Bloggers revealed!

<p>Well we have a winner of the epic <a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/2013/01/before-they-were-diy-bloggers.html" target="_blank">Before they were DIY bloggers</a> contest! </p> <p>There were so many of you who were SO close to guessing all of us correctly, but finally one person...one blogger...rose to claim victory! </p> <p>Please meet our lovely winner: <a href="http://www.momendeavors.com/about"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12640" height="300" src="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Mom_endeavors_then_now.jpg" title="Mom_endeavors_then_now" width="506" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="http://www.momendeavors.com/" target="_blank"><em><strong>Sara from Mom Endeavors</strong></em></a></p> <p><a href="http://www.momendeavors.com/"><img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="125" src="http://i1112.photobucket.com/albums/k484/momendeavors/MEButton072611.jpg" width="125" /></a> This girl knows her DIY blogs because she's a blogger herself. Sara spent a lot of time holding a sick little baby and clicking back and forth to the different blogs to match all 29 faces with their blogs (she's quite the multi-tasker isn't she?).</p> <p>And now...the moment you've been waiting for – who are the bloggers behind these adolescent faces?:<a href="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Guess_the_blogger_FIN1.jpg"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-12596" height="1024" src="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Guess_the_blogger_FIN1-480x1024.jpg" title="Guess_the_blogger_FIN" width="480" /></a></p> <p style="text-align: center">A. <a href="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/" target="_blank">Pretty Handy Girl</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">B. <a href="http://www.decorchick.com/" target="_blank">Decor Chick</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">C. <a href="http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/" target="_blank">All Things Thrifty</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">D. <a href="http://tatertotsandjello.com/" target="_blank">Tatertots and Jello</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">E. <a href="http://theletteredcottage.net" target="_blank">The Lettered Cottage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">F. <a href="http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/" target="_blank">Infarrantly Creative</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">G. <a href="http://sawdustgirl.com/" target="_blank">Sawdust Girl</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">H. <a href="http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/" target="_blank">Funky Junk Interiors</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">I. <a href="http://www.theidearoom.net/" target="_blank">The Idea Room</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">J. <a href="http://diyshowoff.com/" target="_blank">DIY Showoff</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">K. <a href="http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">The Shabby Nest</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">L. <a href="http://www.notjustahousewife.net/" target="_blank">Not Just a Housewife</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">M. <a href="http://www.vintagerevivals.com/" target="_blank">Vintage Revivals</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">N. <a href="http://southernhospitalityblog.com/" target="_blank">Southern Hospitality</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">O. <a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/" target="_blank">Young House Love</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">P. <a href="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/" target="_blank">Home Stories A to Z</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">Q. <a href="http://www.beneathmyheart.net/" target="_blank">Beneath My Heart</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">R. <a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Thrifty Decor Chick</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">S. <a href="http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/" target="_blank">House of Smiths</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">T. <a href="http://www.thenester.com/" target="_blank">The Nester</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">U. <a href="http://theinspiredroom.net/" target="_blank">The Inspired Room</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">V. <a href="http://www.songbirdblog.com/" target="_blank">Songbird Blog</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">W. <a href="http://myblessedlife.net/" target="_blank">My Blessed Life</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">X. <a href="http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/" target="_blank">The Shabby Creek Cottage</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">Y. <a href="http://www.320sycamoreblog.com/" target="_blank">320 Sycamore</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">Z. <a href="http://www.justagirlblog.com/" target="_blank">Just a Girl</a></p> <p style="text-align: center"># <a href="http://makelyhome.com/" target="_blank">Makely School for Girls</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">@ <a href="http://www.remodelaholic.com/" target="_blank">Remodelaholic</a></p> <p style="text-align: center">? <a href="http://missmustardseed.com/" target="_blank">Miss Mustard Seed</a></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <p>Ohhh, how I wish you could have seen the cat Layla (E) was holding in her pic. It MADE it. </p> <p>I was R – here’s me then (probably about 13) and the most recent pic I could find:  </p> <p><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQ05DewMjmNsTBGTYHlcfy2kv4tSpuJidcJorlt4mW0MHnKUSnTOEHkpAu5vD186Vnkpe46HX_V0YJKMZzfDy47QSYM2mKLHNfO71zskXFjSE4QlgqWGF_PomTHKcoXPFjiS4OyOtCOfRo/s1600-h/PicMonkey%252520Collage%25255B7%25255D.jpg"><font color="#4c4c4c"></font><img alt="" border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTLpDLWRCgYqyko9bfyY9D79nDsMSTcHJ0DF0-z-AUSIA3ndMWJOZLVAlXl0LTXvmz_7FoX3rpmsVKbSKgWiWtzPe3P1QFUIHhjS_OIB3sNhzCK663u-etShqTGSGj3BqLPSK65QBDWWHF/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="" width="450" /></a></p> <p>Yes, I had red rimmed glasses in junior high. YES, my nicknames were Becca and Sally:</p> <p align="center"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghJhQxhSPRnUKHYIjIZ3uPAWvjvCGZxwp1o5iTgcwK7_74oHz5R0iulX3tXTorKw_Trhv8ZAwWmwkSZg4qU6v9Z7DFtuG59w3o9Z9cXfmrgX_VhVrjK6ziWQxWWAKtRkJ49RmX3NHsMwxZ/s1600-h/life-goes-on-the-complete-first-season-20070404035934217-000%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="becca life goes on" border="0" height="279" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiy9uXOs8XvXtYRGNwzeZdMO_DIVAFlqcEgS7xaAydBMlGV0xJL1lTnNMQ742G62DDIPpt0jH33EDzv0fq7pSSZ0ehLwXHz3Rjvhl-f-OBmre_b3hhBKPvBm5gJXD5qetmgRkx1ZFQlKKXQ/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="becca life goes on" width="276" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbDt5oVzYfdQv3203pycYboQgd5QTZO5OZ7RqipSpfbIo9E9aVuGruc4xN7QOGws4YcRXkKuDmBboaI2LvFEvGFWzR1LTvVHLzgSLevOY4k-BDtqVwWpQERTGKkOWmcDNG8dkgxKVCzbXU/s1600-h/sally-jessy-raphael-got-her-red-glasses-after-seeing-a-pap-smear-ad%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="sally jessy raphael" border="0" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdKIpyJE-JraEoC0OzA-IYqCC_kaaxOb9Rlwy3QZ50y0-tIye_2Aa6ri9fE4a1g4PG6DEwjNRsvElDCEYQx3tmaoW9zHqxxx5iIRKo_WMCTy31n1CEDdEkstK7IC5eHNCa_eOXfYJHsktT/?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: inline; border-top: 0px; border-right: 0px" title="sally jessy raphael" width="250" /></a> </p> <p>So how did you do? Reading your guesses had me rolling – this was FUN. Now maybe you should share one of YOURS?? ;) </p></p>

Bloggers revealed!

Well we have a winner of the epic Before they were DIY bloggers contest! There were so many of you who were SO close to guessing all of u...

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Before they were DIY bloggers…

<p><em>**We have a winner! The contest is now closed, but if you still want to try your hand at figuring us out, go ahead! ;)</em></p> <p>Ohhh, have I got a doozy for you today! First of all, I missed getting a post up yesterday because we had a sick little boy who was up ALL night long. I thoroughly enjoyed cuddling with him all day yesterday though. He’s on the mend and feeling much better, thankfully. :)</p> <p>OK, onto the goodness that is this <em>awesome</em> post. I still can’t believe we’re doing this. Like, for real.</p> <p><a href="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/guess_bloggers_logo1.jpg"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12580" height="334" src="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/guess_bloggers_logo1.jpg" title="guess_bloggers_logo" width="500" /></a> Let's take a ride in that DeLorean parked outside and go back in time…back to a time before there was Pinterest, Facebook and Twitter. Before chevrons, mercury glass and ombré were hot. And most importantly, before there were blogs!</p> <p>Back then, these bloggers were a bunch of prepubescent teens trying to find their own personal style -- some of them trying harder than others. ;) We've all gone through that "awkward stage" of adolescence, (and if you didn’t, I’m not sure I can talk to you anymore) and we thought it would be fun to play a game of sorts. </p> <p>Luckily, that game just happens to be at our expense:<a href="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Guess_the_blogger_FIN1.jpg"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-12596" height="1024" src="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Guess_the_blogger_FIN1-480x1024.jpg" title="Guess_the_blogger_FIN" width="480" /></a></p> <p>Do you recognize any of these DIY bloggers? Do you think you could recognize them in high school, middle school or elementary school? <em>For sure! Like, yeah! No duh! </em></p> <p>These awkward youngsters became the ladies behind a few DIY blogs you may know. And we are giving a $300 Lowe's gift card to the first person who can guess which faces match with which DIY blogs.</p> <p>It's pretty straight-forward. Match as many as you can, get more than other people, win $300 to Lowe's. Should be easy…but it’s not. I still get stuck on some, and I’ve been looking at them for days now. I may have laughed so hard I cried at some of them, including mine. Ah yes…adolescence. </p> <p>So glad it’s over. </p> <p>Here are the blogs to match:</p> <ul> <li><a href="http://www.320sycamoreblog.com/2007/01/welcome-to-320-sycamore-my-favorite.html" target="_blank">320 Sycamore</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2009/07/about-us.html" target="_blank">All Things Thrifty</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.beneathmyheart.net/about-2/" target="_blank">Beneath My Heart</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.decorchick.com/about/" target="_blank">Decor Chick</a> </li> <li><a href="http://diyshowoff.com/decorating-and-home-improvement-blog-by-roeshel/" target="_blank">DIY Showoff</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.net/2010/05/about-funky-junk-interiors.html" target="_blank">Funky Junk Interiors</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.homestoriesatoz.com/meet-beth" target="_blank">Home Stories A to Z</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.thehouseofsmiths.com/p/family-of-smiths.html" target="_blank">House of Smiths</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.theidearoom.net/about" target="_blank">The Idea Room</a> </li> <li><a href="http://theinspiredroom.net/about/" target="_blank">The Inspired Room</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.infarrantlycreative.net/about/" target="_blank">Infarrantly Creative</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.justagirlblog.com/about-jag/" target="_blank">Just a Girl</a> </li> <li><a href="http://theletteredcottage.net/4-2/" target="_blank">The Lettered Cottage</a> </li> <li><a href="http://makelyhome.com/about-makely/" target="_blank">Makely School for Girls</a> </li> <li><a href="http://missmustardseed.com/about/" target="_blank">Miss Mustard Seed</a> </li> <li><a href="http://myblessedlife.net/meet-myra" target="_blank">My Blessed Life</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.thenester.com/meet-the-nester" target="_blank">The Nester</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.notjustahousewife.net/about" target="_blank">Not Just a Housewife</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/about-me" target="_blank">Pretty Handy Girl</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.remodelaholic.com/about-us/" target="_blank">Remodelaholic</a> </li> <li><a href="http://sawdustgirl.com/2012/07/03/getting-to-know-me-getting-to-know-all-abouuuuut-me/" target="_blank">Sawdust Girl</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.theshabbycreekcottage.com/p/about-gina-shabby-creek-cottage.html" target="_blank">The Shabby Creek Cottage</a> </li> <li><a href="http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/2008/07/about-me.html" target="_blank">The Shabby Nest</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.songbirdblog.com/meet-songbird/" target="_blank">Songbird Blog</a> </li> <li><a href="http://southernhospitalityblog.com/meet-rhoda/" target="_blank">Southern Hospitality</a> </li> <li><a href="http://tatertotsandjello.com/about" target="_blank">Tatertots and Jello</a> </li> <li><a href="http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/1998/10/hello-and-welcome-to-thrifty-decor.html" target="_blank">Thrifty Decor Chick</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.vintagerevivals.com/p/about-mandi.html" target="_blank">Vintage Revivals</a> </li> <li><a href="http://www.younghouselove.com/about-2/" target="_blank">Young House Love</a> </li> </ul> <em><strong>Here are the details (you must be 18 yrs or older to win):</strong></em> <ul> <li>Visit the link below where you will be able to enter your guess for each blogger pictured above. (All information will be kept private.) </li> <li>The first person to correctly match all the faces with their blog will win a $300 Lowe's gift card! </li> <li>If you win, you will be emailed to collect your mailing address. (Then your prize will be mailed to you.) </li> <li>Of course, you will get bragging rights for being the biggest DIY blog fan ever or for having face recognition skills like no other. </li> </ul> <p style="text-align: center"><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFk3M2c5UXRqVWpFNkFkazJmblNOOHc6MQ"><img alt="" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-12586" height="130" src="http://www.prettyhandygirl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/Back_to_the_future_button.jpg" title="Back_to_the_future_button" width="288" /></a><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dFk3M2c5UXRqVWpFNkFkazJmblNOOHc6MQ" style="text-align: center" target="_blank"><strong>Enter Your Answers</strong></a></p> <p>Of course, this is just for fun -- we thought it would be hilarious. And it is. :) Just be kind when you figure out which one is me. </p> <p>** You can enter more than once if you don’t think you got them right the first time! And we’ll keep this open till we get a winner, I’ll let you know when it’s closed. </p> <p><em></em></p> <p><em>*Special thanks to Mandi of Vintage Revivals who <a href="http://www.vintagerevivals.com/2013/01/blog-puberty-its-thing.html" target="_blank">bared her soul about blog puberty</a>, (which seeded the idea to share our awkward photos with you!)</em></p>

Before they were DIY bloggers…

**We have a winner! The contest is now closed, but if you still want to try your hand at figuring us out, go ahead! ;) Ohhh, have I got a ...

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Pinterest fail (curls)

<p>OK peeps, this may be my one and only hair post here at TDC. Well, there is one other tip I found that actually works great on my hair, so maybe there will be two…someday. </p> <p>Don’t worry, it won’t become a thing. You’ll see from my photos that I’m meant to photograph house stuff, not myself. </p> <p>Anyway, I actually found this hair trick at <a href="http://pinstrosity.blogspot.com/2012/04/crummy-curls.html" target="_blank">Pinstrosity</a> – it’s a fun little site that you must check out! (I like that they don’t tear the original post apart – they often share how it could have been done better to fix the outcome.) The original post was from <a href="http://thepapermama.com/2011/07/hair-tutorial-no-heat-curl-html.html" target="_blank">PaperMama</a> and her hair turns out <em>gorgeous</em>!!</p> <p>I’ve been wanting to try this out for a while now – usually when I do my Zumba class at night I take a shower after and let my hair just naturally dry. Thing is, it’s a disaster in the morning. And I’m <em>so</em> not taking a shower all over again in the morning -- so it’s a pain. </p> <p>I thought it would be LOVELY if I could find an easy way to make my hair look presentable the next day, so I decided to finally try this out last night. The great part – you only need a headband, that’s it!</p> <p>You can visit the PaperMama site for a great video on how to do it – she shows you every step. I let my hair air dry for about 30 minutes and then started -- it actually was <em>much</em> easier than I thought it would be and took no time at all – maybe two minutes for my whole head:</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-AlA40qdjyyQ/UP_-7Qw44KI/AAAAAAAAaMI/Gos3S8boLA4/s1600-h/photo%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="no heat curl headband" border="0" height="436" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-mvzDNe0daG8/UP_-7z-uryI/AAAAAAAAaMQ/YsG84plO1Yk/photo_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="no heat curl headband" width="280" /></a></p> <p>(This is me this morning. These are all awful cell pics cause I was too lazy to get my camera.)</p> <p>You sleep with it like that overnight. I thought for sure the headband would come off at some point but I woke up with it exactly how I left it. </p> <p>You can see here how my hair is pulled through and around the headband:</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-LHDFNAwJQP8/UP_-8LGl35I/AAAAAAAAaMY/m_JBB41PXUY/s1600-h/photo2%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><font color="#4c4c4c"></font><img alt="no heat curl headband" border="0" height="349" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-HFgYQIwPctU/UP_-8qP0NdI/AAAAAAAAaMg/4eQG10DHB58/photo2_thumb%25255B5%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="no heat curl headband" width="280" /></a></p> <p>I woke with my hair completely dry and had high hopes. </p> <p>They were soon dashed. DASHED people. Were there curls? Yeah! Did I look like Shirley Temple? Heck yeah!!:</p> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-WGiLZ3YN22o/UP_-9MsZTyI/AAAAAAAAaMo/xc33UCgFsVk/s1600-h/photo3%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img alt="no heat curl fail" border="0" height="401" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-8aWw-W2ALmQ/UP_-9j1Ot0I/AAAAAAAAaMw/drIKII3Tb9I/photo3_thumb%25255B2%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="no heat curl fail" width="300" /></a></p> <p>Um…not what I expected. I’ve been growing out my hair for awhile now, but it’s obviously not nearly long enough for this trick. It worked…it just didn’t work like I <em>wanted</em>. </p> <p>I expected those loose, flowing curls, but I didn’t get them. ;) I tried to calm my head down by putting my fingers through my hair, a little water, and then even a brush. It helped…a little. But not enough: </p> <p><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-qC8kRap11ZU/UP_--R0TYhI/AAAAAAAAaM4/SdraXm005-8/s1600-h/photo6%25255B2%25255D.jpg"><img alt="no heat curl fail" border="0" height="427" src="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-tO1s1ssXw2E/UP_--mI8QOI/AAAAAAAAaNA/B3kFL4dMRxw/photo6_thumb.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="no heat curl fail" width="320" /></a></p> <p>There were also random pieces of hair in the back that were just frizzy and looked like I hadn’t done a thing to them, and I know they were wrapped around like the others. Who knows what happened there.</p> <p>I’ve learned one thing with this little project though – I was considering growing out my bangs and now that’s <em>so not gonna happen</em>. I, uh…need them. </p> <p>Here’s the thing – if you have long hair this may work great for you. And I am definitely going to try it again as my hair gets longer and I may try wrapping my hair less tightly. It felt pretty loose in there but it was obviously wrapped too tight. </p> <p>It worked, that’s for sure! Too well? </p> <p>I ended up just throwing my hair up into a loose pony for the day, and I love how full it is: </p> <p><a href="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-5LlLQ_LXgrc/UP_-_JSf3VI/AAAAAAAAaNI/AStSWkHhvEc/s1600-h/IMG_45562%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><font color="#4c4c4c"></font><img alt="no heat curl with headband" border="0" height="508" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-vPVVPoZNq7I/UP_-_p5NzLI/AAAAAAAAaNQ/Wme-n8Wxpvg/IMG_45562_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=800" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; display: block; float: none; margin-left: auto; border-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; border-right: 0px" title="no heat curl with headband" width="300" /></a></p> <p>This would be a GREAT base for an updo for a fancy occasion – it gives tons of body and fullness to your hair. </p> <p>So. That’s my experience with this hair trick. Have you tried any you’ve found on Pinterest? Have they worked? (Feel free to share links in the comments if you’ve posted about them. I love reading those!) I did find a way to curl my hair on Pinterest that I LOVE – it just takes forever. Maybe someday I’ll post about that…after a few more DIY projects of course. ;)</p>

Pinterest fail (curls)

OK peeps, this may be my one and only hair post here at TDC. Well, there is one other tip I found that actually works great on my hair, so m...

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