The Headband Secret Tutorial!

It’s long been talked about that headbands can add a beautiful layer to your headwrap with minimal bulk and almost zero effort… but I’ve never tried putting on 6 headbands at a time before!  Can you believe I’m only wearing one scarf in the photo below?  LOVE the result!

The Headband Secret Wrapunzel

On the Wrapunzel Store site, we call these babies “The Headband Secret”!  They’re perfect stretchy cotton and they don’t budge once in place!

Here’s the tutorial!

Meet the Green Family!

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Mushky, Shifrah, and Zahava

The Wrapunzelution has allowed ladies from all over the world to connect, and I am so happy that it has allowed me to get to know the Greens!  I met Mushky when my husband and I first moved to Baltimore and she expressed so much excitement about covering her hair when getting married (which was happening soon!)  She works at our favourite local bookstore, which my husband and I *may* (cough!) have a slight addiction to, so we get to see her a lot!

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Mushky wearing The Cranberry in purple!

After getting married, we were continuously wow-ed on the Wrapunzel Fangroup by Mushky’s creations… but the thing I love most about her is her infectious enthusiasm for putting together gorgeous, colorful combinations.  She just loves tichels!

Recently, a new face has appeared on the fangroup… Mushky’s mom, Zahava!  It turns out that one Shabbat, Mushky made her sit down and try on a tichel.  It took a little coaxing, but now Mrs. Green is a bona-fide Wrapunzel Wrap Star!  Her beautiful eyes and shining countenance are such a special addition to the community.  She is soft spoken, elegant, and warm – a true aishet chayil!

Mrs Green, wearing the dreamy lace and shinylicious
Mrs Green, wearing the dreamy lace and shinylicious

Zahava says, “Before, I was always in my sheital or a snood, and I really disliked the way I looked in a snood.  I felt like my options were either my sheital which I still wear, or being underdressed in my snoods and pretieds.  Now I have another option, and I finally feel like I’ve found ‘me’.”

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Shifrah wearing the turquoise Signature and light teal Shimmery

Mushky’s sister-in-law, Shifrah, has been wearing tichels since she’s been married, but for the longest time only wore a simple Israeli tichel with nothing underneath.  “Discovering the shaper/volumizer and learning how to layer has changed everything for me.” she says, “I love it!”

It was so much fun taking photos of these lovely ladies.  They all have such different styles and so much love for each other.  Mushky loves to pump up the volume (she adds extra scarves underneath (WITH the shaper) and wear bold, royal tones.  Shifrah looks great in twists and tails in bright colors, and Zahava looks perfect in elegant wear with a little sparkle.

There are eleven kids in the Green family, and that means a lot of in-laws and grandchildren!  I am so blessed that I was able to capture these three together!  What an incredible mother/daughter bond there is between them – you can just feel it looking at these pictures!  Enjoy!wrapunzel

The Wrapunzel Gratitude Challenge!

This video says everything that is on my heart right now…

To be a part of the gratitude challenge:
1) Write to a woman (or call!) that has shaped you and express your gratitude.
2) Share this video so other women will be inspired to do the same!
3) Leave us a comment (on facebook is preferable but on here works too!) to let us know that you did it and tell us about your experience (can be as little or much detail as you would like).
On Jan 29th 8pm, we will pick one woman and her mentor and send her two personalized tichel kits from Wrapunzel including a no-slip headband; and she can give her mentor the kit as a gift. (If the woman doesn’t wear tichels, do not worry, we will find gorgeous jewelry/accessories for her!) We will speak to you personally and choose something absolutely perfect to help you show your gratitude!

Hello Tamar Adina!

I’m majorly happy to introduce you to Tamar Adina from Chicago, one of our new FACES OF WRAPUNZEL ladies!  She’s a teacher, artist, makeup/face painter/henna creator extraordinaire, mother, and all around super helpful (and hilarious!)  She’s going to help us with choosing the right head scarves for our skin tones and learning how to match colors with beauty and ease.  Oh, and she just so happens to look gorgeous in tichels, so we’ll hopefully be seeing some modeling from her too!  Woohoo!!

The beautiful Tamar Adina (and her husband!)
Tamar Adina (and her photobombing husband!)

Hello Wrapunzel!

My name is Tamar Adina.  Some of you might remember me from a post on Rivka Malka’s blog about henna.

Tamar WrapunzelAndrea asked me to talk about when I started covering my hair, how I cover my hair, my sense of color, my sense of style, and some advice that helps someone pick tichels.

No pressure Andrea.

Noooooo pressure.

Riiiiiight.

Anyway, I started covering my hair on August 22, 2007, the day after my marriage.  I always knew that I would one day cover my hair and to be honest, throughout high school, I secretly looked forward to covering what I cynically referred to as “my rat’s nest” (not to be confused with “the squirrel”, my best friend’s method of referring to her sheitel.) 

To understand my rationale, you need to understand that I was the kid in elementary school pictures that had eight feet of hair standing up in all directions.  I used to tell friends that I had styled my hair that morning by sticking my finger into the nearest electric socket.  To better explain the problem, imagine Hermione Granger (not the movie version where her hair was barely frizzy, the version that you had in your head before Warner Brother’s made Hermione synonymous with Emma Watson).  Now imagine that Hermione’s hair was black and that you were the one that needed to take hours of time to tame that mess into submission.  Makes sense now, doesn’t it?

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Tamar Adina’s childhood and teenage hair

However, as someone that looked forward to covering her hair, I was surprised to find myself exasperated with the concept.  Oh, don’t get me wrong, I loved the thought of not having to make my hair presentable to the public, but the pre-tied tichel that I packed to wear to my new apartment slipped back every .05 seconds.

It turns out that lycra can be an incredibly slippery material.  Who knew?

Since I didn’t want ¾ of my head showing, I started trying to find a solution that I was comfortable with wearing.

For my first sheva brachos, I tried to wear a sheitel.   To be fair, I didn’t understand the concept that a precut isn’t really cut, I could barely put the darn thing on, and I looked ridiculous.  The side swept “bangs” fell into my eyes every two seconds, the combs pulled in all of the wrong places, and I felt like my scalp was overheating.  Although there might still be some photos on Facebook, I’m pretty sure that I deleted 99% of them from my sister’s camera. 

It wasn’t until 3 years and over $1,000 dollars later that I finally figured out how to wear a sheitel (hint hint, before you worry about a good cut, make sure that your cap fits!)

But in the interim, I kept searching.  My sister-in-law brought me a half a dozen rectangular scarves from Israel.  Sadly, I had no clue how to tie them.  I went through a phase of wearing hats, snoods, pre-tieds, but everything eventually slipped off my head.  I had a number of Israeli tichels, but I couldn’t figure out how to tie those properly either.  I’d make a low bun in the back of my head, tie a haphazard triangle, pin the living daylights out of it with bobby pins, and every two hours over the course of the day I’d rinse and repeat the process. 

So I stuck with either a sheitel, a black snood that I stole from my mother, or a pre-tied.

But none of those options really worked well for me.  During undergrad and my multiple various volunteer hours, practicums, and internships I wore a pre-tied.  Nobody really said anything to me, but there were times when I felt underdressed.

After graduation when I started to work as a high school teacher, I wore a sheitel, but I found myself exasperated by how dirty it would become from the horrid combination of chalk and expo markers.  I wanted to be professional, but I became easily annoyed with hair that required upwards of $25 to clean, that always fell straight over my eyes, and that over time “died” on me.  Maybe if I’d have spent more on my sheitels I would have felt differently, but considering that I had become accustomed to eating, $2100 just wasn’t in my budget. 

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Tamar face painting with some lucky kids

I spent my weekends and summer working as a face painter, makeup artist, and henna artist.  While painting, I needed something that a child couldn’t pull off my head and that wouldn’t fall into my eyes while I was working.  I settled for pre-tieds, but most of them couldn’t contain my hair, they’d eventually rip, and every once in a while, a child would make a grab for the applique.

But I had no other options.

Until one day I met Andrea. 

Andrea and I actually first met on Facebook way before Wrapunzel became an Internet sensation.  I posted a picture of a skirt for sale and she called instant dibs on it.  For reasons that I still cannot quite understand, that skirt is still in my closet and Andrea still talks to me.

But I digress.

Andrea handed me a velvet headband, advised me to put my bun higher up on my head, and showed me how to tie a rectangular scarf.

It was a light bulb moment. 

Suddenly, I could wear the scarves that had formally been collecting dust in a drawer!  I’d love to tell you that I suddenly magically figured out how to tie hundreds of different ties and that I felt complete confidence in my tichel tying self…

However that would be lying.

It took me about two years to really become comfortable playing with different fabrics, colors, and textures  — and I’m an artist!  But, I walked into my grad school internship with a tichel on my head and the conviction that my wrap wouldn’t detract from my abilities to be seen as a competent professional.   Although at first I sometimes questioned my decision on Facebook, I learned to tie on a tichel and then walk into multiple job fairs, interviews, and finally, this year, I walked into a classroom of 21 high school juniors…and my hair was wrapped.

And while I still look at the scarves that Andrea, Rivka Malka, Chagit, and some of the other fantastic Wrapunzel ladies wear and say “yeah…I can’t do that without a tichel tantrum”…

I’m okay with that.

Because I have learned a number of tricks that really help me out.  As a makeup artist and a painter, I play with color schemes…a lot.  And hopefully some of my issues can help you.

Wrapunzel Tamar Adina
The same tie with different scarves

1) My first tip doesn’t actually have anything to do with color.  Instead, it’s to find one tie that you like, and learn to do it well.  Even after two years of doing hair wrapping, I tend to wear the same three (yep, 3!) ties.   That doesn’t mean that I constantly wear the same thing!   I vary the scarf color, texture, accessories, etc.  But these photos are all the same tie. 

2) I find that I personally cannot wear a long tail.  By that same token, I cannot wear a long braided tail, a double tail, or even the newly popular Shira tails.  I find that long tails wind up in my face paints – and that’s not ok.  I used to primarily wear square scarves with a twist, but pashminas and other rectangular patterned scarves looked like too fun to exclude from my wardrobe and so last year I started wearing rectangular scarves more.  I tend to wear a maximum of a shoulder length tail on one side of my face. 

3) Wrapping highlights your face.  So, I personally find that when I fix my eyebrows and put on some concealer to hide the bags under my eyes, I help focus on my better features (my eyes!).  But, if I’m completely out of time, I put on a pair of earrings – they serve as a focal point and can help draw someone’s eye away from the fact that I graded twenty-one final term papers the night before.

4) My next tip goes back to color.  Grab a color wheel, and use it to create analogous and split-complementary color schemes! Many people have heard of analogous color schemes.  They involve colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.  They usually match well and create serene and comfortable designs.  Most people have heard of complementary color schemes, when two colors are opposite each other (like red/green).  But these can actually be harsh and quite difficult to pull together properly.  Instead, aim for a split-complementary color scheme.  This uses a base color and then the two colors that are adjacent to its complement.  This gives a strong visual contrast, but it has less tension, and it’s fairly goof proof.

5) Next, color behaves in relation to other colors.   Basically, the relationship of warmth or coolness of respective hues can cause noticeable differences in the perception of color.  This can mean that a tichel kit that looked harmonious on the model looks horrifying on you.  What color is making the amazing tichel look horrid? Why…your skin color of course! The exact specifics of this can be a little lengthy, but basically there are two basic skin tones – cool and warm. You can determine which category you fall into by investigating the color of the veins on the underside of your arm.  If the veins show through blue, you’ve got blue or white undertones, meaning that you have a cool skin tone. Those with green veins have yellow undertones and are therefore warm. 

If you can’t tell what color your veins are, grab two pieces of jewelry: one gold and one silver.  Hold them up against your skin.  Depending on which one stands out, you can determine your skin tone.  Gold means warm, and silver means cool. 

Still confused? Grab a piece of yellow fabric and place it next to your face.  A warm-tone will have a bright complexion, minimal shadows, and an overall healthy look.  A cool-toned person will look like she has had the stomach flu for the last ten hours.  If this horrible transformation has happened to you, attempt a blue fabric next.  If it gives you the same healthy glow that I promised the warm-toned folks with the yellow fabric, then you are cool toned.

Great…so what do you do with that information?  Well…now you make tichel combinations!

Warm skin tones look for colors on the “warm” side of the color wheel like red, orange, yellow, brown, and pink.

Cool skin tones look best in richer colors and those on the “cool” side of the color wheel, like blue, purple, and green.

The shade of a color affects where it falls on the warm-cool spectrum.  For example, purple with more blue or gray undertones works well for cool colored skin.  But, if the scarf has pronounced red or magenta undertones it is better suited for a warmer toned person.

Wrapunzel Tamar Adina6) Lastly, find a time to try out new designs when you are NOT rushed.  Although we already all tend to ask for help with special occasion wraps, it’s the tichel tantrums that occur on a random morning that can make you want to give up wrapping permanently.  I find that for me, tichel tantrums come from trying something new.  I personally know that it’s not a good idea for me to come up with new scarf combinations in the morning before work.  When I am getting ready for work I typically have 15-20 minutes to go from stepping out of the shower to out the door.  So, I grab combinations that I’ve tried at least two times before.  I tend to play with new tichel ideas on Shabbos afternoon or later in the evening.

I hope these tips are helpful!  I’m really looking forward to expanding on some of these ideas and having intricate discussions about earrings (love them!), clip on flowers (not my style), color combos (that include options for all skin tones), makeup (yeah, as a makeup artist, that’s one of my favorite topics!) and how to look professional in a tichel.

I can’t wait to catch up with ya’ll!

-Tamar Adina

An Exciting Photoshoot!!

We’re so excited about starting to introduce you to THE FACES OF WRAPUNZEL!  Read more about it on our facebook page!

We’re waiting to get the photos from today’s shoot (which is just the beginning!) edited and sorted, but here are some teasers for now!  We can’t wait to show you the real ones!

andrea grinberg wrapunzel andrea grinberg wrapunzel andrea grinberg wrapunzel andrea grinberg wrapunzel

andrea grinberg wrapunzel

Layered Shira Tails Tutorial (and lots more exciting!!)

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Hello lovelies!!  It’s a cold and sunny day here in Baltimore, and it’s the perfect weather for a double pashmina wrap!  Enter the Shira Tails!  This has been a well circulated wrap tutorial, but sometimes ladies have a little trouble looking at it because we took it randomly when meeting Shira at one of our shows!  So here is my layered version!

I am totally loving this wrap… it’s been too long since I’ve broken out my favourite Blue and Black Midnight Lakeshore Bliss scarf (one day I’ll tell y’all the story behind this tichel… it’s pretty incredible!)  I paired it with a black pashmina and our (surprise!) new lace sash!  It’s not online yet but you can bet they will go crazy when we have them up for you!  This is just a taste 😛

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And just because I felt like it, I decided to experiment with adding our new Celtic Braid headband… WOA!  It just took this tichel from cozy fancy to wedding worthy!  I only wore it long enough to snap these photos, because it was just a little too fancy for teaching music to kidlets, but I know I’ll be wearing it again soon when the occasion arrives!

Wishing you all a beautiful day, filled with lots of light and connection!  May you get to appreciate something new, and share it with someone else!  It’s such a pleasure to know you all ❤
Love, Andrea

Warm Brown and Rust

Wrapunzel Andrea Grinberg

It was an overcast day, and this color combination was calling me in the morning!!  (Yes, my tichels sometimes talk to me… don’t yours?)  There’s something about rust paired with brown… it’s so earthy and warm!  I felt so “at home” in this and it nurtured my soul!  Definitely something I’m going to ry again soon!

Because I know you’ll ask, I’m wearing a brown soft pashmina, burgundy/gold Israeli tichel (these are AWESOME!), and a beaded twist necklace made into a headband by the regal clasp!

I know that many of you are going through some crazy rollercoaster times right now… and I want to let you know that I’m with you and sending you so much love!  Hang on tight!
xo Andrea

Ethereal White, Cream, & Taupe

A lovely lady on the Wrapunzel Fangroup posted an gorgeous photo of her wearing white and cream, so I was inspired to try it as well!  My husband loves when I wear white on Shabbat, so this was a treat for him – and I also felt so special and holy!  It’s incredible how choosing your colors and style truly alters how you relate to the world around you!

I paired the Dreamy Lace with three 2 in 1s!

I tied this in a DB (Double Braid) with a criss cross at the front, and simply placed the lace scarf on top, letting the fringed ends hang.  I wore it with two skirts layered (a shorter camel one, with a longer white underneath) and brown boots 🙂  I haven’t felt so good about an outfit in a long time!!  (And that’s saying a lot, most of the time I am loving what I wear, but this was just another level!)

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Share with us a time that you put a little extra effort into what you wore, and how it affected your day!  Let’s inspire each other!

Love, Andrea

How to Not Have Too Many Scarves :)

This. Is. Hilarious!  I nearly spit hot chocolate all over my computer when reading it the first time (hey, it’s cold here!)  Reminds me of the days when I read though the Confessions of a Shopaholic series.  This was written by the hilarious Alana Sheldahl, who has been a part of the Wrapunzel community for years.  I think we’ve all had those moments when we organize our scarf collections and are completely overwhelmed!  Well, this should help!

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How to NOT have too many scarves:

Divide and conquer. It’s not a question of how MANY scarves you have. After all, life is full of so many different seasons, occasions, and colors. Divide and conquer, sisters. Divide. And. Conquer.

1. Step one: set aside all your sari scarves and sari sashes. You can count them later.

2. Pull out all your pashminas. Inventory. Realize you only own 30 of them and if you wear one per day, you will still not have enough pashminas asthere are days left this winter. Drink some hot cocoa and browse the Wrapunzel site for what else you can buy to fill in the obvious gap in your winter tichel wardrobe. Pashminas are their own separate entity and don’t really count in your tichel inventory, do they? No, they stand alone. Give them their own space.

3. Set aside all your sashes…because they aren’t real scarves anyways. These sashes hardly count, because they need other scarves to go with them. They are decoration.

4. 2 in 1‘s don’t count in your “real tichels” pile….soooo light weight, and basic. You need ALL of them. Make a list of the colors you lack.

5. Separate out the rest of your tichels into color categories. Notice how each shade of blue is different, that your half dozen mostly-green scarvces are all unique and how there’s so many shades of reds the mind is boggled. Clearly, when you divide them by color you have very few tichels […of each color].

6. Put all your New York Brights in one place. Only five of them? Plan to rectify as soon as possible.

7. Again, Shimmeries and Shiny scarves are in a special category all their own. Like 2-in-1’s, a full tichel wardrobe means having all the colors. Collect on, sister!

8. Notice how FEW scarves you have when looked at categorically. Be amazed at your frugality. Oh, and everything lace goes in that drawer over there…

9. Have another cup of hot beverage and make a wish list.

10.; And whatever you do…never ever EVER count your sari scarves.

Teal&White VS Teal&Black – and one great accessory!

I’ve gotta say… it takes a lot for me to fall in love with an accessory.  I have pins that I wear once and never wear again (I usually give them to a friend!) or headbands that look great but sit around unused.

This hasn’t happened with this headband – I haven’t even had a chance to put it away since I nabbed it!  On both these tichels, I wasn’t planning on incorporating it… but then as I finished the wrap, I realized that it needed a little something, and this was the perfect something!  There’s something so lovely about the style – and it matches all my jewelry!

Here I am, trying out the Dreamy Lace in white – I’m definitely going to do something like this for Shabbat!

And on Sunday, I went to a wedding – Mazal tov!  It was one of those Yeshivish weddings that was EXTREMELY packed (standing room only!) and I was the only one wearing a tichel!  Now, I’ve been the only one in a tichel in lots of weddings before, but lately I’ve been getting spoiled in Baltimore because so many ladies here are getting Wrapunzeled!  It was kind of nice to attend a wedding in Baltimore and be the only one in a tichel again!  I decided to go for a more subdued and elegant look (black shimmery, hello!) and this was a perfect option!  I was really excited about this more subtle look – the lace sash that I’m wearing on my head is actually from the dress!

Hope you’re all doing so so well!  I’ve certainly missed blogging on here, and am uper happy to be back!
Love, Andrea

More Israel Photos!!

It’s been a coupla months since I was in the holy land, but the impact hasn’t waned!  I stopped posting photos while there because of the political situation, but they are such joyous photos and I really want to share them with you!!  Here are some of the tichels and head coverings I wore and places I went in them!  Enjoy the kedusha!

 

Smiling before Shabbat in Baka!  (This is my in law's back yard.)
Smiling before Shabbat in Baka! (This is my in law’s back yard.)
A brown NYB and cute headband!
A brown NYB and cute headband!
I BOUGHT A SNOOD!!!  *Gasp!*  And I love it!
I BOUGHT A SNOOD!!! *Gasp!* And I love it!
In Tantura - Hof Dor - exploring the excavations!
In Tantura – Hof Dor – exploring the excavations!
The floppy hat and Israeli tichel underneath were perfect for climbing in Tantura - you can see the Roman bathing pools behind me!
The floppy hat and Israeli tichel underneath were perfect for climbing in Tantura – you can see the Roman bathing pools behind me!
Israeli vintage headband?  Yes please!
Israeli vintage headband? Yes please!
And yes, Israeli earrings are backkkk!!  Love these!
And yes, Israeli earrings are backkkk!! Love these!
Mmmm NYB, Braided Wreath Headband and 2 in 1!
Mmmm NYB, Braided Wreath Headband and 2 in 1! Outside our apartment in Nachlaot!
This one was so light and cool!
This one was so light and cool!
And a perfect sunset <3
And a perfect sunset ❤

 

I hope you enjoyed these!!!  Wish you could have been there with me!  Would love to hear your thoughts!!

Meet Chagit!

Chagit is truly a wrap star in every single way!  She is bold, fun, and never afraid to try something new!  Every time I come across a photo of her, my first reaction is “Wow!”  And then my second reaction is, “How did she do that?!”  Here she is, sharing her heart and mind, and teaching us some of her essential tips and tricks!  I know you’ll love her as much as I do!  (Make sure you click on her photos to get the full impact of amazingness!)

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Hi Chagit!  Can you tell us a little about yourself; how you spend your time, where you live, family, interesting hobbies etc.?
Hi sweetie and Hello to all those beautiful ladies out there. So before I start I just wanna say that Im super honored that you like my wrapping style. I just couldnt start without first saying, “Thanks”.
Hi again, my name is Chagit Rivera. I was born in Puerto Rico. Grew up in South Florida and now live in Israel with my beautiful family. I’ve been blessed with an awesome husband and seven beautiful kids B’H.
I consider myself to be a busy bee. I’m a stay at home mom and keep myself very busy tending to my house and family. The things that bring me pleasure are cooking shows, decorating, shopping, ice coffee, movie nights with my two older kids, pizza making night with the family, going to the city with my hubby, women’s classes/hanging out with my girlfriends and a clean house. Oh, and I absoluty LOVE wrapping! I LOVE talking about wrapping. I LOVE seeing all the beautiful wraps all around me.
Why do you cover your hair?
I cover for religious reasons.
How long have you been covering your hair?  How did you feel about it when you first started? 
I’ve been covering for a long long time. I first started covering with hats and that was kinda easy cause I loved hats then I moved to wraps/tichels. I was kinda sad when I had to cover my hair. To me my hair was my beauty. Everyone loved my hair. I always got tons of compliments about my hair. Silly me.
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How do you feel about it now?
Thank G-d I was wrong about the whole need to show my hair thing. I love to wrap. I feel like a queen. I feel beautiful, sexy, unique and still a part of something holy, something undescribable.
What inspires your head coverings?  Have you always been this creative?
I get inspiration from things around me. From different people. From different colors, from different patterns and textures. Inspiration is EVERYWHERE! I have always been a creative person and this helps me with my wraps. As a matter of fact,  you, Andrea are responsible for giving me that extra inspiration. Seeing you do what you do allowed me to try new things and explore this beautiful mitzva. I am forever grateful. Thanks babe.
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What colour/pattern advice do you have for other wrappers out there?
Everyone of us is different. We have different backgrounds, different skin tones, different styles. I’ll tell you what I do. I love to use all shades of greens, blues, purple, grays and browns. I love to throw in some polka dots, stripes, animal prints and floral prints. I use the colors that talk to ME and make me feel yummy inside. Cause at the end of the day it brings a smile to my face and others will feel my vibe.
Any tips/tricks/secrets you can share with us?
#1 Trick –  My all-time favorite trick is called “HEADBANDS”. Yes, you heard me correctly. I love using headbands. It adds so much to my wrap without adding tons of extra material. People never know its a headband until I tell them and trust me it looks awesome. Its like magic.
#1 Tip – Its just two words. TUCK and PAT. Again, Tuck and Pat. Thats all to it. The results are incredible.
#1 Secret – Well I guess its not a secret anymore. I’m gonna have to say besides my “headbands”, its the fact that I double poof. Yea, sounds crazy but I love it. And since I pin my accessories to my wraps to give it that nice clean look it doesnt hurt.
What are some of the most important hair covering lessons you’ve learned over the years?
Lesson number one: You have to LOVE your wrap.
Lesson number two: velvet handband.
Lesson number three: Simple is also beautiful.
Lesson number four: You have a whole lifetime to get this wrapping thing right. Don’t try things at are gonna overwhelm you. This is a beautiful mitzva. Remember, its beauty and everything else will come together sooner or later.
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An inspiring (or funny) hair covering moment that stands out in your mind?
I have inspiring and sometimes funny moments everytime I go in the city. I have NO problem stopping someone and letting her know how beautiful I think her headcovering is and how absolutely incredible she looks. I ask them how they wrapped it, and even where they bought a certain scarf. There is no shame to this wrapping journey I’m on. Oh, and by the way, I don’t speak hebrew so it can get pretty funny cause I find myself talking with my hands more than usual.
What does you hair covering say about your soul?
It tells me that I am a queen. That I am part of a holy plan. That I am not alone. I AM BEAUTIFUL BECAUSE I AM A WOMAN.
Any inspiring words for the ladies on the Wrapunzel blog?
Don’t be afraid to show a little bit of your personality in your wraps. You are all amazing beautiful women.
What are you grateful for right now?
I’m grateful for alot of things. But at this very moment I am grateful to be alive, to have the ability to see G-d’s beauty, to feel a loving hug and to touch my kids’ soft faces – completly humbled by G-d’s everlasting love.
*~*
Thank you so much Chagit for your inspiring words and beautiful photos!   Aint she a doll? Oh, guess what ladies!??  She’s started making tutorials!  Check these out!

A Violinist Lady Wrap Star!!

 

 

Our beautiful Ariella!
Our beautiful Ariella!

Meet Ariella!  When we first met, I was like, “There’s another blonde, funky, frum (Torah observant), classical musician string player in the world?!  Yay!”  She seriously rocks my socks off!  Here are some gorgeous, fun photos of her, and an interview!  You’ll love hearing what she has to say!

 

10389681_10201806209856861_3686881502923775562_nHi Ariella, can you tell us a bit about yourself, how you spend your time, what you love to do, where you live, etc.?
Hey there everyone,  I’m Ariella Zeitlin-Hoffman, a violinist from Israel. I grew up in Baltimore, and made aliyah to Israel when I was 18 (on my birthday) spent a year learning Hebrew, and then went into the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance where I met Andrea and her husband Yonatan.  Music is a huge part of my life-My parents are kind of the hippie rock stars of the community we lived in, and their Simchat Beit HaShoeva was the place to be for years and years-Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach used to pop in yearly, but I don’t remember him so I don’t have any great stories except there was one year that the whole sukka fell over and I remember a feeling of panic because they were expecting a hundred or so people. My grandfather, Zvi Zeitlin was considered by the NY Times to be the Methuselah of violin players-making a full recital on his 90th birthday!   Today I play one of his violins and use a bow which was made exclusively for him by a jeweler named Henry Kasten. So I always had those two important influences in my life-the classical and the folk, and as a musician I’m really connected to both genres, unnasmedwhich has made me very in demand (thank G-D!) as a studio player because I keep it in both worlds with note reading, improvising, and playing by ear.
Time, time! I’m still at home with our baby, and summer vacation is just finished now so I’ve been spending an awful lot of time with the family-when it’s regular time, which is starting now, I really spend all of my time either playing violin, teaching, spending time with my family, or dealing with the house type of stuff that nobody wants to do (except those crazy Pinterest moms who I aspire to be like). I’m also a super nerdy crafter (seem like the type, eh?) and love to crochet, sew, bake, and upcycle furniture-I love painting and sanding and getting my hands dirty. My husband makes beer so he’s also crafty like that.  In terms of work, I teach and I do a lot of freelance work-concerts, bar shows, studio sessions, etc. So I’m really busy! And even when I’m not busy with work, there’s always something else to do. We live today in Herzliya, where my husband works as the Rabbi for Jeff Seidel’s student center, so we have programs of different kinds almost every night of the week in our house. Sometimes I’m there, sometimes not-depends on how worn out I am. I also have the attitude that when I’m at home I’m all at home-I try to keep my mind off of other projects so when I’m at home, and I really try to keep my phone far away until our kids are asleep. With my big daughter in Pre-K,  our baby boy is mainly with me except when I have work. Sometimes think about getting a real job and putting him in daycare, but I love being a mom, and he’s an easy kid so I get a lot done.

DSC_0197Do you have a favourite composition? Or a few favourites? Why?
So a few months ago, I had a series of concerts where I performed the Mendellsohn Violin Concerto with an all-women’s orchestra from Jerusalem with concerts all over the country. There were 5 concerts in total, and there are some plans to resume the tour in the fall, but nothings set in stone yet.  They’re making sure I’m still practicing!! Anyways, back to Mendellsohn. I mean he was just brilliant and stunning in his writing. Gorgeous music. The concerto is also unique because the way it is written is kind of like an exchange between the orchestra and the soloist, and I love how  the theme starts in the violin at the beginning instead of the opposite, which is more standard, setting the scene for the drama of the orchestra to come in. Ahh…Mendellsohn. Also the 3rd movement is a lot of fun. Another favorite piece is the Khachaturian Violin Concerto, which is a rich and intense musical drama-Khachaturian was an Armenian and the journey of the Armenians and the Jews has many parallels in the past century. In fact, my great grandparents were jailed in Russia because of Zionist activity, and they were put in front of an Armenian judge for trial, who empathized with their desire for a homeland and instead of sending them to Siberia as punishment, actually sent them to Palestine in 1927. And, and, and…well what I think is so great about loving music is that you’re really familiar with different types of music so you know what you want to hear at different times. There are very few genres that I dislike. I’ve experimented in everything, and love all kinds of music. I love show pieces-pieces written for the violin which classical performers call ‘fluff’-written to impress but not really deep. I play a lot of those in certain types of venues. I love singing, also and am currently working on a few singles of my original songs. I love 50’s rock and roll, I love any band with positive vibes and messages, I love dubstep and trance and folk and rock and fiddle music and country and middle eastern Arabic and am practicing my beatboxing!

gsdfHow did you feel about hair covering before getting married?
So I’d always been back and forth about my feelings about covering. On the one hand, I grew up in a community of coverers. There was only one woman who wore a beautiful tichel on a regular basis, Rivka Malka Perlman, but she was also so gorgeous and striking that whatever she wore on her head would have looked amazing (you all know what I’m talking about). Then I moved to Israel, went to Seminary, started seeing people in tichels, and then I went into University. And that was the first time I heard of this concept of head covering being oppressive to women-to me it was always just something people did, and I never asked too many questions. But all of my opinions were constantly being challenged by the people around me and I really started to question every single thing I had always taken for granted as true and normal. Was hair covering really oppressive? I started looking around and kind of left that particular issue aside-there were so many other issues to deal with and figure out where I stood on them that I hadn’t really thought of before.  Then my journey brought me to my husband, and we spent a year and a half figuring out together what Judaism meant to both of us and who we wanted to be-and kind of discovered accidentally that we had fallen in love! So we ended up in the whole whirlwind of everything and the headcovering thing? I still hadn’t really given it a thought.  Then when I got engaged, we went to the States and my mother bought me two wigs-a full one and a headband one. And I just kind of went with everything-actually my awesome husband came sheitel shopping with me! Not really done by anyone else, but the concept was so weird for me, that I felt like I needed him along for support, and it was a lot of fun, although I could tell that Tsfat had worn off on him and he wasn’t super into it. It was always taken for granted (for me) that I would cover my hair and I never gave it much thought. I bought a lot of fun wigs from the stores catering to black women that clipped on and I really had fun with the whole thing-but still hadn’t settled on what was me. I think the most important thing for anyone starting out and wanting to cover, is that don’t ever be totally set on what you’re going to wear-and don’t buy a lot of anything until you know what fits your personal style!!

578382_3536395208486_1733151957_nHow do you feel about it now and how has the journey been for you?
So after I got married, I covered fully, but I really started hating covering. It felt uncomfortable, I felt like I stuck out-I wore a half wig with a hat or scarf to University so nobody would know I was covering fully, and then when someone would come near my head for any reason I would jump out of my skin because I REALLY didn’t want anyone to know I was wearing a wig (and whats the point if you’re trying so hard to make sure nobody knows?) So after a while I forewent the wigs. I almost never wear a wig now except for rock shows where I wear a wig that’s as big as rhode island but that’s for fun, not for modesty purposes. And I started doing what they call the ‘half cover’ where I wear a head covering both as a symbol of being married, as well as covering my head as opposed to all my hair, which is another opinion within the spectrum of Jewish law and which, for now, makes me feel the most myself. It also puts people more at ease in a professional setting, because they think I’m ‘cool’ which I just think is a little nutty, but people judge on appearances. I also do a lot of work in ultra-orthodox places, and I really change the way I look from place to place that I go, depending on the requests of the demographic.

40What is your personal favourite way of covering your hair? 
My favorite way of covering is with a long scarf tied on my head with hair showing in the front and the back. It’s a look that makes me feel super bohemian princess. And I love accessorizing with glittery things! Hair clips, pins, sparkly headbands, and sparkly scarves, of course. I love drawing attention to the fact that I’m covering. Wearing scarves makes me feel like such an example of the beautiful parts of our traditions, especially when people see my fun ties and colorful accessories (probably sounds familiar to most of you on the blog!!)

Tips and tricks that you can share with us?
– A couple of months ago, my husband and I did a home improvement project where we bought a broom stick, and chopped it into two pieces-one long and one short. We put them both on the walls with hooks and connected to chains and I now keep all my scarves there-they look so beautiful and it gives me such a wonderful feeling to walk into my room. Also lets me see all my scarves-long scarves on one, headbands on the other. Being able to see everything makes it so much easier to coordinate!
– Don’t buy a lot of anything specific when you’re just starting out. Everyone’s different, you’ll discover styles you love with scarves that you didn’t buy and end up with a hundred of the wrong type, haha!
– Velvet Headbands are amazing-buy at least two!
unnamhhed– Those really pretty ones? The more expensive ones? I decided that I wanted to make my own last summer. But I’m the type that never does just one project. So I made 8. They take a LONG time. And they come out wonky if you’re not an excellent sewer. And they cost money for all the materials. The people who are good at making them really deserve what they’re charging. Obviously there’s a lot of value in doing projects for the sake of doing projects but if you look at something and think ‘I could do that myself’ I’d say if you’re pressed for time, or are not naturally meticulous, it’s really ok to invest in something beautiful and that they’re probably not overcharging. So treat yourself every once in a while!
– The confidence you have in whatever you do is way more important than what you’re wearing. In all matters. But be proud of the choices that you make, and always check in with yourself that you really feel good about what you are doing. Obviously there are reasons that people do things besides feeling good, but if you do anything specific, you have reasons that you do them. Make sure that your actions are consistent with your beliefs

Can you share a memorable hair covering moment?
A few days after my wedding, when I was still figuring out the scarf thing and it was insanely hot I wore a thin slippery one, which, come to think of it I don’t think I’ve seen in years now but I liked. And if course it fell off in the bank. I unfortunately have had several situations where I was trying to juggle 4000 things and when the scarf came off, I looked around and everyone was kind of waiting for me to freak out-but these things happen, and what can you do. So I’ve just played it cool and I think people were disappointed! But that’s a memorable un-covering hair moment. A memorable hair covering moment would probably be the first time I played in a big show for a Dati-Leumi audience and I layered so many scarves my head almost fell off. But I really wanted that statement look! I try, whatever I am doing, to make the scarves a really important part of my look-because I think looking funky in scarves is an important statement and an important part of my identity.

What are you grateful for right now?
I’m grateful for so many things! I often stop and count my blessings and I make grateful lists all the time-I’ve found that for me, gratitude is the thing that makes me feel most happy and satisfied. I also am a huge subscriber to dream charting-where you think about what you want to accomplish, and spend time every day thinking about how to get there, and some of that time appreciating the steps you’ve taken thus far. I have found that, although many people say that it’s hard to have a successful career In addition to being married and having children, that I’m probably much more successful than I might be if I weren’t married to my husband, who keeps me grounded and helps me to achieve success all the time. So he’s number one on grateful!  I’m grateful to have a good life, a wonderful, healthy extended family, no debt (finally paid off all my student loans!!!), a successful career in something I truly love, good friends, and lots of dreams!

unnaimedWhat do you want to bless the readers of Wrapunzel with for the coming Jewish Year?
Judaism is all about starting fresh. Renewal, prayer, repentance, charity, and as we come to the new year, I want to bless you all that every bad moment and memory that is weighing you down will become a stone in the path that you realize that it has helped you to get where you are, and that you can take those moments and accept them, and really look at them with a fresh eye to see how they have brought you to where you are today, accept them, and then leave them be. A lot of people carry around the baggage of old relationships, or of bad situations of any kind. Stop. You are a new person from this very moment. You control your destiny. You are wonderful and talented and brilliant and special. For me, from a young age I had this *one thing* that was my gift. I was fat, I didn’t have many friends, but I was musical-and I felt chained to that description of me, like there was no other thing that I was. At a certain point I sunk into a low point of depression over that thought, but at a later point I realized we really are all a beautiful bouquet of wonderful gifts, and as I got older and was able to recognize my own gifts, I was able to appreciate and love others for their contributions to the world. When you realize that you are wonderful because you have a beautiful soul and you try to bring more joy, light, warmth, and kindness into the world, there is no greater feeling than to recognize that in others. So I bless you all that you can leave your baggage behind in order to bask in the light of the coming redemption!

The Mendellsohn!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGR3rf-jM1k

Encore!

You can find more from Ariella at:
Facebook.com/ariellazhoffman
Ariellazhoffman.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/ferrariz807

Triple-y Twisted, the new DB?

So I was running out of the house today, ready to do my go-to double braid (the DB), when I thought, why not do three twists instead of two braids?  Both use three 2 in 1s, which were already on my head all ready to go!  So I tried it, and do I ever like it!  What do you think?  Do you think this will be the new DB?

andrea grinberg triple-y twisted

andrea grinberg triple-y twisted

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!  Remember to take a moment, breathe in the miraculous air around you, and be thankful for all the miracles in your life!  Thank you for making the Wrapunzel community the living miracle that it is!

Love, Andrea