can be a both a gift and a curse. It is a gift, in a way that curly hair tends to be more dramatic than straight hair and curls can accentuate your body shape, even further; however, it may also be a curse because stylish curly hair will require an expert to work on it.

Frequent visits to the salon or hair stylist can be costly; fortunately, there are a few things you can do to style your hair with just a comb and a single piece (or two) of elastic headband. Don’t take the elastic headband for granted: with it, you can tie your hair in a high bun or keep your curls from touching your face without the need for a straightening iron or hairspray. Elastic headbands may be used in lieu of a hair “scrunchie” or a hair clip but does not strain your hair as you use it.

If you have curly hair, using an elastic headband to keep your tresses in place is a more effective solution than straightening your hair every morning or applying thick layers of leave-on conditioner. You can tie your hair together with a sock bun and further accessorize it with a fold-over elastic and voila, kempt hair in no time!

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Learn how to do the famed sock bun with the video tutorial below or learn how to make fold over elastic headbands.

Are Elastic Headbands Good for the Hair?

You have probably heard of elastic headbands from your friends with little girls or from your teenaged acquaintances who are so into fashion, but what are elastic headbands really used for? Elastic headbands, like most hair accessories, are used for two reasons: to hold hair in place and to look stylish, but unlike ordinary hair bands or scrunchies, you can actually style elastic headbands on your own and use them in several ways, aside from keeping hair in place.

Elastic headbands can be tied together, sewn together, stitched together and adorned with all sorts of fashion jewelry, flowers, and glued on with lace and other designs. You can turn a simple elastic headband into the perfect hair embellishment with the right sewing skills and handicraft tools.  You can also use elastic headbands on all types of hair, hair lengths, and most importantly, hair textures. While “scrunchies” do not work well with long, silky hair, you can use elastic headbands as an alternative.

Elastic headbands have become so popular among little girls and even, adult wearers, but are they safe for the hair, at all? You might have heard of hair experts telling you to keep your hair “scrunchie”- and clip-free, but how about elastic headbands? Do they pose any level of threat to your hair when used regularly?

Unlike “scrunchies” and other types of hair accessories, elastic headbands are made of friction-free material so it does not matter how many times you use them, they will never damage the texture of your hair or cause too many split ends. For people with wavy, mildly curly, or even frizzy hair, elastic headbands are tangle-free hair accessories that will not intertwine with your hair strands as you use them regularly.

The friction- and tangle-free features of elastic headbands make them the ideal hair accessory for any occasion. They are safe, easy to use, affordable, and most importantly, always in fashion. Children can definitely use them just as well as teenagers and adults can. Aside from being fashionable, wearers, like you, need not worry about hair damage from these headbands, at all.

Decoration Ideas for Old Mason Jars

Still have those old mason jars lying around? Mason jars may look bland on their own but you can do so many things with these timeless jars. They are mainly used for canning and preserving food, but ever since DIY experts and hobbyists realized the creative potential with the use of mason jars, they have also become a staple in every DIY expert's workroom.

You can use mason jars for almost any reason. They may be used as lights, decoration, table toppers, or re-purpose them as additional cups and mugs for the kitchen. If you're feeling artsy, gather your old mason jars together and try to do any of the following DIY crafts:

Perhaps the most common DIY craft for your mason jar is to re-purpose them as drinking glasses. You can pour juice, lemonade and other beverage into them and use them in parties and small get-togethers. A mason jar on its own might not look appealing as a drinking glass; fortunately, all you have to do is to glue a few ribbons and bows to the jar and you'll come up with colorful party glasses, as seen below:

Use elastic headbands and even, flower pieces on your mason jars to decorate them. Elastic headbands are easy to work with, so you can either glue or tape them onto the glass without having the worry about them falling off.

 

You can also serve cupcakes, pastries and other treats in a mason jar. There is no need to embellish your mason jar with ribbons and bows if your pastries look appealing enough; however, adding little bows or colorful stickers will not hurt either.

During emergencies, you can count on your mason jars to give you light. Turn your old mason jars in small candle holders or even small lamps. To do the art projects below, first you need to know how to make lamps or how to make homemade candles and work on decorating your mason jar-lamp or candle hybrid, afterwards.

 

An avid arts and crafts maker wouldn't want to work in a messy environment. If you still have a surplus of jars (it doesn't have to be Mason jars), you can put them together in a row or glue them to your wall and use them as an organizer for your arts and craft tools.

Or if you have quite a make-up set collection at home, keep your brushes and other make-up tools in recycled Mason jars. As always, feel free to make them look more appealing with elastic headbands.

You can also use mason jars to organize your sewing materials, such as spools of thread and needles, and reuse the cover as a pin cushion.

Finally, if you're running out of ideas but want to try something simple, reuse your mason jars as vases. Adding a few elastics and laces to the jar may suffice as a decoration.

Adding Crystals to Your Hair

Crystals are timeless accessories that can make your attire look more interesting and more beautiful. You can add crystals to almost anything and the end result would look something fit for royalty. Due to the popularity and timelessness of crystals, you can now use fashion crystals on your entire attire: from top to foot to resemble a sophisticated individual.

Although crystals work well with almost anything, not all people can pull of a crystal-encrusted look. In fact, many people make the mistake of adding crystals where it shouldn't be! If you want to enhance your attire with crystals, find out how to use it properly without looking tacky.

There are only three known ways to wear crystals: on your hair, on your dress (either as a brooch or a belt buckle) or on your shoes. That's right, even shoes now are assertive when it comes to looking fabulous.

Crystals on your hair are easy to do: you could wear those little hairpins and clips with fashion jewelry or affordable crystals attached to it or you could wear an elastic headband and just add the crystal accents, later on.

Elastic headbands with crystals are commonly used in important events, today, like parties and weddings.

Crystals on your dress is even easier: you could add fashion jewelry crystals (not necessarily real jewels) to your elastic belt or as the brooch for your dress. A simple search for beautiful brooches on Google will return hundreds of examples. The best part is, you could sew or glue them, so they're really easy to add to any frock.

Courtesy of J Crew

Courtesy of dressbarn.com

Crystals on your heels or shoes: adding these embellishments to your shoes could seem unorthodox, but if you want to look fashionable, might as well add crystals on your footwear. It's important to purchase affordable fake crystals since having real crystals on your shoes may easily fall off.

7 Adorable Party Decorations You Can Make at Home

If you've always wanted to throw a massively, enjoyable party but can't allot majority of your budget for your party decorations, you're in luck, because the best party decor are actually the cheapest and the easiest ones to make.

Making your own decor for your party is an effective way to remember the fun you had and to make sure your decorations and trinkets for the event are appropriate. Many fun times have been wrecked by inappropriate giveaways at parties, and you definitely wouldn't want to experience any of that during your life's biggest celebrations.

1. First off, you need a dress!

You can make your own party dress at home. Of course, you need some sewing skills for this. If you're too burned out to make your own dress, there's always Etsy for some affordable and cute frocks.

A Jacquard Sleeveless Party Dress

A 1950's vintage frock

Of course, don't forget to accessorize with beautiful elastic headbands with a flower brooch.

 

 

These elastic hair ties go well with anything!

 

2. Make a backdrop where your guests can make poses at.

You can use different materials for this, but if you want to make a splash during the party, experiment with cloth and little trinkets from thrift shops.

Courtesy of mylittlejedi.blogspot.com

3. Make cute party invitations with your old, hilarious photos.

Courtesy of Catchmyparty.com

4. And for party novelties, have you tried marshmallow necklaces, yet?

Get the full instructions for the marshmallow necklace here.

4. If you like garlands hanging around, make your own with colored paper.

You don't need expensive materials for this. Old, colorful sheets of cloth of paper (and of course, glue) should suffice.

5. Top the tables with something stylish and memorable.

6. Party favors, anyone?

The craze for Mason Jars haven't ended yet! On your next party, use your old jars (whether Mason jars or not) for your party favors.

7. Of course, never forget the party hats!

You can use paper and felt pom-poms, doily, and lots of glue to make the cute pieces below.

The Art of Elastics

Sleek, soft, and stylish-- these three words may easily describe the texture and appeal of elastic headbands. Elastics are often used to adorn young girls' hair, but at a time when creativity has no limits, you can use elastic headbands for your gift wrapping projects, for your clothes, as accessories, as accents for your attire, and on special days, as the perfect addition to any special design or furnishing.

You can utilize elastic headbands in a variety of ways. The list I composed below are just are just a few things you can do with a bit of creativity and probably a yard of skinny or printed elastic.

Printed and lacy elastics may be used as a bouquet wrap for weddings and other special events.

Add a fashion jewelry brooch to give your bouquet wrap a bit of style. There's no need to add more than one brooch or embellishment-- you wouldn't want to take the attention away from the bride!

Courtesy of Erin Trimble

Others have also used elastics and laces for their wedding cards and invitations. Instead of lace, use elastic headbands which are cheaper, more elegant and sturdier. Your wedding guests will have those wedding invitations intact for years to come.

Courtesy of Carciofi

You can also use elastic headbands with embellishments or a brooch to complete your wedding gown and hairstyle.

Courtesy of Cheryl Eastwood

Courtesy of Katy Bland

There are so many things you can do with elastic headbands. Beautify your clothes and attire with it, make your parties more memorable, your gifts more enjoyable to open and your DIY crafts, more unique. It's time to forget about lace and ribbons that easily tear.

8 DIY Romantic Gift-Wrapping Ideas for Valentines

With Valentines right around the corner, you might be wondering how to make your gifts look more appealing and interesting just as you are about to hand them to your date. You can turn any bland and plain gift box into a beautiful container for any gift as DIY experts from all over the web have done so themselves.

You don't need to be an expert at art or even love gift-wrapping; however, if you want to make a splash with how you present your gifts, these eight extremely cute gift-wrapping ideas will surely make your Valentines day more memorable.

1. Use elastic headbands to keep your gift wrap in place or as the alternative to the usual ribbon.

Use stylish and colorful elastic headbands as an alternative to the usual lace or ribbon. It's clean, it's cute, and most importantly, it's sturdier than affordable ribbon made of plastic and other weak material.

ElasticBytheYard.com sells the most beautiful elastics I have ever seen. They have skinny elastics as well as printed ones too.You can get elastic headbands and bows for less when you buy by the yard or by bulk! Buying by the yard allows you to make interesting artistic creations and crafts without breaking the bank.

One more tip! Instead of making ribbons, use mesh bows instead. Just glue it onto your gift, and voila, a unique gift topper!

2. Use colorful doilies.

You can find the instructions for the gift-wrapping idea below here.

 

 
3. Reuse old canisters lying around your house.

Get the full instructions from Instructables.com.

4. Reuse old fabric or purchase a few meters from the thrift shop.

If you have extra sheets of fabric lying around, use them to make colorful fabric gift wrap.

5. Use newspaper to wrap your gifts.


The old sheets of newspaper you have lying around your house may be used for black-and-white themed gift-wrapping. It's an affordable way to make your gift stand out, as well.

6. Learn Furoshiki, the art of wrapping.

Furoshiki is an old Japanese art which is known as the art of using cloth to wrap different things, not just for gifts. You can also use Furoshiki to make bags and stylish scarves.


7. Print your own wrapping paper with a simple printer.

8. Tear a meaningful page from a book.

Make sure this particular page contains a lovely message for your date.