Exfoliating Scalp Scrub

Guys. My head's going crazy right now.

Transitionary periods between seasons leave me with flaky skin all over. I use various exfoliators for my face and body, but lately I've been noticing that my scalp needs exfoliating too. Lately, no matter how often I wash my hair (and I try not to more than three times a week) I always have dandruff.

There are tons and tons of at-home recipes for scalp exfoliators. You can use everything from brown sugar, baking soda, even quinoa (though I'm not sure if it's going to clog up your drain?) with conditioner, oils, shampoos, etc.

I'm going to share a recipe I tried today, but I just want to give you a heads up: if you have thick, wavy hair like me, this scrub is going to make your hair really fluffy. (It might actually be a great volumizing scrub if you have thin hair... Let me know if you try it!)

1. 2-3 tbs of salt // 2. 2 tbs of coconut oil // 3. 2 tbs of Paul Mitchell's Smoothing conditioner

I mixed these ingredients together in a little bowl and worked them into my scalp for about 5 minutes. Do this in the shower (not over the sink, like I originally did) because it'll get messy really quickly. Let's just say I had to bust out my vacuum. I rinsed and washed my hair as normal, and now my hair feels a lot smoother.


I'm going to wait a couple of days before deciding if it helped my scalp, but I am happy with my hair. I pulled out a lot more hair than usual after my shower, and I'm hoping it's just because it's old, almost-dead hair that "loosened up" while I exfoliated.

After getting out of the shower, I also dabbed a bit of Lush's R&B over the ends of my hair to keep them moisturized and healthy!



If you have any tips on a healthy scalp/hair, I'd love to hear them!

How to Arrange Flowers

How to Paint in the Bathroom (Without Touching a Single Wall)

My latest "looking forward to being home" project led me to my bathroom. Specifically, to my shower curtain. I like art. I sunflowers. I like Van Gogh. The answer was pretty clear. But all the shower curtains I found (and there are some pretty cool ones out there) were $50-$80...

No thanks.

I'll just make my own. 

Here's what I wanted:                                      Here's what I made:

Sunflowers, by Vincent Van Gogh

And here's what I used to make it: 

• Little bottles of acrylic paint (once dry, they're waterproof.) // $0.50 each
• Opaque, PEVA shower curtain // $8
• Paint brushes

I kept the variety of paints pretty slim, knowing it'd be easier to just mix for the shades I don't have. But feel free to get different shades if that's easier for you!

Hang up the shower curtain taut against a wall (I used thumbtacks) because it makes it easier to measure the proportions of what you're trying to paint. Since you're not working on the floor, it allows you to work in small chunks at a time. Unless you're a professional artist (and I'm definitely not) your proportions might not be exact. That mountain might be steeper. That sky might be less cloudy. But that's okay, because you're making it your own.  

Don't pile on the paint! If it's too thick, it'll peel right off. What you're painting on is essentially plastic, so the paint spreads easily. You won't need nearly as much as if you were painting on canvas or paper. 

I didn't de-wrinkle the shower curtain before I began painting (I burned my first trial against a blow drier...) and found that the creases ease out over time.

There's something so therapeutic about spreading paint all over a large plastic sheet... and now the biggest thing in my bathroom makes me smile every time I look at it.

This is what home improvement is all about.

Just as I finished, I saw that this shower curtain on amazon went from $70 to $20... with free shipping... 

(but I like mine better.)

Monogrammed Coir Doormat

I was digging around the internet trying to find a doormat I liked, and eventually narrowed it down to the following: 

// 1. Constellation Bias // 2. Izola // 3. Wellfleet // 4. Piano Cocoa //

But then I realized that I don't want to spend $40 on a doormat. Instead, I spent $8 and used Lia Griffith's monogrammed door mat tutorial to make my own. Here it is:

I fell in love with the design and didn't want to change a thing. Literally. (She uses a G, too.)

I used: 

• Coir doormat // $5, Ikea
• Black spray paint // $3 from a local hardware store
• Griffith's stencil // print here

The hardest part in making this doormat was making sure that the stencil was a) in the middle, and b) not lopsided. I've never been good at eyeing straight lines (I think it's because I always kinda tilt my head to my left), which is terribly inconvenient for someone who's into geometric designs.

Heads up--unless you mount the mat to the wall, you can't use a leveler to align anything. Unless you're okay with the risk of getting paint on walls, you can't push the mat against one outside to make sure it's straight.

I used tape measure to make the stencil's placement as straight and centric as possible. It was a lot of guess and check, but I made sure the edges of the antlers were equidistant from the edge of the mat, and that the top and bottom of the "G" were equidistant from the mat. 

I'm actually still not sure if it's straight (I can never tell, remember?)

Oh well.

Comic Strip Magnets

Nobody loves out-of-context comic panels as much as me. Sunday comics are my jam.

Last year, I decided to make fridge magnets out of comic strips. Today, I actually made some.

Here's what you need:

• Sunday Paper
• Magnet Strip ($2)
• Scissors and/or Exacto Knife
• Glue (I used wood glue, but anything stronger than Elmo should work just fine)
• Clear PVC sheet ($1)
• Sheet of balsa wood ($2) I used balsa because I'm familiar with it, and because it's easy to cut without needing a saw or a sander. It's a really light wood though, so the final product doesn't feel as sturdy. If you want something a little harder but still easy to work with, I'd recommend birch.

(aren't these scissors the cutest?)

Cut out the panels you want to use, and glue them onto the wood. To prevent wrinkling the paper, use a very little amount of glue (this part doesn't need fool-proof gluing). 

Then, cut the shapes out with scissors or an exacto knife (you can use scissors on balsa without a problem.) Place the PVC sheet over the paper, and carefully trace and cut it so that it'll cover the entire square. Then, glue around the edges, and attach smaller pieces of the magnet strips onto the back. I messed up quite a few times... newspaper is difficult to work with, so you might consider printing out the images on thicker paper/with better ink.

If you're patient and want something that looks more professional, you can get glass covers instead of the PVC sheets. The only caveat is that you can't choose the size since the glass is pre-cut.