Tag: head

Shiny Polka Dots

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation2 Comments

I bought this scarf (I think it is actually half of a shawl that must have been damaged) in the East Indian area of Chicago a while back, but never wore it because I couldn’t decide whether or not it was casual or formal.  Well, I finally pulled it out, and here is the result!  The shape is almost a square (aka a very wide rectangle) so I just folded the front in to make it fit my head, and tied one knot at the side.  The headband and contrasting colour at the bottom made it so nothing else was needed!

For those of you celebrating religious holidays, I hope you are having a joyous and meaningful time, and to everyone else, hope you are having a lovely weekend!

The New Twist

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation4 Comments

 

I am still experimenting and perfecting this new wrap!  I think it’s now mastered, so you can look forward to a video on how to do it soon!  This one was done with two cotton scarves instead of the shimmery gold and yellow ones from before.  And my beaded bobby pin was the perfect contrasting accessory 🙂

Flowers ‘n’ Ribbons

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation, Recommendations7 Comments

I am really starting to look forward to opening my mail box.  There are so many artistic ladies on this site! My friend, Stephanie, who is a Lady Wrap Star (see her post here) is also starting to make her own scarf wrapping accessories!  They are gorgeous, and work very well because they are specifically made for those of us that cover with scarves.  I am loving this pretty gift of a yellow flower clip/headband – I can’t seem to stop wearing it!

wrapunzel andrea grinberg flower stephanie

I hope that one day I can start being crafty like some of the ladies on here… but for now, I can just get excited about opening my mail box!  Here is the flower headband/clip on a different wrap:

Stephanie is also making hair clip holders (basically, a pretty ribbon – or two – attached to a loop that can be hung on your wall) and sent me one.  It holds my flower clips beautifully and is very practical for storage.  You can see it on the left side of this photo.  (On the right is how I store my pins.)  Yay no more crushed flowers!

wrapunzel andrea grinberg flower stephanie

I am not sure, but I do think she is selling her creations and since everything is made by hand, will do special requests.  I will let her clarify that!  Thank you Stephanie!
(and FYI – she did not ask me to make this post… but how could I not? ❤ )

Yellow & Gold

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation5 Comments

After last week’s surprise success with the colour yellow, I was encouraged by a special reader to try wrapping with a gold scarf.  The funny (and amazing) thing is that within a few hours of receiving her suggestion, I was waiting for a friend who was running late and decided to duck into a gift shop.  All their “winter” scarves were on a huge sale, and I put winter in quotes because included was a beautiful, sheer, woven gold scarf.  This is the wrap that I created with it… and YES, I will make a video tutorial on how to do the twist part, because I just figured it out!

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I took these photos with a faulty camera in a room with inadequate light, so I had to play with the settings on my computer to make them look acceptable… yay artsy!

The Classic Layered Regal Wrap

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation2 Comments

This wrap is such a classic… and always gets a lot of “wow”s and questions.  It’s easy!  You can be a little less careful with it (ie leave scarf fringe hanging out, don’t line up layers perfectly) and it still looks put together.  This one is exactly the same wrap that I show in this video, except minus one scarf.

Hope you are all doing well!  Happy wrapping 🙂

Surprise yourself!

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation20 Comments

Yellow.  The colour that I long refused to wear.

I claimed that since it matched with my hair, I couldn’t pull it off because I would be “all one colour”.  Somehow, when I started covering my hair, I neglected to realize that since my hair colour would no longer be showing, this logic no longer applied.  Since covering my hair, I had always avoided yellow scarves and ran towards my favourite blues and greens.

Well, of course this logic was flawed, because my own “yellow” hair was no longer showing!  Therefore I would not be all one colour if I wore it.

andrea grinberg wrapunzel yellow

Thanks to my mistakenly holding this scarf up to my face in a store (I was reaching for the blue), I have realized that yellows and golds are probably some the most beautiful colours for me to wrap over my hair!  I especially like this scarf because it is so big and soft… quite comfortable!  And of course, my “tichel tiara” made it look even more elegant.  I think this is one of my new favourites!

Lesson learned;  Surprise yourself!  🙂

Volume How-To

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Recommendations, Tutorials!38 Comments

Ever wondered how to get that perfect bun and amount of volume at the back of your headwrap?  Here is the secret solution!  (Well, not so secret anymore.)

Actually, I gave you a grand total of 7 solutions in this video!

Here are the links to some of the places I mentioned in this video (fyi – these resources are not sponsored… just ones that I have used and/or know!)

The volumizer can be found through Judith de Paris.  And on facebook.  Judith is a lovely woman.  You can talk to her personally if you need advice on what size to get etc. – or just ask me for help!

The hijab hump bonnet can be found on ebay through this seller.  It comes from Malaysia so you need to have some patience when waiting for it, but there was a lovely handwritten note included.  I’m thinking of buying a cotton one from them as well.

My post on how to make it look like you have a huge bun using a long scarf is here.

The volumizer that can be made out of a loofah has a couple of diy tutorials on youtube.  Here is one that someone sent to me.

And this is what the hair donut I was describing looks like:
hairdonut

Silk Discovery

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Recommendations10 Comments

A friend of mine recently sent me a link to a lovely woman’s scarf “shop” on etsy.com.  For those of you that don’t know, Etsy is a site that allows artistic people to sell their handmade creations via the internet.  I love this concept, because it allows you to buy beautiful creations directly from the creator.  Most of the prices are very reasonable, but even if some things cost a few dollars more, I will gladly pay that to support small businesses and be able to forge a relationship with the person that makes the products.  For me, that relationship is so important and something that my generation is often lacking.  Anyway, I messaged the woman, talked a bit, picked a scarf, and just received it in the mail!  It’s beautiful, colourful, and light.  I love the paneling and that it’s the perfect size to wrap around my head.  Anyway, her name is Norma, and you should check out her creations here.

Here is the scarf I ordered:

andrea grinberg wrapunzel silk

The first wrap that I did, I used a purple israeli scarf to bring out the purple hues in the green one:

 

 

The second wrap (which I’m wearing today) is my father’s influence.  He spoke to me recently, telling me about a woman that he saw on the subway wearing a really cool headwrap.  He tried to describe it as best he could, telling me that the ends were hanging down on both sides like hair, and this is my attempt at recreating what he told me!

andrea grinberg wrapunzel silk

andrea grinberg wrapunzel silk

Green & Blue

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation5 Comments

Y’all encouraged my colour experiment with light green last week, so I am wearing the green scarf once more!  I contrasted it with my blue flowered scarf and wrapped it into a layered wrap, which was surprisingly easy to do, given how long I’ve gone without tying one of these!

So the conclusion is: for those of you that may have had trouble with the “Layered Look” wrap, just be persistent!  Once you get it, you won’t forget it!  (The one difference between this wrap and the one in the video is that I tucked the ends into themselves instead of underneath the wrap, and left one of the green ends hanging down.)

The Wonder Scarf

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation7 Comments

I always appreciate scarves that make your wraps look much more intricate than they actually are.  Scarves that have multiple patterns and colours do this job very well as you can see in the following photos:

Yes, this is just one scarf, tied in the simplest long scarf wrap (see tutorial here).  A beautiful beaded pin finishes off the look and the final result is something that looks much more complicated than it actually is.  Yay!

Introducing the Amazing Stephanie!

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Lady Wrap Stars9 Comments

I am so happy to introduce you to this wonderful woman.  Stephanie and I found each other over the internet when she was searching for hair covering resources, and recently we got to meet in person when she made a 4 hour drive to my hair covering workshop!  You can see some pictures of her at the workshop here.  Anyway, we talked for hours before and afterward, and I am so grateful to now call her a good friend.  She is hilarious, wise, warm, giving, and tells great stories!  Her journey and reasons for covering her hair are quite compelling, as you will read, and she does so beautifully!

wrapunzel stephanie lady wrap star

Hi Stephanie, do you have any nicknames?
I do, Steph, Stephers, Step-on-me (when the kids – church or family – wanna rough house), sweetie, hon, hey you, and on it goes. 🙂 The newest reference of me that I’ve heard was some little kids who couldn’t remember my name from church calling me “the lady who covers her head”.  I like that one.

How long have you been covering your hair?
I have been covering since approximately Nov of 2011, and I only cover part-time (we’ll get to the why).

What led to your decision to cover?
Well for me it’s an obedience thing.  I felt as though I was being led to do it after praying and studying on it for about 6 months.

When people ask you why you cover, what do you say?  Do you have a long and short version of what you tell people?
Yes there is a long and short version depending on how interested someone is.
Short version:  I choose to cover because I believe it has been asked of me in the Bible and i want to obey.
Long version: I wear one because I believe we are held accountable for what we know. In studying the Bible one night I read this: “But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head” (the second word ‘head’ is referring to the order- God being head of Christ, Christ head of man, man head of woman- its explained right before that verse) 1 Corth 11:5. I certainly don’t want to dishonor my husband or God so I cover. Now there is a lot more to the verse (so please take a look at 1 Corinthians 11:3-16) but that specific part struck me. So I prayed about it for about 6 months and in that time I felt like God really wanted me to obey. I kept having “just obey Me in this” going thru my head. I did and I have felt like God has really blessed me for doing so. I wear them in church or anytime I’m in leadership or going to be publicly praying (and I let my husband define “public” for me). I have gotten to the point that if I am without my husband in public I will typically wear one (I go bare headed with him [unless we’re praying] since he loves my hair and I wish to respect him). I have tried many styles of covering but this one just fits me best. 😀

How has your community responded to your covering?
I live in a small town and to my knowledge I am the only non-muslim that covers in about a 50 mile radius (maybe more). That being said I do occasionally get the odd stare but typically no one seems to notice or care much, either way not a lot of attention is drawn to it, except for in church- I get ALOT of nice comments about it then – just this last week I had one of the older ladies look at my tichel and exclaim “you have GOT to show me how you tie those.”  Needless to say that made my day.

Any cool experiences/realizations you have had since starting to cover?
I’ve realized just how much I wish to be more modest- not that I wasn’t considered modest by general standards but I desired modesty more. I realized that modesty does NOT have to be drab and boring black – but about how wonderful the things are, big or small, that you share with just that one person that makes you whole.

What are your favourite scarves and accessories?
Oohhh thats a toughie!! I think for me my favorite scarves are the variegated ones (I have a brown, blue and pink variegated ones) the wonderful thing about them is you don’t have to exactly match the color since all shades are included. My favorite accessories hummm I have too many to decide!! I strongly suggest a silver and gold thin scarf since these make wonderful additions in color, I make my own flowers and often pin them in on the side or back on my bun. Stick pins are terrific!! They are getting harder to find, so again I started making my own, then I make matching earrings so I have a nice cohesive look. Regular pins/brooches work – they just can be a bit harder to get in, however any pin will help hold together your layers to keep from slipping!

What do you find is the best way for you to tie your scarves when you consider your colouring and face shape?
I like height in the back, the BIG bun look. I don’t like height so much on the front half of my head –  it seems to make my face MUCH rounder looking (so I stay away from the crown/dutch crown look). I also do a lot of the hanging tails (braided or not), I find that style helped me get used to not having my hair down to play with since I’m a hair twirler.

 Any secret tips or tricks that you have?
ABSOLUTELY!! 3 big ones! 2 smaller one.
1) It sounds odd I know, but honestly I never use an undercap, headband or wig grip (my head is too round they slip right off), I use a pair of pantyhose!! You can leave the legs on or off- your choice (if you leave them on you can make a bun of them). When I use that I have to work pretty hard to get it to slip off.
2) You can make it or buy it, but if you have thin or short hair and want it to look nice and bigger at the back get a ‘bun enhancer’ (I bought mine at icing by claires’- and they come in multi colors and sizes) I have heard of others making theirs from a bath scrubs and even socks, so the choice is yours!
3) I know you have heard this from many sources (including our dear Andrea) but really don’t forget to wear earrings (and maybe a necklace) they REALLY help finish off a look! Personally for my round face I find teardrop or dangles work best (I try to stay away from hoops, loops and studs) if you don’t have dangle earrings you can find a great set of gold,silver and black teardrops at target for $5 and it will go with ANYTHING! (love mine they were a present from my father-in-law.)
4) If you wear glasses and you keep your ears ‘in’ then make sure you don’t tie it too tight or you will end up w/ pain from the glasses digging in above your ears.
5) If you want your hair to look pretty decent when u take off your wrap DO NOT wrap while your hair is still wet. You will end up with weird frizziness and VERY flat hair.

Do you match your head scarf to your outfit or the other way around?
Well it depends I suppose. usually match the outfit to the scarf but if I get something new then I work the scarf around the outfit. Usually I go by mood – if I’m feeling pink or purple I’ll assemble an outfit and scarf around that.

What are you grateful for today?
I am grateful for new friends, for my WONDERFUL husband, and a good day. 🙂

 

Beautiful Brown

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Daily Scarf Creation4 Comments

I love the colour brown.  I secretly (or not so secretly) yearned for brown hair, but never coloured it because I was given such a lovely shade of blonde.  Now that I cover, I can make my head any colour that I please!

This wrap is an easy adaptation of the regal wrap.  Instead of wrapping the second strand flat over my head, I gave it a twist!

This Week’s “Lady Wrap Star” !

On By Andrea GrinbergIn Lady Wrap Stars7 Comments
Meet this week’s Lady Wrap Star and be inspired by her beautiful scarf creations!
Lady Wrap Star also known as:
Mary Burkholder:
Tell us a bit about yourself!  How do you choose to spend your time?
I work in the shipbuilding industry as a 3D AutoCad/Catia designer. When I’m not at work, I am home chasing after my two boys, ages 6 and 17 months. When my babies are asleep I enjoy crocheting and spending time with my husband.
How long have you been covering?
For about 6 months now. Prior to that, I was completely unaware of covering and it’s significance until one evening when I came across Rivka Malka’s channel on YouTube. Her tichel’s are so gorgeous, and I was completely intrigued, so I started watching her how-to video’s to see how it was done. I was instantly hooked, and the desire to cover started growing in my heart until it became something I deeply wanted to do and couldn’t stop thinking about.
What is the one thing that you like best about covering your hair?
I don’t know if this will make sense to anyone else, but there is amazing dignity that comes with covering. I’ve heard it said that it’s like a crown, and that’s probably the most accurate description I can come up with. I feel an overwhelming sense of value and love for my own self when I cover. There have been more than several times when I finish my tichel and stand back to evaluate and all I can say is ‘wow, wow, wow!’. I don’t know about the average woman, but I’d venture to say, “wow” is not an emotion we frequently experience when standing in front of our mirrors. But when you cover, it happens, and it’s surprising and pleasant.:)
The very first time I ever wore a covering here at home was on a Friday night Shabbat. It was a simple brown sparkly triangle with no volumizer or other layers, very simple. My oldest son, Caleb who was 5 at the time, came in the room where I was, took one wide-eyed look at me and said “Mom you look so beautiful, you look like Shabbat!”. With one simple comment about one simple covering, he sealed in my heart that the beauty wasn’t in how great I could get it to look, but in keeping it simple enough for my children to always be able to recognize the spirit of Shabbat in what I wore. 🙂
I notice that you wear glasses – has that affected the kinds of head coverings that you wear?
No, I don’t think it’s affected the type of coverings I wear, however when I go to choose new glasses in the very near future, how they look while I’m wearing a head covering will determine my choice.
What are you wearing on your head today?
Today I’m wearing an apron style tichel from Judith de Paris coupled with a cream colored scarf. 
wrapunzel lady wrap star mary
Do you remember the first time you wore a head covering?  What did it look like?  How did it feel?  What did others say?
Yes I do! 🙂 This wasn’t the very first time wearing a head covering, but it was the very first time wearing one to work and it was a huge, but very significant step for me. I work in an environment that is majority male, but a good amount female in my immediate group. I was self-conscious at first, but the response from my co-workers was so overwhelmingly positive, that I felt at ease very quickly. As you see in the picture, it was two Israeli tichels, one white one purple, and a multi-colored black/purple/silver scarf wrapped around. Still one of my favorite combinations!
wrapunzel lady wrap star mary
Your favourite scarf and/or accessory:
It is so hard to pick just one, but this is my favourite. It’s cream, brown and teal, with gold shimmer lurex woven throughout. I love shimmer. 🙂
Add a brown scarf and a butterfly pin that my mother gave me and now it’s really my favourite!
Could you share a unique experience (or two) that happened to you due to covering your hair?
It’s amazing the conversations that get started. I’ve had women at work thank me because now they feel free to cover, whereas before they were really concerned about what the response would be.
What are some of your hair covering suggestions?  Any tips you would like to share with us?
To don’t be discouraged when you can’t seem to get it just right. I’ve turned my arms into rubber on some looks, and on others gotten it right the very first time. What’s amazing is when you find your favorite style. Mine came after I received my volumizer from Judith de Paris. How I lived without that and my velvet head band, I will never know. But it was after that point when I stopped being afraid of “too much” volume. I don’t know now if there is such a thing for my head shape. One tip for the headband is a tiny bit of mousse. My hair is super fine and sometimes, especially after the headband starts to stretch, I find that everything wants to start sliding again. I fixed this one day by getting everything pulled into the elastic band, and then smoothing a small bit of mousse all over before putting on the headband. It gives you an extra secure feeling that really does last all day.
What is your favourite colour?
Purple is top, but I gravitate a lot towards browns, blues, teals, etc 🙂
What are you grateful for right now?
I’m beyond grateful for those precious boys of mine sleeping peacefully in the next room. I could kiss those noggins right off.
And today especially, I’m grateful for answered prayers. For a G-d who not only sees and hears, but responds. I’m super grateful today 🙂