I Solemly Swear You'll Love This

"Not my daughter, you b****!" ~Mrs. Weasley in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

{best line from the movie, hands down}

Well, if you're looking for a fun, new tutorial, then prepare to work some mischief! This is my first tutorial for photo manipulation especially for this blog, so here we go!

{swish and *flick*!}

For this tutorial, I used Paint Shop Pro, but really any tutorial like this can be used w/ any program {like the regular Photoshop}. The things I'll show you might have different names or might be in slightly different areas, but all these kinds of programs should have the same capabilities.

So I opened the original {my Deathly Hallows 2 premiere getup!!} and immediately used one of my favorite commands, "brightness and contrast" it brings out the colors quite nicely:

So it looks a lil' like this:

I usually play with the numbers depending on the original lighting, and so should you for your project. But a good first try should be -10 brightness and +10 or 20 contrast.

Next, add some textures! They can be found just about anywhere, but I get my kicks on http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/textures/. Most people post them primarily for free use, but each artist has their own rules and generally all of them want credit if you use them publicly. Like for this tutorial, or if you post a piece online, you don't want to plagorize!

So here's the ones I'm using for this tutorial:

http://ericamarieart.deviantart.com/

http://night-fate-stock.deviantart.com/gallery/28174591#/d2s1ccw

I tried finding some that would fit the "vision" if you will of what I want to see when it's finished; since I'm sporting Gryfindor colors, I wanted the tones and hues to be on the red/orange side and I picked things that would do that for me. If you were doing Slytherein, you would want something that is sort of already green/dark green/black.

So I pasted each one into the project as seperate layers. You'll notice that they're all seperate for a reason; you can change each one seperately or delete one that you don't like. It's the breathing air of photomanipulators everywhere. You just go to Edit-->paste-->paste as new layer and it should do the work for you. I rename mine so I know which ones I'm dealing with. Make sure you change the sizes of the textures so it covers the whole space of the picture (some will be really big or small).

The next part is fun:

They won't start off looking like this, but next to the layers, there is the word, Normal by each of the layers. If you click on that and scroll through the different options, you can see it does really cool things to the layers, so you can see right through them to the picture, which you want. Here for example, I've got both of them on Hard Light and the top reddish layer on 68%. Like I said, you're gonna have to play around with them because each picture or texture doesn't lead to a cookie-cutter result. That's the mischief part!

You can tell that part of the texture is covering important things like--my face!

On each layer, you'll want to lightly and gently erase so you don't loose your texture's effect but you can  still see the vitals.

As you can see, I fiddled w/ the layers and decided the reddish layer would be on Overlay at 84% and the tan swirled one on Hard Light at 70%. I used a relatively large eraser, but fiddled with the most important parts: Opacity and Hardness. Opacity will still erase but it won't be bold, if it's only 32% visible; it compliments the magical sense that I want, sort of smokey and awesome. The 17% Hardness will make the edges of the eraser very fuzzy. If you mess around with it, you'll know what I mean.

And you can't have a wand without MAGICAL SPARKLES! So we'll top off this project with some different colored sparkles.

For this part, I used free and downloadable brushes. It's something I'm still experimenting with, but think of this like those stamp markers from kindergarten; instead of drawing the sparkles you can use the brushes to "stamp" them there.

Again, brushes are like textures; there are a lot out there, but give the artists credit! It's beyond me how they create 'em in the first place, so they're nice enough as it is to let us use them. You can find brushes that work specifically for your program here: http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/

The brushes I used were a mix from this package:

http://browse.deviantart.com/resources/applications/pspbrushes/?qh=&section=&q=fairy#/d2b6udd

If you've never used brushes, you just have to install them into your program. For Paint Shop Pro, I just go File-->Import-->Custom Brush and then I just open the brush files and it's done! When you select your regular paint brush, you can select from the drop-down menu the specific brush you want.

Now I created a whole new layer. It's different for every program, but usually you can right click a layer and select "create new layer"--something to that effect.

When you've chosen your poison so to speak, you can select the colors you want and start stampin'! I usually go dark to light, and for this I stamped some red, then orange, yellow and white, mostly white. It'll look a bit like this!

For sparkles, you keep them on the top layer and on Normal, 100% Opacity. It's how we do.

And thaaaaat's it! To save the project, you simply right click one of the layers and Merge (Flatten) your image. It makes the file not so big. If you were to save it and work on it later, you wouldn't flatten the image, but save it as a photoshop image, not jpeg. Once they're flattened, they can't be pulled apart again!

{ Mischief Managed! }

Don't Be Drab, Get FAB!

Hallo!

So w/ this new haircut of mine, I wanted to test out a classic favorite hairstyle that had people turning their heads. Sort of literally. I basically know how to make my super straight hair look like practically naturally curly, and here’s a tutorial to prove it. Have thick hair, board-straight locks and a bad history with curling irons? This is probably for you, and it works with all sorts of hair lengths, short and even medium-length (I haven’t tried super long…yet).

Give this try if you’re looking for a fun new style, but as practical advice—try it on a day that isn’t totally important in case something goes wrong. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.

You’ll basically need mousse, hairspray and soft curlers. The ones that work great are these white ones (sorry they look like you-know-whats but deal with it); it’s got a spongey middle and wires on the ends to twist (if there’s a brand I don’t know what it is). I found a 20-pack at Target for like, $10 and they work like a charm. I don’t think the brand of hairspray or mousse really matters; just find whatever products that are for curls or volume, whatever helps.

  1.       Okay first things first, game plan. You don’t wanna curl your hair in random clumps everywhere, keep it classy. What I usually do is put my hair in a half ponytail, separating the top layer from the bottom, and if you have bangs, whether they are side-swept or full-front, leave them out of the ponytail, it should be its own section. I like curling my bangs because they’re long enough to go behind the ear, and I do those first.

**WHICH REMINDS ME. If you have short hair like me, barely at the shoulders, this may not apply to you. But when I had medium-length hair (and my hair is thick) I slept with these curlers in my hair overnight. So if you think you want to try this, the good news is that it’ll stay all day long once you unravel the locks. Bad news, it may be uncomfortable to sleep with. If you’re a side sleeper, or content sleeping with your face on the side, try putting the curlers in towards the back or top of your head; you don’t want one on your temple and figure out a precise spot your head won’t hurt. Same with back sleepers; move them to the sides of your head, rather than having them at the nape of your neck or it’s like sleeping on rocks. Not good.

  2.       Squirt about…ugh, I don’t know a decent size, maybe like a tablespoon’s sized blip of mousse in your hand and just start from the roots and just slide your hand down to the tips so the entire clump of hair is a tad bit stiff yet malleable. Your hair can be wet, but the curls won’t be as dramatic for thick hair. It’s best to work with dry hair, and the mousse helps the hair twist better v. completely dry hair.

  3.       Hold the white curler so the wired ends are facing up and down, and wind the end of the clump of hair twice; roll the hair tightly in a spiral shape all the way to the roots, tucking the ends of the hair in. Once it’s tight, twist the ends of the curler together and when tight enough, you can bend the ends towards the roll of hair so they’re not sticking out. They may feel…”jiggly” at first, like they’re not in tight enough, but trust me, they’ll stay in.

  4.       It doesn’t really matter how you start after the bangs are done, but I usually do the bottom layer strands first. You basically want to follow step 3 with all the rest of your hair, but be warned, don’t but in too much in one curler and you’ll get a feel for how much is “too much.” It’s especially hair to wrap a lot of shorter hair, as I’ve learned w/ this new cut; I had to use more curlers for the bottom layer so they’ll actually look curly. If you try rolling in thick clumps, the curls won’t be as tight and it’ll be harder to twist with the curlers. Just lookin’ out for ya.

** Just a tip: if you mess up, as in don’t have enough curlers,  don’t be afraid to unravel some neighbor curlers and “spread the wealth.” If that doesn’t make sense, or if nothing really makes sense, then just comment below and I’ll answer questions.  I never really know how thorough or vague my instructions are, so I won’t be offended.

**If you like a certain part in your hair, make sure your hair follows as such, especially bangs.

**Another thing: if you want mega volume, make sure you curl in layers. Basically that means you’re going to make some vertical curls where some clumps are being moussed straight up in the air and curled to the roots. Those’ll be fun, I promise. You’ll hopefully have these curlers all over your head.

      This step is optional, but if your hair is thick like heck, you’ll need hairspray. Just lightly spritz around your head, it’s just for an extra hold so the curls last longer.

This next step is for when you’re ready to unravel them. This is after a “so-so” night’s sleep or if your hair is pretty short, after a mere 2-3 hours. While taking pictures for this tutorial I waited 2 hours before doing steps 5 - 7 and it lasted all day! A major plus for short hair, no doubt.

   5.       No matter if you curled the top part or the bottom part first, you’ll want to unravel at the bottom layer first. Basically just unwind the wired ends and gently unroll the curl. I usually run my fingers through it like a comb which makes the curls softer and gives it more volume. DON’T use a brush, on pain of death. Basically unravel layer by layer, working from the nape of the neck to the top of the head, and I usually leave the bangs or curlers framing my face last. It’s just a preference so I can see what I’m doing.

  6.       Once you’ve done this and all the curlers are out, plus you’ve run your fingers through to sort of separate the curls into more curls, you’re aaaalmost done. Flip your head so your luscious locks are hanging towards the floor. Grab your hairspray and spray at the hair at the nape of the neck, and basically everywhere else. While the hairspray is relatively damp, grab a clump of hair and crunch it in your hand but scrunching it up to the roots. It’s the best way to guarantee day-long curls.

  7.       Flip your head back so your hair sits like normal and holy volume, right? It’ll tame, but you might like it the way it is. It’s kinda runway sexy at first and pretty fabulous. You’ll probably need to bobby pin your side bangs because they’ll poke you in the eye, guaranteed; hairclips, flowers, headbands are also encouraged. Also, repeat the hairspray scrunching move, and make sure you’re spraying around the tips of the hair, because those’ll be the first to straighten.

Ta-daaa!  It’s pretty grand, eh? You can’t get curls like this w/a curling iron, at least I can’t because I’m rather impatient with that thing.

So if you’re interested in giving this a try, do it on a mundane day; don’t be trying it for the first time for a dance, wedding, whatever you have to look attractive for; if it works for you by all means give it a go, but at least make sure you give yourself enough time.

I’ll estimate 4 hours tops for the whole process if your hair is short like mine; the process of curling your hair should take around 30min and unraveling probably 15min. I get faster and faster with practice.

I hope you’ve enjoyed this tutorial, plus the pictures to go along with it. Most of them are to be silly and fun. But seriously comment comment COMMENT! Whether good or bad. If you like tutorials, I’ve got some more, I’m sure. There’s definitely a strong chance of more recipes! :)

top secret recipe?



Aww, freshman year Whitters!

shhhh....
I've been bullied into a corner for this recipe a few times, so if you happen to stumble upon this blog, write this down. This is hands down one of my favorite things to make and I think I've made a few friends because of it, too. Every little bit helps, right? This is called Danish cake, and I see what you might be thinking: is it really Danish? Nope, it's not, but I understand the confusion, because Danish food is quite delicious. <3


Danish Cake
1 box of yellow cake mix
1 pkg. french vanilla pudding mix (smallest size)
1 container of sour cream (personally, go with the 16oz)
1 tsp almond extract
4 eggs
¾ cups oil

for later: 1/2 stick of butter
                 cinnamon-sugar


Preheat the oven to 350° F and combine all the ingredients--except the cinnamon sugar and butter, that's for later. It's usually easier to mix the liquid/moist ingredients first then adding the cake and pudding mix.


Once it's mixed completely, you need to grease a bunt pan. Use the butter (softened)nd spread it all over the pan, if you wash your hands, it's easier to use your hand to make sure it's properly spread in the contours of the pan. You also need to sprinkle the cinnamon-sugar in the pan as well. Trust me, on this one!


Carefully put the cake mix in the pan and spread so it's evenly set. Don't worry if the mix only fills up the pan half way or something like that; it's going to rise and fill the whole pan!


Bake for 50-55 minutes and use a toothpick to test if it's done. If it comes out clean, mission accomplished.

You need to remove the cake from the pan--immediately. You'll need a sturdy plate. Just place the plate on top of the pan and use oven mitts and flip the entire thing. Carefully lift the pan directly up and if you spread the butter correctly before, the pan will come up and the cake will be perfectly intact.


Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar, because more will equal deliciousness. You need to wait for it to cool and if you have leftovers, it needs to be covered and tinfoil usually works. It keeps it niiiice and moist!


Well, the secret's finally out. If you have fantastically radical success, be sure to credit me? Please? Stay tuned for more party-rific recipes.