When All Else Fails...Crochet

It has been A WHILE since I have been able to put down my crochet needle. Simply because my main goal was to have a successful D.I.Y (Do It Yourself) Christmas. I know how much ear-warmers and finger-less gloves have been trending so when I saw BobWilson123's Ear-warmer Tutorial and Mikeyssmail's Fingerless Glove Tutorial, I had to revamp my christmas gift ideas and get to crocheting. At my local craft store, I was able to pick up a few fabulous bundles of rainbow yarn and with them, I made two awesome gifts! Pics seen below.

Red Heart Yarn is the best. Both in price and feel!!

I feel like my Fingerless Gloves came out quite nice!

This Flower tutorial can be found here!

A second pair that I made!

I inserted these buttons into the flowers myself!

Tell me what you think! Was the D.I.Y. Christmas gift method a good idea? Or would you still try and catch those sales? Comment below!

It's All About... Dwen!

Today--Christmas Day--marks one month since I sat down to get my very first tattoo. I know this post is long overdue but lets face it, I wasn't quite ready to show it (off) yet.  I got it on Black Friday (11/25/11) at 3pm at an awesome parlor in Park Slope called Third Eye Tattoo. And since then I have seen so many changes--both good and bad.

CHANGES LEARNED...
1) I never realized that tattoos were basically wounds. Okay! whatever, shoot me! But either way you put it, I was still intrigued. To know someone practically wounded me in the form of a beautiful significant symbol.

2) I noticed that the "ugly stage" ain't so ugly at all. Maybe it is to people with larger tattoos but my medium sized symbol made its way through its ugly phase quite gracefully. Almost made me wish it stayed a scab. Pics below

3) The final thing I noticed is the change in me. To put it simply, there is none. I am still the hyper, "young lookin'", over analyzing, smart-ass chick I was before I thought of even getting the tattoo.

CLEANING REG...
1) Washed it by hand, 3x/day w/ Antibacterial Dial Soap Bar
2) Immediately pat dry with a clean/unused paper towel
3) Used Bacitracin Ointment for the first week and a half
4) Followed up with Eucerin unscented lotion thereafter
5) Applied Bacitracin as well if I thought I needed it!
.....And YES! I got it the color red so that it could be an under-the-radar tattoo
So....

Without further ado, here she is. I call her Dwen after her cultural name, Dwennimen. She is an West African Adinkra Symbol.

See pics of my tattoo's stages below:

DWENNIMMEN

"ram's horns"

symbol of humility together with strength

The ram will fight fiercely against an adversary, but it also submits humbly to slaughter, emphasizing that even the strong need to be humble. 

11/25/11. At Parlor

11/25/11 After first cleaning

11/26/11 Inflamed Wound: Ugly Phase Part 1

11/27/11 All Scabbed Up: Ugly Phase Part 2

12/1/11 You Can See: Ugly Phase Part 3

12/14/11 The Aftermath

12/25/11 1 Month-a-versary!

Hope you find this helpful enough to pass along if you and/or a friend are looking to getting a tattoo sometime in the future. Any questions? Just comment below!

Weekend Tunes: On Christmas Day!

It has been some time since I did a weekend tune post and I've been considering a lot of throwbacks for the past week or so. Well it struck me today while I was watching a Sister, Sister marathon on centric.

Today is Christmas Day and though it didn't give off such a strong vibe in my household, it certainly did leave an aura of happiness--even between my mum and I. Anyway, I was watching the episode when Tia & Tamera has their prom and they get a shock when they find that Lisa made them prom dresses....right after they've just purchased their own dream dresses.

Besides the awesome memories Sister, Sister brought back of my own prom, it really jolted me even more when I saw that Jon B. was their celebrity appearance. And which song was he performing? None other than his hit single from 1997 "They Don't Know". Talk about such a THROWBACK!! I was too excited!

Anyway, without further ado, here is my weekend tune! Enjoy...

It's All About... Newspaper Nails!!

For some time now, I have been OBSESSED with jazzing up my nails... More so to disguise my occasionally busted cuticles, but other than that, finding out about newspaper nails was just AWESOME! Not only does it embody who I am as a person with it's backwards wording and random clips--taken from my appeal to write rants--but it also looked awesome! I look forward to improving in them but so far, here was my first take on them.
I used:

• Sinful Colors: "Snow Me White"
• Newspaper Clippings

The heart seen on my wedding fingers were all clippings! I figured if words could transfer then obviously colored photos could too! And these red hearts were the perfect size for my nails! Pics below!

Back to ...THESE Basics??

Hmmm so until I realized I had stopped my crave for water, I didn't know what to do about my poor, dry hair. So on Dec 5th, I escaped from my house--telling my mum I'd be right back--JUST so I could catch the 3 a half hour downtown to the Ricky's on Montague!
I LOVE ME SOME BROOKLYN HEIGHTS!!!
Anyway, I hauled ass into the shop and grabbed the first--well second--bottle I saw! The first was the "TRY ME" sample. Along with that I got my very first self-bought Carol's Daughter product... None other than the Hair Mimosa!
Then I realized the next day while at the Rainy Day Bryant Park Natural meet up that my lack of drinking water was probably the most significant reason as to why I had such a drastic change in my hair and ultimately my skin's moisture... SMH! And though it took a trip to Shea Moisture to have such a revelation, I definitely don't regret my $30 purchase from the day before! Pricing below.
KINKY CURLY KNOT TODAY: $13
CAROL'S DAUGHTER MHH: $17

Bryant Park on a Rainy Night

I was fortunate enough to gather with a friend and other Naturals at Bryant Park on Dec. 6th for a Shea Moisture sale event. It was also a duel meet up to have a chance to talk to YouTuber Taren916. I've been a follower of hers for a while and I must admit, now that YouTube is practically my television, I was elated to see her up, close and personal!
It was also nice to see all the Naturals who came out to support on such a rainy day. I didn't bother to buy any Shea Moisture products since I already house a few of them under my bathroom sink, however, I was given a few samples of the Shea Moisture Curl Enhancing Smoothie! All the best to empty them into the half empty or full jar of smoothie I have at home!
Another treat I got was my birthday present from Sephora Beauty! Pics of that coming soon but for now here's a fabulous shot of me, Ms. Taren Guy of Taren916, and my dear friend Netchem.
For those of you Naturals who didn't get a chance to join in on the Rainy Day, Shea Moisture meet-up, their 3 for $20 sale will be ongoing till Jan 8, 2012! So you can get 3 full-size products for only $20! That's practically a steal!
And like Netchem says,
A la prochaine! (Until next time)

It's All About: ...World AIDS Day

Thank you so much, Ms. V. Charles for giving us this much needed PSA on Worlds AIDS Day
Check out more of her awesome videos >>here<<

Do You Know Your Status?
If not, Planned Parenthood's in your area will be giving free HIV Tests
Check them out >>here<<