***UPDATED & CLOSED***Beauty on a Budget: It's a New Year!

 As always, the impartial men in my family assisted me with the selecting of the winners. I cut equal sized pieces of standard white copy paper and in fine print, I copy the name of each person who has entered on one slip of paper. If you earned additional entries but commenting or Facebook or Twitter, you name is put into the pot accordingly. Today, my husband had the honor of selecting the names from the pot!

Winner of Set 1: Meek (Shameka)

Winner of Set 2: Miss Liz (Annie)

Congrats to the winners and thanks to everyone who read and entered! I'll definitely be doing more giveaways so keep supporting the blog because the next giveaway will be soon! To the winners, please send your address to MrsValuable@gmail.com and I'll have your jewelry in the mail ASAP!



The first pair I made!



Happy New Year Y'all!!!

It's 2012 and what's a better way to celebrate a new year than a giveaway? I decided to try my hand at some jewelry again. This time, I decided to make some jewelry with a button making kit, ribbon I had at home, ring blanks, earring posts, and hot glue. All of the materials that I didn't already have were purchased from my favorite craft store, Hobby Lobby. (You know I used that 40% a single item coupon!)



The next things I made...



The earrings and rings were pretty easy to make and they are just so cute. I love stud earrings so these are perfect for me. Also, I wear a 3 1/2 ring size so I NEVER can find nice fashion rings that fit so I was really happy with this project because I was able to adjust the ring to my abnormally small fingers!

 Well, y'all know I always make extras so I'm going to share with you! You will have the opportunity to win one of two sets being given away. Check out the pictures below!

The extras I made!

Set 1: Button earrings and ring made from ribbon.



Set 2: Animal print button earrings made from ribbon....



...Set 2 will also include this button ring made from navy blue and off white ribbon!



The earrings are for pierced ears and the rings are adjustable!

This giveaway is open to US residents only.

To enter:

1. Subscribe to this blog!!!

2. Like my Facebook Page.

3. Leave a comment on this post and tell me which set you prefer.

And you're done!

If you want to earn a few extra entries, do the following:

1. Tweet the following, "I just entered @MrsValUable latest Beauty on a Budget Giveaway (http://mrsvaluable.blogpsot.com)!"

2. Leave me a comment on the Facebook Page and say, "I just entered Val's latest Beauty on a Budget Giveaway."

Those two simple actions will earn you two additional entries and you already know that more entries will increase your chance to win! This giveaway is running until 11:59 PM CST on Saturday, January 7, 2012. The winner will be announced on the blog Sunday, January 8, 2012!

My challenge for today is for you to enter this giveaway! Be blessed!

Happy New Year! It's 2012!

First, thank God for bringing me over into a new year! Hi-yah....followed by a fast clap!!! (If you're COGIC, you know what it is!) Secondly, thank you to my subscribers, readers, and lurkers! Without readers, this blog wouldn't be what it is!

So, how did I bring in the new year? I was at Watch Night Service. I enjoyed myself! Now, I did color my hair for my birthday a few days ago so I brought in the new year with a new color on my signature style-the side puff. I also played around in my eyeshadow for a new look to ring in the new year. I'll post the pics at the bottom! 

My challenge for today is to just be thankful for making it into this new year! So many people didn't (RIP to my nephew's father and the many others) get a chance to see 2012. Don't take it for granted! God bless us all in 2012!

It's My Birthday Eve...

25 is approaching rather quickly, y'all! Thank God for letting me make it this far! I can hardly believe it. And even though I barely look a day over 19, I definitely can feel the difference. I won't get too deep. This is just a light post today.

So...what should I give my hair for our 25th birthday on tomorrow? Some color? Twists? Maybe a trip to the salon? The classic side puff? What do you think? Let me know in the comment box below or leave a comment on the blog's Facebook wall. Your suggestions are welcomed, but I can tell you I will not be shaving or cutting my hair.

My challenge for today is to check yourself. Yep! I said check yourself. Are we really being the persons God has called us to be? The Bible is the mirror. If it doesn't line up with the Word of God, it is time to let it go. God bless!

My Hair Got Christmas Presents!

It’s almost Christmas!!!

So, I’m so glad that my husband decided to go out and do some Christmas shopping today. My oldest son (the 3 year old) will not just be opening up clothes on Christmas so I’m sure he’ll be happy about that! My youngest (the 5 month old) will probably just try to eat the wrapping paper and bows so he was going to be fine anyways.

Guess what! My hair got some presents today-courtesy of my friend (and one of my natural hair inspirations) and fellow blogger, Lawanda! She gave several of her blog readers presents for our hair this holiday season, which was a very thoughtful and unique idea! I like how she reused the baby food jar containers to give us her whipped Shea butter mixture. She also gave me a little spray bottle that has Aloe Vera and some oils in it.

Moment for Education: With natural hair (and all hair, really), it’s important to not only moisturize your hair, but to lock in the moisture. Shea butter is a great moisturizer for hair (and skin too). After applying moisture, use oils on the ends of your hair to seal in that moisture.

In my opinion, it’s best to use whipped Shea butter mixtures on wet/damp hair because it really moisturizes your hair that way, but it can be used on dry hair as well. Whenever I apply moisture, I always seal my ends! I can’t wait to get a chance to try out these gifts on my hair!

My challenge for today is to think about your hair regime. Does it need tweaking? Do you need to pay more attention to your ends? Do you condition and moisturize enough? If you think your regime could be improved, then do it! There’s so much information available on this blog and many others so there’s no excuse. Healthy hair is happy hair and happy hair will treat you right….most of the time! Be blessed!

The Twist Out Didn't Make It!

Good afternoon Y’all!

The twist out from this morning didn’t make it! It’s already flat-lined. No, it didn’t get frizzy; no, the weather had no part in its death. I intentionally killed it by putting it back into a bun. I told you all that I don’t really like to wear my hair down and my twist outs never quite look the way I want them to look. Also, my hair kept rubbing again my chair and my clothes and I just kept thinking, “My ends! My ends!” I did receive several compliments from my co-workers (thanks guys) about my twist out, but I just got the urge to pull it back…so I did! Don’t judge me!

I did style it in a protective style so do I get some brownie points for that? I did this at work in the bathroom during my lunch break so all I had was some water, my fingers and a few hair pins I had. I don’t think it turned out too badly when you think of what I was working with. Now, I happen to really like this so I will make it more pretty when I get home and probably wear this style the rest of the week! (Check out my post from earlier to see how the twist out looked!)

Easy Twist Out Style

Good morning!!!

So, I can’t believe that Christmas is in 4 days and I’ve only bought a couple of things for my boys! And you know what, I’m really not tripping about it. My boys are young (5 months and 3 years old) so they are not really caught up in the material side of Christmas and I don’t want them to be in the future. As for my husband and I, both of our birthdays are soon so we are more into celebrating them than going all out on Christmas. We both feel like the new house we bought at the end of September was an early Christmas gift; this year and every year, we really try to focus on celebrating our Savior on Christmas Day!

Okay, so I’m checking in to let you guys know that I did a twist out today! I put my hair in some Ms. Celie twists on Monday night. I did them on dry hair, but I did apply a little bit of water with my spray bottle and of course some Shea Moisture Smoothie. I did about 12 large twists while watching “The Wayans Brothers” re-runs with my Hubby. I slept in them Monday night and wore a beret Tuesday so that I could keep them in all day. I woke up this morning and took them out. My twist outs never look exactly how I want them to, but I’m going to wear it today and I’ll probably put it in a bun tonight or tomorrow. I’ve never been the type to wear my hair down because I don’t like my ends rubbing against my clothes or getting in my way. Plus, buns and updo styles just look so cute on me!

My challenge for today is to not to get caught up in the materialism of Christmas. It is okay to have fun and buy gifts, but don't forget Jesus! Be blessed!!!

Flexi-Rod Fiasco...Not This Time

I'm back!!!

As you can see, I decided to get right back into the game of trying to master flexi-rods! I used my spray bottle of water and went to rolling last night. I didn't add any product this time. Also, I used more rollers last night. The first time I did it, I used about 22 rollers. Last night, I used almost 40 rollers. With using more rollers, the sections were smaller and I paid more attention to the back of my hair, which was the section that was blah on yesterday. I even forced myself to sit underneath the dryer for almost an hour and a half before going to sleep. I did sleep in the rollers again, but they are soft so it wasn't too bad. (As Mrs. Hughes told me on yesterday, "Beauty is pain!")

So, I woke up today and started my day-talking to God, taking care of the kids, and doing some chores. After several hours, the rollers being in my hair started to get on my nerves so I decided it was time for the TAKE DOWN! Needless to say, I was a bit worried, but I felt with the modifications I made that my hair would definitely turn out better....and it did, y'all! I didn't feel the need to pin up the back, but I probably will end up doing it within the next few days to get more days out of this flexi-rod set. Check out the pictures below! 

I can see that with flexi-rod styles, the more I do them, the better they will turn out so I think I'll be trying using flexi-rods to achieve different styles. That way I can give myself a change from my normal puffs, buns, and WnGs.  Shout out to my friend, Annie, who will be so proud of me because she knows that I can be lazy when it comes to styling my hair and she understand how BIG of a deal it is for me to be trying styles that take longer than 15 minutes or so to do.

For the people interested in my make-up, I promise you it was very simple to do. I normally apply it with clean fingers and/or disposable wedges. I don't wear a lot of make-up. My daily make-up routine consists of a bit of tinted moisturizer (by Mary Kay), mascara (Falsies by Maybelline), blush (by Mary Kay), and some Vaseline for my lips. Sometimes (mostly on the weekends or for special occasions or if I'm in the mood), I will put on some eyeshadow (bought from many places and some has been given to me by my dear friend Mrs. Brown) and lip gloss (Ulta brand or something with a slight shimmer). When I do wear eyeshadow, I always get compliments so I might so a tutorial in the near future.

Well, check out my post from earlier for today's challenge! I pray that you all have a very blessed day!