Everyone, at some point, has wanted to do something out of the box to stand out from the crowd.

One of those moments for me was in elementary school when I dyed my hair. My first mistake was trusting my mom to do the task, and my second was choosing box dye. The inevitable happened: My mom did a disastrous job dying my hair, and I had to live with it for months.

When I heard of hair-chalking, I was intrigued. All over Pinterest, pictures were popping up of people dying their hair with chalk, water and a can-do attitude. With hair chalking, you could have bold pink tipped hair, or even a subtle strand of blue; the best part was the color only lasted a couple of days.

So if you didn’t like your dye-job, you didn’t have to live with it for months. It seemed as appealing and worry-free as a fun weekend craft. No more hair horror stories, no more commitment. Did I mention hair-chalking costs around $10? It seemes too good to be true. The only way to find out if it was all it was cracked up to be was to test it.

And test it I did. My final verdict? It’s easy and fun, and it works. Follows these tips and directions, and you will have beautiful, colorful locks.

You will need:

• Soft pastel chalk. In the art supply section at Hobby Lobby, they have a set called Jackson Paint 48 Assorted Chalk Pastels for $6.99. This is the kind I used. Also, the brighter the color, the better it will show up.

• Small spray bottle filled with water. I also found a spray bottle at Hobby Lobby for about $1.99.

• Rubber gloves.

• A brush.

• A flat iron. This will get chalk on it, but I found that it came off quite easily.

Tips to know before you begin: If you have blond or light hair, you don’t need to put water on your hair before you chalk. However, you can if you want; adding water will make the color more intense and last longer.

If you have dark-colored hair, you will need to add water. If you do not add water the color will not show up. Also, if you have dark hair, the color comes out pretty subtle compared to blond hair. I found that when I chalked my dark hair, the blues and teals showed up the best.

Next, if you are doing a blend of colors, do the lighter color first. Furthermore, do not chalk your hair very often — it will dry out your hair.

The craft gets pretty messy, so I advise wearing clothes you don’t mind getting dirty.

After you chalk your hair, it might come off on your clothes throughout the day. In general, the color will last about one to three days, depending on your hair type and how much chalk you use. Now, let’s begin.

Step 1: If you need to, spray your hair with the water-filled spray bottle. Next, rub the piece of soft pastel chalk on your hair where you sprayed. Now, twist the same section, while rubbing chalk on it. Brush off the excess chalk. Repeat as necessary to make the color more vibrant.

Step 2: Let your hair air dry, and then straighten the color part of your hair. This will make the color last longer. If you have a wet-to-straight straightener, straighten it while it is wet.

Step 3: Style how you like.

Hair chalking is a fun way to add personality to your hair for a night out, a party or just a change of pace. It also is a creative, cheap activity you can do with friends and family. The best part is the color is not permanent, which means you can do a different look and color for every event. I had a blast coloring my hair with chalk and highly recommend it to anyone who feels like venturing outside the box, literally.

Maya Sykes is a University College freshman.