Princess Piggies

Friday's Film: How to Secure a Bead - Lucky Rainbow

2012-03-09T10:55:00.002-08:00

We wanted to use some fun pony beads that we found at the store a while back so we decided to create a rainbow out of them. Here is a video showing you how to apply and secure the beads to the hair:

I apologize for the final bead and having the elastic pop off but it was because the elastic I chose was a bit too small. That's a good tip for you to find an elastic that is big enough to work with. :)

Here is a style that we created with out beads called "Lucky Rainbow" and it's just in time for St. Patrick's Day.

You can choose any pattern you like for your beads.

We've got 6 rows of 6 beads each.

We alternated our colors but it would be cute to have each row be a solid color as well.

It's very fun and colorful for St. Patrick's Day.

We finished it off with a Quad Braid.

We also added some rainbow hair clips to finish the effect.

The best part about this hairstyle is that it will last for days and is a great swimming style!

Supply of St. Patrick's Styles

2012-03-07T10:01:00.000-08:00

St. Patrick's day is fast approaching so I thought I would post some of our previous Green-Day styles so you can pick and choose any that you like.

This is our "Pot O' Gold" hairstyle and it's definitely our most popular. You can find instructions for this here.

Next we have our "Lucky Clover" hairstyle and this is one that I think needs some new improvements on so I plan on redoing this style this month. You can find the original instructions here and maybe recreate it the way that you would like as well.

Our "Irish Rainbow" hairstyle is fun and colorful and always gets lots of compliments. Instructions for this style can be found here.

Finally we have some ideas for cute hair clips that you can make to dress up any style for St. Patrick's Day. I wanted to get this post out a little early so that you had time to make any of these if you were interested. Hope this helps with any ideas and have a great St. Patty's Day!

Combined Braid Bun

2012-03-05T10:46:00.001-08:00

This is a fairly simple idea but it's fun to add a little twist onto it.

I've started by creating two separate sides to work with.

I began on the larger of the two sides and created a Half-French Braid by only gathering hair into my bottom strand of the braid.

I continued this braid around the back of the head and just past the middle point. I then continued plating my braid without adding any hair in and had my princess hold that braid while I moved to the other side.

I did another Half-French Braid and gathered all the remaining hair that was down. Once that hair was gathered I finished plating that braid as well. I took both of my braids and twisted them around each other and bobby pinned them into place.

I had some loose strands hanging out over my braid bun so I curled those and let them fall loosely over the bun.

I added some flower hair pins to finish it off.

Friday's Film: Long to Short Without a Cut

2012-03-02T07:54:00.000-08:00

Today at school it was "Dress As Your Favorite Dr. Seuss Character" day.

My princess chose to go as Daisy-Head Mayzie and she was so excited.
In the past we've done Cindy Lou Who and you can find directions for that here.
The only problem we had with Dayzie-Head Mayzie is that her hair is short and my princess has very long hair so this is the solution we came up with:

We've done this before with our Junie B. Jones hairstyle.

We even added some fake bangs on that particular day.

Here is her new "short" hair.

This is what it looks like from the side.

We were able to hide her ribbon with the headband but it would be cute with just the ribbon as well.

Here is my little Dayzie-Head Mayzie all ready for school!

5-Strand Braid With Ribbon

2012-02-29T11:01:00.002-08:00

Today was "Dress as Your Favorite Character" day at school and my princess chose to dress as Spongebob Squarepants.

As you can imagine, I was at a loss for what to do to her hair. I finally decided to just add some fun yellow ribbons to her hair for color and this is what we came up with.

It is a 5-Strand Braid with two of those strands being the yellow ribbon. I just pulled the hair into two piggies and then wrapped an extra long ribbon through each elastic so that it was bent in half around the elastic giving me two strand in each piggie to work with.

I divided the piggies into 3 equal strand each and then used the ribbon as the other two strands for the 5-Strand Braid. If you do not remember how to do a 5- Strand Braid the video can be found here.

You will start with your strands as follows: hair - ribbon - hair - ribbon. Then just proceed to braid from that point. When you get to the bottom of the braid you can secure it with an elastic and cut off any remaining ribbon. Looks kind of cool huh!

Puffy Braid Stegosaurus

2012-02-27T15:15:00.002-08:00

A little while ago we did a post on The Stegosaurus hairstyle and this is a bit of a spin off on that.

Begin with wet hair. We started by dividing the hair in half with a part directly down the middle of the head. Our part started a bit off-centered before going straight to the middle just to bring the bangs to one side.

Next we created two small sections up front by creating a part on each side from the center down to the ear. Each side was secured with an elastic and then we used the Topsy Tail to create a regular Pull- Through.

We created another section on each side of the part just behind that original and secured it into an elastic - making sure to include the ponytail from the first Pull-Through. Now you should have a small ponytail on each side. Work with one side at at time and grab a small section out from the top of the ponytail and comb it smooth. Now feed it through the loop of your Topsy Tail, poke the Topsy Tail down behind the elastic and partially pull it through so that you have a loop just over the elastic. (You can see how to do this with a video tutorial if you click on "The Stegosaurus" link at the top of this post.) Go ahead and do this for both side of the head.

Now create two new sections of hair just below the last and secure them into an elastic - Making sure to include the ponytail and Pull-Through hair from the section above. (Note: be careful not to pull the loop out of shape as you include your Pull-Through hair into that new ponytail.) From this point you will just repeat the steps from above for making your loop and then continue repeating the steps as you create new sections of hair to add in.

Once all of the hair from the head has been added in, you will just repeat the steps as directed without adding new hair when you secure a new elastic. Do this all the way through your ponytail and the length of the hair will determine how many loops are created. As you are securing your final elastic, Only pull the hair half way through so that you create a loop of hair at the bottom as well for more of a finished look.

Go back up and add any hair clips that you would like. We've just added some velvet black flower pins next to a few of the elastics.

Friday's Film: Carousel Braid

2012-02-24T08:00:00.000-08:00

This one has been floating around Pinterest and I really like the look of it.

This is our attempt at recreating the Carousel Braid and hopefully the video will help you as well.

One of these days I will master the whole filming hair thing. I still really struggle with creating a hairstyle from an angle. :)

Here is what the finished product looks like. Pretty huh!

Here is a side view and this braid looks good no matter how you look at it.

This is a close-up of what we did on top of her head to start it all off.

We pulled the braid back to her ponytail, wrapped it around the elastic and then secured it in place with a Topsy Tail.

For a fun little variation tey this "Squished Carousel Braid". You basically just squish all of your twists up and secure the bottom elastic higher onto the ponytail. Kind of neat how the add-ins all fan out!

That's A Wrap

2012-02-22T10:13:00.001-08:00

Here's a different kind of ponytail wrap for you. It's very simple and has a neat effect.

I started this hairstyle by sectioning out the top part of the hair from ear to ear and then dividing that into two parts. I made a Pull-Through out of each part and then a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of each Pull-Through.

I then pulled the two braids to the back of the head and combined them with an elastic and unplated any remaining braid after that elastic. I then gathered all of the hair that was down into a ponytail - making sure to exclude the small ponytail from my two braids.

I left the large ponytail alone and grabbed my smaller ponytail from my braids and added a new elastic about 1 inch below my first. I then added 4 more elastics, separating each of them by about an inch. Now my small ponytail had 6 total elastics - one securing my braids and then 5 others about an inch apart.

I grabbed my Topsy Tail and poked it directly through the middle of the first inch section of my small ponytail. I did this by bringing my Topsy Tail in from behind this first time. Now feed the large ponytail through the loop on your Topsy Tail and pull it all through that first section on the small ponytail. Now you're going to feed your Topsy Tail through the second small section by feeding it from the front this time. Place the large ponytail through the loop and then pull it through that section. Continue doing this - alternating feeding the Topsy Tail from behind and from in front. Once you have finished pulling the large ponytail through all of your sections you can combine the two ponytails with one final elastic at the bottom. Add a hair clip and you're finished!

Woven Puffy Braids

2012-02-20T08:25:00.001-08:00

This is a beautiful hairstyle but you will need a good 20-30 minutes to complete this one. (Just wanted to give you a heads up so you didn't get frustrated on one of those "crunch time" mornings.) :)

Begin with wet hair and create a part directly down the center of the head so that you now have two equal sides. Section out a small area on one of the sides (right up in front) and secure it with an elastic. Create a parallel section on the opposite half of the head. Now you've got two small piggies on top to work with.

Separate each piggie into 3 equal sections and twist each section. Your princess will be a huge help in holding the twist for this hairstyle until you need them. Have her hold the six twists while you create another section on one half of the head, directly under that first section. Pull the 3 twists from the opposite half of the head over to that new section and secure all of that hair together with an elastic.

Now section out a parallel new section on the other half, just below the first section and take the 3 remaining twists that your princess is holding and weave them through the first 3 twists that are already coming across the head.

Weave them in an over-under patter and alternate which way your pattern goes with the different twists.

Once they've all gone through you can secure them in with the hair from your brand new section.

Now you've got two piggies once again. Comb out any remaining twist from before. Divide each ponytail into 3 equal sections and create twists out of each of those so that you once again have 6 twists to work with. Repeat the steps from above to create another woven section. Depending on how large you aer making the sections on the head, you could have 3-8 woven areas going along the back of the head. We have 4 here.

Once all of the hair was gathered, we finished off our piggies with a couple of Hawser Braids. (Two Corkscrews twisted together.)

We then went through and covered each of our elastics with tiny claw clips just to give it a fancier look but this is not necessary. Add some hair bows and you're all finished!

The Stegosaurus

2012-02-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

I've been having a lot of fun dressing up regular ponytails lately and here's another example. We call it The Stegosaurus because it looks like the plates on it's back.

I'll start with the video because it will give you the general idea on how to make the rings:

Remember that it is key to do this on wet hair so that the style will hold throughout the entire day.

Here is a view of the finished ponytail from the back.

You should be able to make it all the way down the ponytail as long as you segregate the strands of hair that you are creating your rings with.

Clear elastics seem to work the best because they don't stand out as much but you can use any type that you have.

Once you are done, you can go back and spread out your rings a bit to make them wider. (This is totally optional.)

4-Strand With Flair

2012-02-15T07:54:00.000-08:00

I found this post in my archives and realized that it had never been published. I haev doe a 5-Strand With Flair but never this one. So here it is!

This hairstyle works great on either wet or dry hair.

Begin by parting the top of the hair directly down the middle. Now grab two sections of hair from the front - one on each side of the part. Put one section in a clip and set it aside while you work with the other.

Separate the section into 4 equal strands. Take the strand farthest to your left and go over the adjacent strand and then under the very next strand. (That left strand should now be in the middle/right position.) Now take the strand farthest to your right and go under the adjacent strand and over the very next strand. (That right strand should now be in the middle/left position.) Begin the pattern again with the strand farthest to the left, going over and then under, and continue until you get to the bottom of the hair, leaving about 1.5 inches unplated.

Now, starting at the bottom of the braid, gently pull at the far right and left plates of the braid to loosen them up a bit and make them flair out more than the inside plates. Continue doing this up to the top of the braid, gently playing with those outside plates to loosen them up. When you've done that, go ahead and secure the bottom of the braid with an elastic. Unclip the section that you set aside and create the same braid using the same plating pattern and the same loosening technique.

Once that second braid is complete, combine it with the first braid at the back of the head, using an elastic. (You can remove the elastic that was temporarily securing your first braid.) Unplate any braids below the elastic so that the hair is loose.

Now grab two more sections from the from of the head, just below the original sections.

Create the same braid out of those sections and combine them at the back of the head as well.

Make sure to include the extra hair from the first two braids into that second elastic. Unplate any braids below the elastic and lightly curl all the ends of the hair under.

Add a hair clip to the back of the head to hide the elastics and you're all finished!

Half Braid Heart

2012-02-14T09:54:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I thought we would throw this post up really quick since it is that last of our Valentine's hairstyles for the year. It's called the "Half Braid Heart" and it's made with a French Braid that only gathers into it's plates from one side of the braid.

I started by dividing the hair in half directly down the center of the head. I then created a small arch on each side of the part and began my braids inside the arch next to the original part.

Do one side of the head at a time and as you create your braid, only gather in hair to the outside (closest to ear) plates of your braid. This will give it the floating effect but still have it secured into place. Once you have gathered all of the hair from that half of the head into your braid, secure it at the nape of the neck with an elastic.

Move over to the other side of your head and repeat the process. Once your second braid has gathered all of the hair, remove the elastic from the first side and combine the two sides together. Now secure those with the elastic.

This will complete your heart shape. We finished our ponytail off by creating a 5-Strand Braid but you can curl it or use any braid that you like. Add some cute Valentine's hair clips and your princess is ready for a fun heart day!

We hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day! From our family to yours!

(Pretend that she's holding a mini Snickers.) :)

Heart Line

2012-02-13T08:12:00.000-08:00

I don't know if you remember or not, but back when i had posted our "Heart Topper" hairstyle I promised to have another hairstyle up soon that uses the same concept. Well, here it is! Basically it's just a line of Heart Toppers going down a ponytail. You can find the original post here and that will help you know what technique to follow to create your hearts.

I started with a small heart Pull-Through up at the front of the hair before pulling it all back into a ponytail. Once all of the hair was in an elastic I added some ribbon. I added 3 strands of red that were the same length as the ponytail. (The halfway point was secured under the elastic so I actually ended up with 6 strands of ribbon hanging down.)

Looking back I wish I had done 3 different colors but I didn't think about it at the time. It would have been cute to have different colored hearts.

I created a "Heart Topper" and simply made sure to pull one ribbon strand in with both sides of my heart. I continued this same process down the ponytail making one heart directly underneath the previous. Also, be sure to alternate which ribbon strands you use so that you don't run out of ribbon.

When I got down to where I wanted to stop I secured one final elastic around the entire ponytail and then just clipped any remaining ribbon.

I added a heart hair clip to the bottom of my "Heart Line" and then curled the ends of the ponytail.

*I think this hairstyle would be just as cute without the ribbon as well!*

Friday's Film: Triple Heart

2012-02-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

This is a new hairstyle that my princess thought up this year and she named it the "Triple Heart".

It's a really simple idea but I wanted to show you how to create the individual parts and then let you see how it is assembled.

Here are some pictures of the finished product.

This side view help you see how I divided the top sections before creating the Pull-Throughs.

I only left about 2/3 of the hair out on the bottom and used the rest for the tops of my hearts.

Once you make your Pull-Through, separate the two braids on either side to create the top of your heart.

Bobby pin the hearts into place once you've created the shape that you want.

The last step is to add a fun Valentine's hair clip.

Now your princess is all ready for her big day - plus you will get some beautiful waves out of these braids for the next day!

Valentine Hairstyles

2012-02-08T08:13:00.000-08:00

I wanted to give you a bunch of fun ideas for Valentines ahead of time so that you will not be rushed when the big day comes. Here are some of our favorite hairstyles for Heart Day. Just click on the name and it will take you to the original post.

Linked Hearts

X's & O's

Woven Heart

Two Hearts Become One

Half-Up Heart

Puffy Heart

Sweethearts

And for some of our more recent:

These are some great ones but we do have a couple more coming before Valentine's Day so keep checking in and have fun with these hearts!

Heart Headband

2012-02-06T10:41:00.000-08:00

This is another fun style that is fast and easy and can be used for the upcoming Valentine's holiday. We call it the Heart Headband because it gives the illusion of being a headband and the Pull-Throughs look a lot like hearts.

Start by creating a part from ear to ear across the top of the head, exactly where a headband would lie.

Divide that top area into as many small sections as you like and secure each section with an elastic at the very back of the section. (So that all of your elastics will lie right on that original part.) Grab your Topsy Tail and create a Pull-Through out of each small section.

Now you're going to follow the same process as we did on our "Puffy Pull-Throughs" hairstyle a while back. (You can find that hairstyle and directions here.)

Basically you will be pulling some of the strands of hair from each Pull-Through out so that they puff up and look like the top of a heart. Do that with all of the Pull-Throughs to create your "Heart Headband".

Comb the rest of the hair straight down and you can leave it that way or curl it. We had some braids in the day before so she has some waves from those.

Superbowl Football

2012-02-05T13:17:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again! SUPERBOWL! It's kind of a big deal at our house and we decided to do a fun hairstyle in honor of that.

You will need some 5/8" white ribbon and some 3/8" grosgrain ribbon that you will make your football stitches with.

I just hot glued the ribbon the way that I wanted the stitches to look and then added some bobby pins on the back of the stitches so that it would hold in place on the hair. (You'll notice that in the actual style I cut off one of these stitches because I had made it a bit too long. Learn from my mistake and measure first.) :)

You will want to work with wet hair. I decided to make a little goal post design on the top of the hair by sectioning out a small square in the front middle that I created a Pull-Through out of. Just behind the square, a divided the hair in half by creating a part directly down the middle of the head. Pull each half into it's own piggie - making sure to add in your Pull-Through to the side that it is lying on.

Make a braid out of each piggie and braid it as far down as possible before securing it with an elastic. Pull the right braid over to the top of the left braid and add it in with another elastic which will lie directly over the top elastic of your left braid. You don't want to pull that braid too tightly over because it needs to be able to create a little bit of an arch for the top of the football. Use bobby pins to hold that arch in the position that you like. Now pull your left braid over to the top of the right braid and, using a Topsy Tail, pull it right through the very first plate of your right braid. This will hold it in place while you bobby pin the bottom arch of your football into position.

Now take the ends of your braids and tuck them under the elastics and braids however you can to hide them. Use bobby pins to keep them nicely tucked under. Go ahead and spray the whole head with hairspray at this point to give it that extra hold.

Now grab your 5/8" ribbon and cut two strands that will be long enough to wrap around the ends of your football. Use your Topsy Tail to feed the ribbon through both braids on the end of your football and then pull the ends of your ribbon up on top of those braids and tie the ends into a tight knot. Cut off any excess ribbon from beyond the know and then twist the ribbon so that the know goes under the bottom braid and is hidden. Repeat the same process on the opposite end of your football.

Your final step is to position your stitch clip into place directly in the middle of the football.

Now you're finished and all set for the big game! My princess wore this style to church and it was great because usually the women come up and comment on her hair but today it was all the men coming up and commenting and taking pictures with their phones. Too funny!

Friday's Film: Heart

2012-02-03T08:33:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year and I love Valentines Day. There are so many fun hairstyles out there and we have a few fun new ideas that we will be sharing here as well. One of the most popular hairstyles for Valentines is the Heart so we thought we would go ahead and post an instructional video on that for you today.

We have done this style before and called it the "Valentine Heart". You can find that original post here along with pictures of all the angles.

This is our finished product picture from the Heart that we created here in the video.
Happy Heart making!

Heart Topper

2012-02-01T07:41:00.000-08:00

When you're running low on time and you want to add a nice touch to your average hairstyle, try topping your ponytail or piggies with a heart. This is a great idea for Valentines Day and it takes less that 5 minutes.

Begin by pulling all of the hair back into a ponytail. (Or two piggies, a bun, a side ponytail, or whatever you like.) Now grab a small section of hair from that ponytail and make sure you grab it from on top. Tie a small clear elastic around that section about 1/4 inch below the main ponytail elastic. Using your Topsy Tail, create an Inverted Pull-Through by sticking the point of your Topsy Tail underneath your section of hair so that it point upwards behind the elastic. Pull the small section through the loop on your Topsy Tail and ten pull it all the way through. Separate that small section into two equal halves and twist each side instead of leaving it flat and that will help it hold it's shape better. Create a small arch on each side for the top of your heart and then combine the two sides just below that second elastic. Secure those two ends and the rest of your large ponytail into place using another clear elastic.

Now your Heart Topper is finished and you can complete your ponytail with whatever braid you like. We've just done a Regular 3-Strand Braid here.

In a few days we will be doing a whole new hairstyle using this ponytail-heart technique so keep checking back because it will be cute!

Cupid's Heart

2012-01-30T08:22:00.000-08:00

We have come up with a new hairstyle that is perfect for Valentines Day. We call is "Cupid's Heart" and it is VERY easy - don't let the pictures fool you! :)

Start with wet hair. It will not hold nearly as well if the hair is not wet. Create a part directly down the middle of the head so that you now have two equal sections.

Using a rat-tailed comb you will create half of a heart on the left side of the part. (We started the inside of our heart about 3.5 inches back from her bang line.) The half-heart will start and end right on the middle part. Comb the hair outside of the heart down an have your princess hold the hair that is inside the heart. Now move over to the right side and create the other half of your heart. It needs to be a mirror image of the left side so make sure you take your time and really have it look nice. Make sure that all of the hair outside of the heart is combed down and then tightly smooth out all of the hair inside the hear and combine it right in the middle with an elastic to create one ponytail. You should be able to see your heart-part really nicely now. The hair outside of the parts should still be divided into two sides with that original middle part. Go ahead and divide your ponytail into two equal halves as well, one for each side. Temporarily tie off the right side (ponytail and hair) with an elastic so that you can work on the left side without that hair getting mixed in.

Start on the top-middle part of your heart and begin french braiding by gathering three small sections from the hair not inside the heart. Gather hair into your braid each time you plate.

The outside will be gathered from the hair that is loose and the inside will be gathered from the ponytail. Have your braid lie directly on the hear part so that you can keep the shape that you want. Continue gathering hair all the way down that half of the heart and tie it into a temporary elastic when you finish at the nape of the neck.

Move over to the right side and repeat the steps. When all of the hair is gathered and you are down at the bottom of the head, remove your temporary elastic from the left side and combine both sides together in one final elastic.

You can finish off that new ponytail however you like but we have chose to do a Quad Braid here. (You can find the video for a Quad Braid here.) Add some fun Valentines hair clips and give it a good spray with hairspray.

It takes a good 15-20 minutes to complete but the idea is quite simple. :)

Friday's Film: 7-Strand Braids

2012-01-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

You may have noticed a couple new things on our sidebar. We now have links to our Facebook page and our Pinterest page. Pinterest is particularly fun because it allows you to pin the hairstyles that you are interested in and then you have a quick reference when you're stumped on what to do in the mornings. Hopefully these with both be helpful links for you!

The hairstyles for today are ones that we have done before but did not have videos for. We got a request for a 7-Strand Braid from a follower in Brazil and I wasn't sure which particular one was being requested so we made a video for both. Keep in mind that working with 7 strand is much more difficult because there are less spaces between the fingers to hold everything. I say "difficult" but not "impossible". Practice a bit and it will become easy for you. These videos will hopefully help you and not confuse you more because it is a bit hard to get the perfect angle with my hands and the video camera. :)

This one is officially called the "7-Strand Braid" and the original post can be found here.

This braid is a bit easier if you can do it without a full ponytail. The more hair, the harder it is to hold. Maybe try it with a half-up style as well!

This shows the braid up close and you can see that it has more of a weave look to it.

This one is called "Lucky Number 7" and the original post can be found here.

You will want to secure all the strand together at the bottom with an elastic.

Here's a close-up of the weave in the braid.

Royal Rolls

2012-01-25T07:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a really fast hairstyle that is great for church or any other formal venue. It is not necessary to start with wet hair but it will help the style to hold longer if you do.

Comb all of the hair straight back toward the nape of the neck and smooth it nicely so there are no loose hairs popping up.

We have added this braided hair accessory that I found at Sally Beauty Supply. It looks like natural hair and comes in a wide variety of colors to match every hair type. It's also adjustable with an elastic bottom so that adults can wear it too. You don't need to have it for this hairstyle to look great but I do like the little extra that it adds without the extra work. :) If you do choose to use this or any other type of elastic headband, make sure that it wraps underneath all of the hair next to the neck.

Now gather all of the hair down at the ape of the neck into an elastic so that you have one large ponytail. Grab your Topsy Tail and stick the pick part straight down behind the elastic. Feed your ponytail up through the loop and then pull the hair through to create a Pull-Through.

Now separate your ponytail into 4-6 even pieces and Barrel Roll them upward into the head. (If you do not know how to create a Barrel Roll you can see the video here.) Secure your rolls with bobby pins. The Pull-Through that you created previously will help give some stability in the hair for those bobby pins to latch onto.

Spread your Barrel Rolls out around the base of the head to give it a nice look and also to cover your elastic band a bit.

Once all of your rolls have been created and are secured, you can add some hair accessories. I've added some little flower hair pins that we made and you can see the video on how to make these here. I've also added a couple flowers up by the headband. Give it a good spray with hairspray and it's finished.

Jacob's Ladder With Weave

2012-01-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

This is a hairstyle that takes a bit more time so it's not a great one if you've only got minutes to spare.

Begin with wet hair and separate a small area next to the left ear that you will set aside for later. (This will be the hair that you weave with.) Now create a horizontal part all the way around the back of the head from the left ear over to the right ear. It can either be right in the back of the head or it can lay a bit lower on the head - depending on where you want your Jacob's Ladder positioned. We've done the Jacob's Ladder hairstyle before but I don't think I've ever posted about it so I will give some step by step instructions. This one is a bit different than we usually do because it is positioned horizontally and we usually do it vertically.

Start by grabbing a section from the bottom half of your part by using a rat-tailed comb to go from the part down to the bottom of the hair. (Make sure your sections are not too large because you want to have a nice weave in the end and the more sections you have, the better the weave will look.) Pull that small section into a ponytail using a clear elastic. Now move up to the top half of your part and create a parallel section from the edge of the hairline down to the part. Before you secure that into an elastic you will want to pull up the top half of your first ponytail and add that in with you top section. Now secure it into a ponytail and you've created the first rung of your Jacob's Ladder.

We just finished a rung on the top section so you will now be creating another section on the top. Pull the complete ponytail from the top in with the new section you just created and secure it with a clear elastic. Divide that new ponytail in half. Now create a parallel section on the bottom half and add in the other half from your very first bottom ponytail and half of the last ponytail you created on the top. Secure it with an elastic and you now have your second rung of the ladder. Create a new section on the bottom and pull all the hair from your most recent ponytail in with the new section and secure it with and elastic. Divide that ponytail in half and create a parallel section on the top half.

You can see how I've created the top sections here and what our parts looked like.

Keep moving back and forth from top to bottom with these instructions until all of the hair has been gathered over to the right ear and you've created several rungs to your Jacob's Ladder.

Now go back over to that hair that you section out at the very beginning and divide it into two equal sections. Make sure it is still nice and wet and start weaving with your top section. You will be going over and under the rungs in your Jacob's Ladder. I used a Topsy tail to do this but it is not necessary. Once you have weaved it all the way through your Ladder you can combine it with the top ponytail on the right side by adding another elastic. Now go back and do the same thing with your bottom section but make sure to alternate the over and under with what you did using your top section so that it gives the basket effect. Secure that piece in with the bottom ponytail on the right side.

You should not have two full ponytails on the right side of the head and you will divide each ponytail into two equal sections and weave them all together to create a Flat 4-Strand Braid. There are instructions for how to create this braid here. Add a flower to the bottom of your braid and you're finished!

Friday's Film: Pull-Through Bun

2012-01-20T08:19:00.000-08:00

If you have a princess with long hair and struggle to find the perfect bun, we may have a solution for you.

This is one that we use all the time and it's called the Pull-Through Bun. You'll need to have a Topsy Tail and some bobby pins for the hairstyle.

Begin with any hairstyle you like, or you can just begin with a simple ponytail. We've got a variation on our Angel Halo hairstyle here and it works great because all of the hair ends up in a side ponytail. (You can find the video for the Angel Halo here.)

Once your hair is all combined in an elastic, grab your Topsy Tail and stick it in the hair behind the elastic. Feed the ponytail through the loop and then pull it halfway through the hair. You will create your bun by only pulling it halfway through.

Take the ends of the hair that were pulled through by your Topsy Tail, divide them into two equal sections, and wrap them up around the bun and bobby pin them into place by creating an "X" with two pins. If the hair is wet you can shape your ends to curl around the bun but if it is dry you can use an iron to achieve the same effect.

Add a hair clip on top of the bun to conceal the bobby pins.

Here is a video to help you as well:

Triple V

2012-01-18T08:16:00.000-08:00

This is a simple hairstyle that takes less than 10 minutes to complete and we always need to have a stash of those hairstyles handy!

We call it the triple V because of the three braids forming the V's on the back of the head.

Begin by creating a small part at the front of the head. Ours is off-centered a bit but you can place it wherever you like. Comb the remaining hair down straight.

Start on the right side of the head and section out some hair from the part down to the top of the right ear. Smooth it out with a comb and then create a Regular 3-Strand Braid that will be long enough to reach to the back of the head. Have your princess hold that braid while you move over to the left side and repeat the same steps. Pull those two braids to the back of the head and combine them with an elastic.

Now you will grab a small section of hair directly behind/underneath that previous section and create a braid out of that as well. Have your princess hold that while you move to the opposite side and repeat the steps.

Join those two braids at the back of the head - along with the ponytail from the previous braids - and secure it all with a new elastic. Repeat these same steps with one more section of hair from each side of the head to create your 3rd "V". You can finish off the style by curling the hair as well.

BOWtiful

2012-01-16T09:03:00.000-08:00

I've done a few of these "Ga Ga" bows before but I wanted to show you one other way to do this. I found that this way seems to hold throughout the day better.

Start with wet hair and pull it all back into a ponytail - or piggies or whatever style you are looking to do. Now section out about 1/3 of that ponytail from the top to make your bow out of. Divide that section into two equal parts.

Start with one of those parts and create one loop of your bow, whatever size you like. Now take a small clear elastic and secure it over that loop a couple of times to hold the loop in place. Make sure that your small clear elastic is resting as close to the original ponytail elastic as possible. Do the same thing with your other part of hair to create the other loop of your bow. You should now have two loops and two clear elastics resting by your main elastic.

Take the hair from your loops that was left over and criss-cross wrap that around the three elastics to hide them. You will first cross them behind and then criss-cross them over the front.

Finish by taking the ends behind the ponytail and then including them with the rest of the hanging hair as you divide it into three equal sections to braid. By braiding these ends in with the rest of the ponytail it will secure them in without having to use any bobby pins.

Hopefully this way will help a few of you that struggle with theses hair bows.

Friday's Film: Swedish Piggies

2012-01-13T07:21:00.000-08:00

We tried to get this video up as soon as possible because we had a lot of response on the hairstyle and many requests for a video. I wish that the hair on the video looked a little more crisp and clean but you should still be able to get the general idea.

If you want to see pictures of the finished product as it should look, you can refer to the original post here.

See, now wasn't that easy?! :)

Barrel Bun With Braids

2012-01-11T10:14:00.000-08:00

This is a new twist on an old favorite. Those of you that have followed us for a while know how much I love Barrel Rolls. :) This is simply a Barrel Roll Bun that we've added some braids to.

Begin with wet hair and pull it all back into a tight ponytail. You can have a small part in the front if you like but it's not necessary. You can also have your ponytail high or low depending on where you want your bun sitting in the end.

Pull out some small sections of your ponytail - as many as you want - and create some Regular 3-Strand Braids. Secure each one at the bottom with a small clear elastic.

Set the braids off to the side and create your Barrel Roll Bun using the remaining hair. You can find an instructional video on how to create a Barrel Roll Bun here.

Once you've finished your bun you can take your individual braids and wrap them through and around your bun in any fashion that you like.

Use bobby pins to secure your ends in behind the bun. Spray it with some hair spray and then add a flower in the center to finish it off.

Elegant Updo

2012-01-09T07:50:00.000-08:00

Here's a hairstyle for you that looks really complex but is actually quite simple. It may take a couple trial runs to get the feel of braiding sideways but practice makes perfect.

Begin with wet hair and create a small off-centered part at the front of the head. Comb the rest of the hair straight down.

Begin on the left side and grab a section of hair right by the ear. Divide it into 3 equal sections and begin braiding sideways toward the right ear. You will be adding a section of hair into the far right section of your braid (the top section) every time you plate the braid. Do not add hair into the bottom section - just the top so that it is a Half-French Braid. Also be sure to keep your braid somewhat low on the back of the head.

When you get over to the right ear you will slowly twist your braid down toward the neck and then have it start heading back toward the left ear.

This is where you will begin to add in hair to both sides of your braid as you plate it for a full French Braid. Make sure that you gather up all the remaining hair as you work back toward the left ear. Tip: Add the top sections of hair in tightly so that the braid is snug up against that first braid going across the head. Once you have gathered all of the hair up you will simply finish braiding the hair with a Regular 3-Strand Braid and secure it at the end with an elastic.

Take that 3-Strand Braid and bend it underneath the French Braid you just created and bobby pin it onto the head. Be sure to tuck and loose ends up into the braids so they are hidden. Give it a good spray with some hairspray for hold and then add some cute hairpins to dress it up!
This is an easier version of our Waterfall Updo that we did a while back and take much less time to accomplish. The steps are not exactly the same but the outcome looks very similar.

Friday's Film: Back & Forth Half-Up

2012-01-06T08:54:00.000-08:00

We had a lot of requests for this video and I apologize for it taking so long but we had to squeeze in our Holiday Hairstyles during December.

This is a tutorial for the Back & Forth Half-Up hairstyle that we did a while back.

This video seems a bit dark and I apologize for that. When my princess has wet hair it's even darker and harder to see. :( Hopefully you still get the general idea.

You can find instructions for the original post here. This style is nice because it's only about 5 minutes in the making!

Swedish Piggies

2012-01-04T09:33:00.000-08:00

Here is a hairstyle that we came up with one morning and it is one of my new favorites. You will want to make sure that you start with wet hair and you can use a hair gel to help it hold if your princess has finer hair. This style works best if the bang are grown out but you can also modify it if your princess has bangs that hang on her forehead.

Create a short, off-centered part at the front of the head and comb the bang area down toward each ear. Comb the rest of the hair straight back.

Begin with the left side of your part and comb the front bang area down by the ear and then around the back of the head and over behind the right ear.

Gather a portion of the bangs from the right side of your part and combine that with your left section by securing it with an elastic just behind the right ear. You should now have one small pony on the right side of the head and the rest of the hair still remaining down.

Grab a small section of hair from the right side now - from under the previous section and elastic - and smooth it across the head and over to the left side. Grab a small section of hair from that left side to add to your new right piece and secure them together with an elastic. You will now grab another section of hair from the left side and this time you will comb it over to the right and secure it into that ponytail that is already there with another elastic.

Keep doing this back and forth across the head so that you begin to have a swept look. Once all of the hair has been gathered you are finished and should have only two piggies remaining. You can leave the piggies loose like we've done here or finish them off with braids or curls.

Merry & Bright

2011-12-24T09:31:00.000-08:00

Princess Piggies wants to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and we hope that your season is "Merry & Bright" just like this hairstyle! You may recognize this style from our title as you enter our blog. We've gone ahead and spruced it up just a bit for the holiday!

I found these awesome little LED lights at Walmart and they came with a little battery pack. This hairstyle is best when you're going out caroling or to see some lights because you'll want to have a scarf to wrap around your princess's neck to not only hide the cord but also to hold your little battery pack in place. (My daughter just had it in the hood of her shirt here and then wore a jacket over the top with a scarf wrapped around her neck.)

The instructions for the original hairstyle, "Crossed Hawser Braids," can be found here. I'll give you some brief updates for illuminating it as well. :)

Once you've completed your Crossed Hawser Braids you will want to grab your strand of lights and begin poking the up through the under side of the braids. try to keep your wires either under or behind the braids. Don't worry too much about the wires that are hanging out below because those will get covered. Remember to leave the end connected to the battery pack accessible and coming out of the middle.

Now you will want to grab a stretch band or wide ribbon to hide your wires with. We've used a stretch band here and just wrapped it around the two side of the Hawser Braids and over all the wires in the back.

I was worried that the hairstyle was becoming heavy but my princess said that it wasn't heavy or bothersome at all. Tuck your battery pack into either a hood or scarf, turn your switch on, and you are ready to go for a night out!

My princess wore her hair like this when we went out to see some lights and people were just as impressed with her as they were with the scenery!

We will be back with some fun new posts at the beginning of the year and will be taking a small vacation until then.

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Friday's Film: Hair Tinsel

2011-12-23T09:13:00.000-08:00

I've been dying to get this post up for a while now because it's just so much fun. We've saved it for Christmas time because it's easy to find tinsel around this time of year.

This is the tinsel that we've used in the video and it is specifically for hair. I couldn't find it at any of the beauty stores but I was able to get it online through Ebay. It's nice because it is super thin and blends right in with the hair. It can also be washed and styled right along with your regular hair and can withstand dryers and irons. Regular Christmas tinsel can be used for just a fast temporary style but do not use any heat on it and I recommend that you not leave it in the hair for more than a day. It is a bit thicker as well which makes it a bit harder to attach but it can be done and it look so cute!

It's really important to get your tinsel tied in as close to the scalp as possible to get the most natural look. (It gets easier each time you apply it)

I made sure to place the tinsel along her natural part and also keep it even on both sides.

The tinsel we have here will last up to two weeks in the hair so you will probably see it in a couple future posts. :) It took about 20 minutes total for all the strands but that wasn't much time considering.

We purchased the "sparkle" tinsel because I loved the way the light refracted off of it but you can get the regular metallic as well and it comes in all sorts of colors.

This hairstyle would be great for a soccer/dance/cheerleading team or when going out to a game because you can choose the perfect colors to show your support!

The pictures don't do it justice because you just need to see it in person but - trust me - it is beautiful!

Holiday Hairstyles: Present

2011-12-22T07:58:00.000-08:00

This one may look a bit complicated but it's really pretty easy. I've provided step by step instructions to hopefully help you if you get stuck.

Here are the supplies we used for this hairstyle. We have two different colors of ribbon and a plastic yarn needle. (This picture shows green ribbon but I decided to use white ribbon in the actual hairstyle. Sorry for any confusion.) I also made some really simple hair clips by gluing some gift bows to the top of alligator clips.

Start by dividing the hair into 4 equal sections by creating a part horizontally across the back of the head and a part vertically straight down the middle of the head. Secure each section into a ponytail right in the middle of it's section. Start with your top-left ponytail and divide it into two equal sections. Do the same with the top-right ponytail. Take one section from each ponytail and bring them together over your center part and secure them with an elastic. That will be the top part of your present and you will now have a new ponytail right in the top-middle.

Move down to the bottom-left ponytail and divide that into two equal sections. Pull one of those sections and the remaining section from your top-left ponytail together over the center part and secure them with an elastic, creating another new ponytail. This is the left side of your present.

Move down to your bottom-right ponytail and divide that into two equal sections. Take one of those sections and combine it with the remaining section from your top-right ponytail. Before you place an elastic on it, pull over the new ponytail created on the left side of your present. Include that with those two sections and secure it all with an elastic. That is the right side of your present and a new ponytail.

Grab your last two sections from the two original bottom ponytails and bring them together over the center part. Also bring down that new ponytail created on the top part of your present and include that and secure it with an elastic. Now your entire present is formed including the criss-cross parts in the middle and you should have a ponytail coming off the bottom part of your present and one coming off the right side of your present. Twist these two final ponytails into a side-Corkscrew down on the right side and secure it at the bottom with an elastic.

Now you are ready to start weaving your ribbon. Thread the yarn needle with the color that you want to use as your present outline first. Start wherever you like and just wrap it around the whole outside square that is the border of your present. When you get back to where you started, tie the two ends of ribbon together and cut off any excess. Tuck in your know and then use a bobby pin to secure it inside the hair so it stays hidden. Grab your second color of ribbon and thread your yarn needle. Outline the criss-crossing "ribbon" part in the middle of your present. Tuck your ribbon ends into the hair and use a bobby pin to secure them in so they don't pop out later. Your last step is to add your wrapping bows. I placed one right in the middle over the crossing ribbons and one at the end of the Corkscrew.

Holiday Hairstyles: Snowflake

2011-12-21T10:00:00.000-08:00

This Holiday Hairstyle is a snowflake and the pictures don't do it much justice. It actually turned out really cute but I do have to admit that I think it would look better on hair that is not quite so long.

Here are the supplies needed: White yarn or ribbon, a snowflake hair clip or clips, and some little rhinestones that either twist into the hair or have velcro on the back to slide into the hair.

Begin by parting the hair into sections. Part the hair in half horisontally first. This should now give you two equal sectinos - one on top and one on bottom. Tie off the top section and begin working on the bottom.

Have your princess lie on her tummy on a bed so that her face is just over the side. This will make it easier to do an upside down French Braid. Divide that lower half into two equal sections and create and upside down French Braid out of both sections. Add in hair all the way up to that middle part and then get 3 strands of white yarn ready. Add in a strand of yarn to each of your sections of hair that you are braiding and finish the French Braids off with Regular 3-Strand Braids. Secure the bottom with an elastic and cut off any excess yarn. Do this to both sides.

When the bottom half is done, you can have your princess get up so you can move to the top half. We have created 4 sections on our top half but you can do just two again if you like. Create French Braid out of each section - adding in hair until you reach the part. Add your 3 strand of white yard to each braid and finish it off with a Regular 3-Strand Braid. Secure them all at the ends with elastics and cut off any excess yarn.

You should now have a braid from each section that is hanging. Go ahead and combine them all into one elastic so that they hold a bit tighter.

Now take each individual braid and fold it under itself once. Bobby pin your end underneath so that it stays securely in place. Do this in a circular motion so that your braids each fan out away from the center of the head.

You can be finished at this point or you can add a snowflake hair clip to the middle and some rhinestones to make it shimmer a bit.

Holiday Hairstyles: Gingerbread Man

2011-12-20T07:42:00.000-08:00

So you may think that every hairstyle turns out well and that we never have any complete disasters... well, this post will prove otherwise! I just had to share this one because I had an idea in my head for this darling gingerbread man and it ended up looking like a hot mess on my poor daughter's head! :)

These are the supplies that we used - not that you will need to remember them because this hairstyle was a FAILURE.

I'm not even going to try to type instructions because it is apparent that what I was doing did not work. ha ha! Just enjoy the pictures and get a good laugh in for the day.

This is supposed to show the side of the head, an arm, and a leg but I would be amazed if you could pick that out!

You can see where I attempted to create a head on top but it looks nothing like a head!

Another view of the disaster.

Maybe we'll attempt this again next year but I will have to have a seriously different approach to the whole thing because this one failed big time. :) Have a great day and remember *DO NOT ATTEMPT* ha ha!

Holiday Hairstyles: Santa Hat

2011-12-19T08:41:00.000-08:00

This is a hairstyle created from the original hairstyle called Half-Down French Braids. We've just added some fun accessories to make it a Santa Hat.

These are the supplies that we used but you can find anything that works for you. There is red ribbon, a plastic yarn needs. some extra large white wire-ribbon, and a white puff ball that we've glued to a hair pin.

Create your Half-Down French Braid hairstyle first. The directions can be found here. Now grab your red ribbon and your yarn needle. (You will want to make sure the ribbon is long enough to weave on both sides of your braids.) Feed your ribbon through your top elastic so that the exact middle of the ribbon is folded at the band.

Start with one side of your ribbon and weave it back and forth through both sets of braids - making sure to alternate your left and right sides. When you get down to the bottom of the "French" part of your braid, secure that ribbon by tying it around the braid and then knotting it. Cut off any excess ribbon. (This part will be hidden later.)

Move over to your other side of ribbon and repeat the steps. Be sure that this new side of ribbon is exactly mirroring your previous side.

After both ends of ribbon have been tied off and the excess had been cut, you are ready to use your white wired-ribbon. Wrap it behind both braids at the nape of the neck and then bring it around the front and tie it in a bow. (Make sure the white ribbon is covering those ends from your red ribbon.) Shape your bow until it looks the way you like. (This is the reason for using wired-ribbon.) Take a bobby pin on each braid and run it through the ribbon to secure it to the hair. The final step is to insert your puffy white hair pin into the top elastic.

Now your princess is festive and ready for Christmas! :)

Holiday Hairstyles: Wreath

2011-12-18T08:43:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite Holiday Hairstyles. It can be formal or casual and it holds all day long.

These are the supplies you will need: Green ribbon, a plastic yarn needle, flower hair pins, and a Christmas hair clip or two.

The basic hairstyle beneath this wreath is the Angel Halo and I have a instructional video for that here. The only difference is that instead of ending it by the ear with a bun, I continued twisting the extra hair around the top of the head and pinned it underneath the original French twist on the side that I started. That way I had a full circle to work with.

Thread your yarn needle with the green ribbon and insert it through your Angel Halo down at the bottom by the neck. Begin wrapping the ribbon around your twists and follow your entire circle until you end up back at the bottom. Tie your two ends of ribbon together to secure them and then cut off any excess.

Now grab your Christmas hair clip and place it right over the ribbon ends. We have used two here because we didn't have one that was quite big enough. Now take your flower hair pins and insert them around the wreath wherever you think it looks good.

It makes a really festive updo for your princess this season!

Friday's Film: Holiday Hairstyle: Christmas Tree

2011-12-16T08:18:00.000-08:00

This is a fun Christmas Tree hairstyle that is easy to complete.

These are the supplies you will need along with some bobby pins and elastics. These are mini ornaments for small trees but you could also just place some small clips around your finished tree. Also, make sure you have a "tree topper". I've just used a wrapping bow glued to an alligator clip here. You will also want to have your Topsy Tail handy.

You can see why I suggested that you have your Topsy Tail handy! :)

Here is the finished product.

Make sure when you puff up your braid that you bobby pin it at the top. The tree topper will hide the pins in the end.

You can see from the side how I tucked it up under.

Here's a view from the other side.

It also looks cute just hanging as a braid with fun little ornaments inserted.

My princess likes this hairstyle best so far but I think it's because of the ornament bling! :)

Holiday Hairstyles: Winter Wonderland

2011-12-15T09:23:00.000-08:00

*I apologize in advance for the darker pictures but we did this hairstyle for a Christmas party in the evening so the sun had already gone down.* We call this one the "Winter Wonderland" and we don't get any snow where we live so it was fun to create a snowy scene in her hair. :)

Here are the supplies we used and I know that they're not necessarily supplies that you would have readily available but you can be creative and use what you have! First we have a jumbo twist form and some white faux hair that we got at Sally's. (You could use a pair of long rolled socks and ribbon as substitutes.) There are also some little snowflake jewels that we just glued to hair pins but you could also use regular rhinestones. Finally we have some snowman hair clips and I made these ones out of ribbons and alligator clips but you could make some simple ones with cotton balls and hair pins if you wanted.

Begin with wet hair and comb it all straight back. Clip your faux hair underneath the other hair by the nape of the neck. Now grab your twist form and place it at the ends of the hair. Roll it upwards into the head until you have it nice and tight. You will want to make sure that you are spreading your faux hair out a bit as you roll as well so it's not all in one clump. Once your form is tightly against the head, secure it in place using bobby pins. This is our hill of snow for our Winter Wonderland.

Now go ahead and place your snowman clips on top of the hill of snow in any way that you like. (You could also make tree clips and use those as well or in place of.)

Your final step is to make it look like it's snowing by inserting your hair pins in random places above the snowmen.

Now you've created a Winter Wonderland picture through a hairstyle. It also looks like one of those over-the-top Christmas sweaters that Grandma used to wear. :)

Holiday Hairstyles: Bandu Snowman

2011-12-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

This is our Bandu Snowman hairstyle and it's made with three Bandu (or Odango) Buns.

Here are some of the supplies that you will need. The snowman hair clips, yarn, & needle are optional. I demonstrated how you can use the yarn in the video but I didn't personally like the outcome so our pictures are done without it. There is a bit of yarn for the scarf, brown pipe cleaners for the arms, & a Santa hat clip. (You can use anything you have for the hat or just leave it off.)

I'm pretty sure I called the snowman a "scarecrow" in this video and my arm was in the way for a bit of it. Not my finest filming experience but hopefully you get the idea! :)

It turned out pretty cute didn't it!

This shows how it looks from the side.

You can see where I divided out the three sections to start with.

It would also be fun to add some cute buttons or some type of carrot nose!

It's a pretty fast hairstyle and it holds tightly throughout the whole day.

Holiday Hairstyles: Candy Cane

2011-12-13T09:29:00.000-08:00

It's "Candy Cane Day" at my princess's school and we did this hairstyle in honor of that.

Begin by making a curved part starting over behind the left ear. Have it curve up about two inches from the bang line and then come down to a straight part in the center. (I wish that my curve would have been a bit more defined so make sure it is exactly how you want it before continuing on.)

Comb all of the hair below and to the left of the part down to the nape of the neck where you will create a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of it.

Now move back up to that hair by the left ear and start creating a Half-French Braid by only gathering hair into the outside strands of your braid so that it lies directly on top of the part you have created.

Continue adding in hair as you plate around the curve and once you get to your straight part you can start adding in hair to both sides of your braid to create a regular French Braid the rest of the way down. Once you've added all of the hair in you can finish it off with a Regular 3-Strand Braid.

Now grab some red and white ribbon and a plastic yarn needle. Start with one of your colors and tuck the end in over by the left ear - I used a bobby pin to hold it in place.

Now thread the ribbon through your yarn needle and start weaving it around your French Braid. Finish it all the way to the end of the braid on the right side of the head and then go back up to the top and repeat the same steps with your other color of ribbon. Secure your ends at the bottom of your braid with another elastic.

Now you've got a cute little Candy Cane!

Holiday Hairstyles: Frosty

2011-12-12T07:56:00.000-08:00

This is the final hairstyle on our video from Friday and we call it Frosty.

In the video I just showed you how to assemble the original bun but these pictures will show you the finished product as it should be.

These are the supplies you will need. I found these knee-high stockings at our local dollar store but you can use an old pair of tights, old socks, or just some ribbon if you like. I used some Sharpie markers to draw on the face and the buttons. Remember that you do not have to purchase the bun molds because you can used rolled socks for the form if you would rather. The bun molds are just nice because they allow you to stick hairpins and bobby pins into them a bit easier. There is a short bit of yarn for the scarf, some brown pipe cleaner for the arms, and a small Santa hair clip. (A hat is optional.)

Start by dividing the hair into two halves along the back of the head so that you have a top half and a bottom half. You are going to secure each half into an elastic.

Make sure that your top half ponytail is a bit lower so that it is close to the part and your bottom half should be higher so that it is close to the part as well.

Pull a mold over each ponytail and create a bun as shown in the video. Grab your stockings and pull those over the bun as well and secure them by placing a final elastic over them. (You can stretch and pull the stockings at this point to get the face exactly how you want it.) Tie your yarn around the end of a bobby pin and pop that in the middle of the two buns for your scarf.

Your last step is to insert the two pipe cleaner arms and clip the hat on top. My princess wore this to a Christmas show and it was a huge crowd pleaser.

Friday's Film: Holiday Hairstyles: Ornament, Rudolph, & Snowman

2011-12-09T08:08:00.000-08:00

Here is a video that will help you with the first three Holiday Hairstyles that we have for the season.

We have already posted the first two but the Snowman will be our next post that we have up.

Ornament

Rudolph

Snowman

Holiday Hairstyles: Ornament

2011-12-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

I'm in love with the look of faux hair on a bun. It's kind of fun to add a splash of color once and a while.

These are the supplies that we used for this Ornament Hairstyle and if you don't have faux hair you can use some colored ribbons. I've just twisted this silver pipe cleaner into the same of an ornament top and then glued it to a hairpin.

Begin by gathering all the hair back into a ponytail and securing it with an elastic. Lift one fold of your elastic and tuck in your faux hair or ribbons.

Now go ahead and slide a bun mold over the ponytail and spread the hair out evenly - making sure that your faux hair or ribbon is dispersed evenly as well. Now place another elastic over the top of the mold to secure it.

Break up an excess hair into sections and twist them individually. Wrap the twists around the base of the bun and secure them in with bobby pins.

Now take your pipe cleaner clip and stick it right into the top of your bun so that it now looks like an ornament.

Simple and fun!

We will also have a video for our first few Holiday Hairstyles posts coming up this Friday!

Holiday Hairstyles: Rudolph

2011-12-05T10:29:00.000-08:00

We are starting a new segment called "Holiday Hairstyles" that we will be doing though the month of December. We have some fun ideas for you so keep checking back! This on is our Rudolph style and it's very simple.

These are ideas for supplies that you can use. You may substitute the bun mold for a rolled sock and the reindeer hair clips are optional as well. The nose and the eyes are just glued to hairpins. The antlers are just brown pipe cleaners and you don't have to attach them to anything.

Start by pulling all of the hair tightly back into a ponytail. (Wet hair works best.)

Pull the bun mold or sock over your ponytail and then spread the hair evenly over the mold. Grab a second elastic and secure it over the top of the hair and the mold.

Take any hair that is remaining and breaking it up into sections that you will twist. Wrap those twists around the base of your mold and secure them in using bobby pins.

Now grab your nose and eyes and place them where you like. I find that the nose looks best right in the middle of the bun.

Finally you will go ahead and stick your antlers in on the top. We poked our into the twists at the base of the bun but you can also put them right into the mold if you like!

Friday's Film: KNOTty or Nice

2011-12-02T07:40:00.000-08:00

It's going to sound completely crazy but this hairstyle totally came to me in a dream! :) How sad is it that I'm dreaming about hairstyles! We call it the "KNOTty or Nice" because of the knots and also because it's the first Friday in December!

Pretty easy huh!

Here are some pictures of the finished product and I really like how it turned out.

This is the one that we did on the video and it's a Regular KNOTty or Nice style where the knots have not been pulled at all.

This is a Pulled KNOTty or Nice style.

The knots have been pulled really tightly and the excess hair drapes at the sides.

Here is a side view of that.

This hairstyle is very versatile and this is what it looks like if you pull at the knots a bit and just play with the shape of it.

You'll notice that your hair below your final elastic may seem longer than with a normal braid and that's because your knots use up some of the length from your other strand so you'll have to secure it a bit higher.

Have fun playing around with it and seeing which way you like it best!

Turkey Foot

2011-11-29T19:13:00.000-08:00

We are just getting back home from a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday and wanted to share our hairstyle for Thanksgiving Day. It's called the "Turkey Foot" because it has the shape of one of the claws right off a turkey.

Begin by creating an off-centered part on the top of the head. Have your part go back to the crown of the head and then stop.

You are going to create a Half-French Braid on each side of the part. It's a Half-French Braid because you will only be gathering hair into the top side of each braid - the side closest to your part. Continue adding hair in until you come to the point where you stopped your part. Finish it off with a Regular 3-Strand Braid.

Do the same with the opposite side of the head. Have your princess hold those two braids while you pull the hair underneath - from ear to ear - into an elastic at the back of the head.

Create a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of that new ponytail and comb the rest of the hair straight down. Bring your two top braids to the back of the head and join them with your new braid about 3 inches down. Secure it with an elastic and this will create your Turkey Foot shape. Add any fun hair clips that you like and spray it with some hairspray for hold.

We hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and didn't damage your waistlines too much! :)

Friday's Film: Long Knots

2011-11-25T09:58:00.000-08:00

We posted a video last week showing you how to do some flat iron curls and this is the other part of that same hairstyle. These are called Long Knots and they add a fun look to lots of different styles. (I apologize for some of the instruction being out of the frame but hopefully it won't hinder the basic idea.)

Remember that you can secure your Long Knots with bobby pins if you would like to.

Like I said in the video, you don't need to secure the bangs before hand but we chose to do that for this particular style.

We only did 3 knots here but you can do as many as you like and they can be as big or as small as you like just depending on how much hair you grab.

Her ends were just left hanging for this style but you can pull them into braids, buns, or ponytails as well.

We just finished it off with some flat iron curls and we posted the video for those last Friday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T08:31:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving and I hope that it's a wonderful one for you! I am grateful for all of the comments and followers that help support this blog. Here are some fun things you can use for the holiday!

This is our Turkey Time Hairstyle that is always a fun and easy one.

Here's our Thanksgiving Fun Style with some fun pilgrim clips.

Here are some other little clip ideas for you as well.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Half-Down French Braids

2011-11-21T13:56:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited because my princess and I have been working on a whole collection of hairstyles that we're going to call "Holiday Hairstyles" and we'll start posting those in December. Get excited because there are some fun ones! :)

This is a really simple idea that is great for school because it looks nice and it holds together really well.

Start by pulling the hair on top of the head half-up by and securing it into an elastic. Now divide all the hair below the elastic in half by creating a part right down the center. Clip one side out of the way while you work with the other.

Divide your ponytail in half and then take one of the halves and divide it into 3 equal sections. You will plate the sections once as a Regular Braid and then start adding in hair as a French Braid from the area of hair right below it. Have that French Braid go on a diagonal from the center of the head down towards the opposite edge.

Do the same with the other half of your ponytail and the opposite side of the head.

Finish plating both French Braids into Regular 3-Strand Braids and secure them each at the bottom with an elastic. I wrapped my elastic one final time at the bottom and made sure not to pull the hair completely through and that gave me these little puffs at the bottom.

Nice and easy and she'll be set to go!

Friday's Film: Bella Curls (Flat Iron Curls)

2011-11-18T06:39:00.000-08:00

Well, it is a big day today! It's the release of the new Twilight movie, "Breaking Dawn - Part 1". This is exciting for us here in this house and all of the kids went to school wearing Twilight gear that my husband and I got on our trip to Forks, WA. (Yes! FORKS!!!) :) I'm gearing up for a big party tonight with some more of my Twi-hard friends and I thought it would be fun to do a Twilight themed video for you. These are basically Flat Iron Curls but that doesn't sound as fun as "Bella Curls"!

*Remember that it's always better to spritz the hair first with a heat protecting spray.*

You can see that the curls are nice and loose and look very natural.

We have her bangs tied under and some Long Knots on top and I will have a video for those next Friday.

Her curls lasted throughout the day and looked beautiful.

I actually did this video on Sunday so you don't get to see her cute Twilight clothes but you'll just have to pretend. :)

Have a great day and GO TEAM EDWARD!

Twilight Fan?

2011-11-17T08:45:00.000-08:00

So I am really excited for the release of the new Twilight movie tomorrow and I wanted to jump back to a previous post - Team Edward or Team Jacob?
It is just a simple double messy bun style. We did this for the release of the "Eclipse" movie and I made these bows.
I wanted to post this idea if any of you are Twi-hards like me and would like to copy it! :)
So I ask again... which are you?
Team Jacob?
Or Team Edward?

Back & Forth Half-Up

2011-11-15T10:07:00.000-08:00

Here is a hairstyle that is similar to The Switchback hairstyle that we did a while ago but it's done just a little differently.

Start by creating a small, off-centered part on the top of the head. Comb the rest of the hair straight down.

Start by working on the left side of the head. Grab a section of hair from the part down to the left ear.

Comb it around the back of the head and over to the right half. (Make sure you don't go all the way to the right but that you stay on the back area of the head.) Grab a loose section of hair from that right side and combine your combed section in with it. Secure it with a small clear elastic.

Now move over to the right side of the head and section out an area from the part down to the right ear. Comb that across the back and over the elastic to hide it. Combine it with a small section of hair from the back-left side of the head and secure it with an elastic.

Now grab one final section from the left side - right behind the ear and pull it over that last elastic. Comb it across the head and combine it with a final section of hair from the right side of the head. (From just behind the ear.) Secure it on the back-right side of the head with a small elastic and then pull a bit of the hair from the section above it down over that elastic to hide it.

The rest of the hair can stay straight down or you can curl it. It's a very simple, yet elegant hairstyle.

Friday's Film: Hair Pin Tutorial

2011-11-11T09:22:00.000-08:00

I've had a request for a video showing how to make the hair pins that we use in several of our hairstyles. They are very simple, very fast, and very affordable to make. You will need some unused hairpins or bobby pins, a glue gun, & a flower/notion/ribbon for your focal point.

I told you there were easy!

Here's a finished product from the one I made on the video.

They are so fast to make that I was able to finish all of these in about 30 minutes. I make sure to always have multiples of the same kind because I use all of them in certain hairstyles. (I found these cute little knitted flowers on Etsy.com and they were super cheap.)

Here are some other examples of pins that I've made. (You may recognize some from hairstyles we've posted.) I just keep them in these little craft boxes from Walmart and they stay nice and organized.
Here are just a few of the hairstyles we've used these in:

The Rose Bowl

Baptism Picture Hair

No Go Without A Bow

Pot O' Gold

Double Layered Bun
As you can see, there are lots of ways to use them and they look great in adults as well as kids!
Happy hair pin making!

Draped Braids

2011-11-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

Here's a hairstyle that we tried this morning and it was a fun one. We have pictures here of the draped look but you can also pull the braids tightly so they don't sag and you'll have a totally different style.

Begin by making apart directly down the center of the head.

Start on the right half of the head and create a small section of hair up on top and secure it into an elastic. Pull out some hair from the bottom of that ponytail and create a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of it.

Now move over to the left half and section out the front area - equal to the right side. Pull your braid over to the left section and secure it all together with an elastic. Now unplate any remaining braid underneath that new elastic.

Create a new section on the left half, just below the first one and combine that left ponytail and the new section together and secure it with an elastic. Pull out some hair from the bottom of that new-left ponytail and create a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of it.

Move back over to the right half and section out another area - equal to the left side. Pull your braid over to the new-right section and secure it all together with an elastic.

You will continue this process, moving from side to side, until you come to the bottom of the head.

You'll end up with two ponytails on each half of the head with you can leave straight or braid. Hide your elastics with some hair clips and you're all finished!

Diagonal Puffy Braids

2011-11-08T12:12:00.000-08:00

The weather is starting to get a bit cooler and my princess loves to wear warm hats. They're very cute but they can sure mess up a cute hairstyle quickly. :) Here is a hairstyle that stays put underneath those warm fleece hats. It's your basic set of Puffy Braids with a bit of a twist on them.

Start by dividing the hair in half diagonally. You can start on whichever side you like - we've started over on the left side and ended on the right. Tie one half of your part out of the way temporarily to work with the other.

Gather a small section from the top of that half and secure it into an elastic.

Now gather another section of hair just below that first and add in the ponytail you just made. Tie that new group off with an elastic as well. Just continue adding in section of hair to that ponytail and securing those sections with an elastic until you get to the bottom of the head. That's how you create a Puffy Braid.

Move to the other half of your original part and repeat the steps. You should end up with two large ponytails on one lower side of the head.

You can leave these ponytails as they are, finish them off with a bun, or a braid like we've done here.

I divided both ponytails into two equal halves so that I had four pieces to work with and I created a Quad Braid.

The video for the Quad can be found here. We added a flower at the bottom to finish it off and she was all set to go to school - hat and all!

Friday's Film: Braided Borders

2011-11-04T08:07:00.000-07:00

I've had some special requests for specific hairstyles and I will try my best to get to them as I can. Your comments have not gone unnoticed. :) I had some questions on our previous post for the Braided Borders hairstyle that we had a couple weeks ago.

I thought I would post a short video on how the braids are wrapped to hopefully help any of you that were confused.

It's really a fast style and it has a cool look to it!

Cross Over Braids

2011-11-02T08:26:00.000-07:00

This is a fun twist on an old favorite. You can do this style with either French Braids or Dutch Braids but we have used French Braids here.

Begin my making one part right down the middle of the head. (Starting with wet hair usually works best.) Now create two parallel parts - one on each side - about an inch from the original part. You should now have two long and skinny sections.

Separate the sections into small pieces that you will cross over the opposite side in an alternating pattern. I used a couple of over sized alligator clips to hold the crossed pieces in place until I was ready to use them. Once both parts have crossed through each other and are now on the opposite side of the head from where they began, you can start your French Braids.

Start on the right side of the head and begin plating the hair at the bang line. Add in the crossed over pieces into your braid every other time you plate on that side. Pull them nice and tight. Once you have added all the hair in, continue plating the braid down to the end and secure it with an elastic.

Move over to the left side of the head and repeat the steps.

This hairstyle can be a bit tricky when trying to keep the crossed pieces where they belong but the alligator clips worked well for me and I just removed them as I began plating my braids. You can see that the finished product has a really cool visual effect.

Add some hair clips to the bottom of your braids and you're finished.

Haunted Hairstyle

2011-10-31T07:56:00.000-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN everyone!!! We love this time of year because it is so fun to dress up and pretend. We also love the candy - of course! We have one final Halloween hairstyle today and it's called the "Haunted Hairstyle".

Start by pulling all of the hair back into a tight ponytail. Now grab a bun mold or a rolled sock and place the ponytail through it. Spread the hair evenly over the bun mold and then wrap another elastic over the hair and mold to secure it into place.

Comb the remaining hair, outside of the mold, straight down so it looks like a ponytail.

Now grab a white knee-high stocking. (I used the second one from the pack that I bought at the dollar store - I used the first on The Ghost.) Draw a face on the knee-high with a permanent marker. (Place cardboard inside the knee-high to prevent bleeding.) Place the face part of your knee-high directly over the bun mold and then stretch the rest over. You can adjust it as needed. Add one final white elastic over the mold to hold the knee-high in place.

Grab some white ribbon for your last part. Measure the ribbon against the length of the hair hanging down and then double it so that it is twice as long as the hair. You can cut as many strand of ribbon as you like. Take each strand and tuck them through that final elastic that you placed over the mold. Make sure the middle of your ribbon is directly under the elastic so that you have two hanging strands. You can tie the ribbon onto the elastic if you like but we did not do that and the ribbon held just fine. You can either leave the hair straight at this point like we've done or you can curl it. (I personally wanted to curl it but we ran out of time.) Add a hair bow to the top of your ghost and you're all finished!

My princess had a ghost in her hair to match the ghost on her pillowcase dress! We hope you all have a safe and fun Halloween!

Friday's Film: The Ghost

2011-10-28T10:19:00.000-07:00

We wanted to do a fun, yet simple, Halloween hairstyle for you this year so we came up with The Ghost.

You will need a pair of white knee-high tights and I just found mine at the local dollar store. Draw a ghost face on one stocking with a permanent black marker. (Tip: Place some cardboard inside the stocking before drawing the face on to avoid any bleeding.)

Here are some pictures of the finished product topped with a ghost hair bow.

It held really well all day long and everyone was stopping my princess to take a look at it.

Happy Haunting!

Candy Corn Revisited

2011-10-25T10:42:00.000-07:00

I had done a post last year called Halloween Hairdos: Candy Corn and here is a picture of it:

I decided to try revisiting this hairstyle again this year and tweaking it a bit so that it is easier.

I started by pulling the hair half up - from ear to ear - and securing it in an elastic at the back of the head. Divide the hair below the elastic in half by creating a part directly down the center. Go ahead and divide your ponytail into two equal parts as well.

Start by working on the left side and divide that in half horizontally so that it gives you two equal sections on that side. Combine the left half of your ponytail with that top-left section of hair and secure it with an elastic. Make sure to pull that new elastic a bit more to the left than your original ponytail but not all the way to the left. Now combine your most recent ponytail with the bottom-left section of hair and secure it with a new elastic ALL THE WAY TO THE LEFT so that you have a triangular shape happening. I chose to use white orange and yellow elastics but clear will work as well if you don't have the colors. Go ahead and repeat those steps on the right half of the head.

I also finished off the ponytails by alternating the white yellow and orange elastics all the way down to the ends of the hair but this is optional. Now grab some ribbons and a plastic yarn needle. Start with white on the top and begin with a bow right over the main elastic. Now continue wrapping the ribbon around the hair until you get to the next elastic. At this point you will cut off any excess white ribbon and tuck the ends into the elastics. Grab your orange ribbon and tie a large bow which you will place right over the middle part. There will be no wrapping with this color but you will tuck your ends into the elastics to secure them. Your final ribbon will be yellow and you will start again by tying a bow and placing it over the center part. Now thread your needle and wrap the ribbon through the bottom elastics and the UP the hair and you will tuck your ends into those middle elastics. (All of your ribbon ends will be secured and tucked into those middle elastics.) Cut off any excess ribbon and hide the ends inside the hair.

We finished our hairstyle off by adding some candy corn clips at the bottom of the ponytails since she had a whole candy corn theme going on. :) (I found the idea for her outfit on Pinterest and I was so happy with how it turned out! Plus I made it big enough for her to wear again next year!)

Friday's Film: Barrel Roll Braid

2011-10-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

*NEW* We are now on Facebook! Just search "Princess Piggies" and it will pull up our page. Click "like" and you will make my whole day! :) Also, feel free to share pictures of your hair creations because I'd love to see all of your hard work! I will be uploading pictures there as well so you will have a photo gallery to view at your convenience! Hooray - Princess Piggies is moving into the networking era! :)

The hairstyle today is called the "Barrel Roll Braid" and it's an easy updo.

I've included a video but have only showed the basic steps on the video because it would have been too long to film from start to finish.

Begin by pulling the top part of the hair - from ear to ear - into an elastic.

Also, in these final pictures I divided the starting ponytail into 3 Barrel Rolls and the film only shows 2.

(Hopefully we're slowly figuring out our lighting issues.)

Here's a side view for you.

You can see how I just rolled the last strands of hair up into the braid itself instead of to the side.

The updo was beautiful for the first part of the day and we were left with some gorgeous loose curls for the rest of the evening.

Halloween Hairstyles Recap

2011-10-19T09:45:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a few of our favorite Halloween Hairstyles since we are getting close to the big day! You can also click on "Costume Hair" or "Halloween" in the labels section on the sidebar for more ideas. Just click on the name beneath the picture and you will be taken to the original post with instructions!

Dancing Skeletons

The Great Pumpkin

The Coffin

Spider Rings

"BOO"

The Mummy

Monster Eyes

Spider Web

Cemetery

Candy Corn

Pumpkin Patch
Hopefully these will be some fun ideas for you to try and celebrate with!

Braided Borders

2011-10-17T10:41:00.000-07:00

This hairstyle is very elegant and pretty but it is only successful if your princess has medium to long hair. We call it the Braided Borders because everything is outlined with a braid.

Start by creating an off-centered part at the top of the head that is about 4-5 inches long. Next you will divide out that top section of hair by creating another part from one ear to the other. Start on one side of your off-centered part and divide it right in half all the way down to the ear. Have your princess hold the front part in her hand. (The bang part) Move over to the other side of the off-centered part and do the same thing. You should now have 4 sections at the top of the head. Your princess should be holding the front two bang sections so you can work with the back two sections.

Divide the section in half and comb the bottom half closest to the ear straight down because you will only need to work with the top half. Create a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of that top half and secure it at the end with an elastic. Move to the opposite side of the head and do the exact same thing.

Comb the remaining hair (except for what your princess is holding) straight down so it is nice and smooth in the back. Now take the two sections that your princess has been holding and spray them with some water and then slick them down against the head.

You will pull both side around to the back of the head where you will join them with an elastic. Make sure you pull these band OVER the rest of the hair but UNDER the two 3-Strand Braids you created. (Hopefully that makes sense.)

Gather all of the hair that is hanging straight down - including the small ponytail from your joined bangs - and create a tight 3-Strand Braid out of them. Secure that braid at the bottom with an elastic.

Now grab one of your 3-Strand Braids from the side and wrap it down under you big main braid, then up along the opposite side of it, and finally you will tuck it in behind the elastic that combined the bangs. Bobby pin that elastic into place. Repeat the same steps with the final remaining braid and you are all finished.

It's a nice elegant hairstyle that will hold tightly throughout the whole day!

Friday's Film: 5-Strand Braid

2011-10-14T08:34:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to let you all know that we are working on some things for better accessibility and we now have labels on the side bar. We are also working on a Facebook page so that we will have a quick access hairstyle gallery for you. Thank you to the wonderful comments and suggestions because they have all been so helpful!

We tried this Friday's Film in a new location and it's a bit brighter than before but I'm going to also try it with a spotlight in the future.
This is a 5-Strand Braid and it is one of our favorites. You can search "Multiple Strand Braids" on the side bar or simply type in "5-Strand Braid" in the search box to see more examples.

We us this style ALL the time and hopefully this will make the idea a bit easier for you!

Rib Cage Braid Bun

2011-10-12T10:01:00.000-07:00

*Note* Thank you so much for your comments on the last video and I will be searching for a better place to film that has more light! I agree that video was much too dark. I was trying to do it in a location where my 3 younger boys would not bother us as much but there is just not enough natural light so the upcoming films should be better! :)

Today we are implementing that Rib Cage Braid in this hairstyle.

Start with wet hair and pull it all back into a high ponytail.

Separate the ponytail into 3 equal sections and create a Rib Cage Braid out of each section. (Remember to braid all the way down to the very ends of the hair before securing it with an elastic.)

Pull the top bit of your braids up above the ponytail elastic and pin them into the hair so that the elastic is hidden. Pulling up top of the braid is also what helps to flair out the "Rib Cage" part of your braid.

Now pull the bottom of the braids up under the main elastic and pin them into place. I have rolled these ones twice because my princess has quite long hair but that is optional.

Flair out the bits of your braid if you need to and then give it a squirt of hairspray for hold.

You can leave it just plain or add a hair accessory to the top. This hairstyle held really well and she was even taken down to the office at her school so they could take a picture. (That made her whole day!)

Princess Piggies Is Now Live On Your Mobile Device!!!

2011-10-09T16:06:00.000-07:00

For all those on the go, please add princesspiggies.blogspot.com to your bookmarks or favorites on your mobile device and you will have instant access to all your favorite hairstyles on the go. I know it can be hard running from place to place and have enabled easy mobile device viewing. Give it a try and thank you for visiting!!!

Friday's Film: The Rib Cage Braid

2011-10-07T08:11:00.000-07:00

This is a cool hairstyle that would be great to use during this Halloween time.

We call it "The Rib Cage Braid" and it would be fun to add a skeleton head at the top for a creepy holiday hairdo.

As you can see, it is really quite simple.

It doesn't need to always start from a ponytail but it does make it a bit easier to work with.

I will be posting a few hairstyles using this braid in the future so you can refer to this video anytime you need.

Hairagami With a Braid

2011-10-05T06:52:00.000-07:00

Here's another fun idea of a hairstyle using the Hairagami.

We found ours at Walgreen's but I'm sure they're at other places as well.

I started by pulling all of the hair back into a ponytail. I then grabbed a small bit of hair that I wrapped around the elastic and tucked back in just to hide the elastic.

Next, I divided the ponytail into a top half and a bottom half. I wrapped the top half into the Hairagami, rolled it into the head and bent it into place.

I took that bottom half of the ponytail and created a 3-Strand braid out of it.

I secured it at the bottom with an elastic and then pulled that elastic up inside the Hairagami and secured it in place with bobby pins. This step is not necessary and it does look cute with the braid just hanging as well.

Puffy Ponytail

2011-10-03T13:16:00.000-07:00

This hairstyle is borrowed from the fabulous Mindy over at Adopt A Do and she calls it the Bubble Braid.

It is super fast and she's got a great video there as well.

I did mine a little differently because of a time crunch. Instead of ratting the hair I just placed the elastic in and pulled at it a bit.

It seemed to hold fine so that is an idea if you are REALLY short on time like we were. :)

It's a fun idea and she's got lots more great ones over on her website!

Friday's Film: The Switchback

2011-09-30T08:13:00.000-07:00

We got many requests for a video on our hairstyle called "The Switchback". It's a simple concept, just make sure you have lots of bobby pins ready to go.

You can find the original post here.

I wish that my arm wasn't in front of the camera so much but I wanted you to be able to see the back of her head. Hopefully you get the idea! :)

French Roll

2011-09-28T14:11:00.000-07:00

This hairstyle has been around forever but this is the first time I have ever actually done it on my princess. I have to admit that the length of her hair made it a bit tricky and this style is probably best for shoulder-length hair.

I have found that starting with wet hair is easiest when you are doing any type of bun or twist because it helps hold much longer when it dries in a specific position. I created a small off-centered part at the top of her head to start off. I then combed all of the hair back down toward the nape of the neck.

Move to the side of the head that has less hair from the part to begin. This was the left side for us so my directions will follow that. Comb all of the hair from the left around the back and toward the right side of the head. Now grab some bobby pins and pin that hair flat against the head - just a bit to the right of the middle of the neck. Your bobby pins should start down by the neck and create a line going straight up about 3-4 inches. This will hold that left side of hair nice and flat against the head.

Now comb all of the hair on the right side straight out until it is flat and then roll it to the left and into the head. Your roll should be covering that line of bobby pins now.

Go ahead and pin the roll into place and add some decorative hair pins to hide the bobby pins. Give it a good spray with hairspray for extra hold and you are good to go!

My princess wore my baptism dress from when I was 8 years old to church on this day. It's a bit old-fashioned so her hairstyle matched perfectly because it is a bit old-fashioned as well. :)

Milk Maid Wrap

2011-09-26T12:31:00.000-07:00

This is a really basic style but it does require long hair. (Sorry all you cute bobs out there!)

Start by dividing the hair down the middle using any part you like. Now pull each side up into a ponytail and secure it with an elastic. Create a 3-Strand Braid out of each ponytail and secure it at the end with an elastic.

Now have some bobby pins ready for this next step. Take the right braid and wrap it around the elastic holding the left braid and add some bobby pins by the elastic to hold the braid there in place.

Repeat the same step with the left braid going over the right elastic.

Now gather both of the remaining braids on each side and bring them to the middle and join them with a new elastic.

You can take out the previous two elastics that were holding the ends of the braids and unplate any braid that falls under the new joining elastic. You can use some bobby pins to secure this elastic area to the braids above but it is not a necessary step.

Place a hair clip over the elastic to hide it and fan out the ends of your braids.

Friday's Film: Barrel Roll Bun

2011-09-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

This is one of my personal favorite hairstyles because it's so fast, holds well and creates curls for the following day. The original post is found here: Barrel Roll Bun.

Here are the pictures of the completed bun:

We put some decorative hairpins in for church.

You can see that we've used a pretty high ponytail so that the bun is right at the crown of the head.

You can use smaller sections of hair to create more rolls.

We've done pretty large rolls here just because of time reasons but I love the look of both.

Remember to have your bobby pins handy because you will definitely need them!

7-Strand Braid

2011-09-21T08:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a style that is a very simple pattern but there are so many strands of hair that it can be confusing for your fingers. Just take it slow and it gets easier with practice!

We started our with a basic ponytail but you can begin with the hair anyway you like. Make sure the hair you are working with is divided into 7 equal sections. Start with the farthest right section and weave it through the other section with an "over/under" pattern. Once that strand is all the way through and on the other side of the hair, grab the strand that is now just to the right of it. (This is the strand that was previously the farthest left strand.) Weave that through the hair moving to the right.

Once that strand is all the way through, grab the strand just to it's left and weave back toward the left side again. Basically you will be weaving left when you start on the right side and weaving right when you start on the left side. That may sound confusing as you read it but it's easier once you give it a try. Continue going back and forth until you get to the end of your hair and then you can secure it with an elastic.

This is a bit different than the Lucky Number 7 Braid that we've posted before. You'll see that the steps are just a bit different and that makes the appearance of the braid very different. Both are very beautiful braids though!

Go Utes!

2011-09-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

In honor of this weekends fabulous game, we decided to come up with a Utah Utes "U" hairstyle. (Sorry all of you BYU fans!) :) We had church the day after the game and we've had a friendly rivalry going on with some of our church members. Of course, we had to rub in our victory just a bit! :) Our whole family wore red to church and we came up with this red "U" for my princess's hair. *This is one hairstyle that I'm PLEASED to say was not well received by some!*

I started by dividing the hair in half with a part and we chose to do a zig-zag part. Next, I pulled each side up into a ponytail and then finished them off with a 3-Strand Braid. I secured each braid at the end with a clear elastic and then I took those elastics across to the opposite side and secured them into the top of the other braid. I found the best way to secure them was to lift part of the original top elastic and feed the bottom end of the other through.

I then bobby-pinned the ends under the braids. I wrapped some red ribbon around the two braids and tucked the ends of the ribbon through the elastics to hold it in place.

Our finishing touch were the coordinating ribbons. :)

For those of you that are BYU fans, you can check out this style:

I call it the Wish it was a "U" Instead of a "Y".
It would be cute with blue ribbon wrapped around it as well.

Friday's Film: Angel Halo

2011-09-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

This is a fun hairstyle that is really quite simple but takes a couple times doing it to get used to the flow of it. The original post on this is here: Angel Halo.

We've also used this concept for Halloween Hairdos: The Great Pumpkin

And for The Rose Bowl.

The more you practice this hairstyle the easier it is to get it looking perfect!

"Fan"cy

2011-09-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

We were running a bit late for church this last week so we had to come up with a hairstyle that was fast! We call this one "FAN"cy because it looks like a fan on top. :)

Start by dividing the hair from one ear to the other and securing the top half into an elastic.

Now take a small section from that ponytail and bend it up in a horseshoe shape above the elastic. Bobby pin it into place over the elastic.

Continue doing this with section of hair from the ponytail until all of your ponytail has been "horseshoed" and bobby pinned.

You will end up with the ends from your ponytail hanging down over the remaining hair and a fan effect above the elastic.

Grab a hair clip to place over the bobby pins and hide them. We've used some decorative hair pins here. (Quite a few of them because my princess wanted them ALL in - you don't need this many to get the job done.) :)

This only took about 5 minutes to complete and we were ready to head out the door.

Puffy Pull-Throughs

2011-09-13T10:38:00.000-07:00

Here's a 5 minute style that is simple and fun.

I call these "Puffy Pull-Throughs" but my daughter refers to them as "Hamster Ears". Section out the hair from ear to ear and then divide it into two sides. We've created an off-centered part on ours so our sides are not even but you can do it however you like.

Pull each side up into an elastic. Now grab your Topsy Tail and create a Pull-Through. At this point you can either use a rat-tailed comb or your fingers but I find that the comb makes it a bit easier.

Hold onto the elastic in the Pull-Through and simply grab bits of hair to pull toward the forehead - loosening them from the elastic. You can make your puffs as large or as small as you like and you can pull out as much or as little hair as you like.

These were so easy and fun that I will be using them on hairstyles in the future!

We just let the rest of the hair fall down in waves but you can finish off the back in any way.

Friday's Film: Bottom Braids & Bun

2011-09-09T00:33:00.000-07:00

We had a bunch of requests for this video so we got right to work on making it. Hopefully it is helpful for you. This is the original hairstyle: Bottom Braids & Bun. I apologize that the video is a bit dark. I will make sure that I don't stand between the window and my princess again. :)

This give you a nice view of the French Braids on the bottom.

Like I said in the video, the hairstyle will never look exactly the same way twice.

Jumping the Track

2011-09-07T10:20:00.000-07:00

This hairstyle is a combination of bits and pieces of several other hairstyles. It's easiest to do when the hair is completely wet.

Start by dividing the hair into 4 equal sections by creating a horizontal part right in the middle of the head and then another vertical part from ear to ear. Tie off the bottom right section and the top left section in temporary elastics to get them out of the way.

Start up on the top right sections and comb the whole section toward the bottom left section. Make sure it is nice and smooth and then separate it into three equal sections and begin braiding. (Be sure to begin your braid down in the corner where the two parts meet.) Plate it a couple of times until it is in the bottom left section and then begin adding hair from that section into the plates. Finish the French Braid and secure it with an elastic.

Now move up to the top left section and take out the elastic. Part out a section along the bang-line that is about 2 inches thick.

Separate that section into three equal new sections and create a 3-Strand Braid out of each. You only need to plate your braid long enough to reach the middle corner where the parts cross over.

Comb the remaining hair from that section toward the bottom right section and then divide it into 3 equal sections. Plate a braid with each section and plate it a couple of times until it is in the bottom right section. (Go ahead and take out the temporary elastic from the bottom right section.) Begin adding hair from that section into the plates. Finish the French Braid and secure it with an elastic.

Spray it with hairspray for a nice hold and then add some hair clips over the two elastics.

Braid Overlay

2011-09-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

This is one of those "accidental" hairstyles that turned out really cute. She started the day with the small braids meeting in the back and the rest of the hair down but we still have temperatures over 100 down here so we pulled the rest of the hair into a braid and this is what it made! I love it!

Start by creating a small off-centered part at the front of the head.

Create a section on each side of the part that goes down to the ear.

Make a 3-Strand Braid out of each section and then combine the two braids at the back of the head with an elastic.

You will want the braid to be combined a bit lower on the back of the head.

Now gather the remaining hair and divide it into 3 sections for your braid. Add the combined braids from above into the middle section. Now just braid the rest of the hair as usual. I love how it absorbs the upper braids and totally conceals the elastic.

We also tried it another day with Squish Braids and that turned out really well.

Kind of pretty don't you think! (An EASY!)

Friday's Film: The Cubed Braid

2011-09-02T07:23:00.000-07:00

*This is the last one we filmed on this dark background so you will hopefully be able to see future videos better! Sorry I didn't think of that earlier!*
This one is a unique braid that we call The Cubed Braid because it has four equal sides that each have the appearance of a 3-Strand Braid. It's fairly simple and hopefully the video doesn't make it seem too confusing.

We've also included some pictures of the finished product.

Notice the 4 equal sides to the braid.

I produced some really pretty waves when it was taken out also.

Don't forget to change where you are splitting your middle section so that the braid holds together tightly.

It's always fun to learn a new braid!

First Day of 3rd Grade Hair

2011-08-31T10:36:00.000-07:00

My princess started 3rd grade this week and she was so excited for her first day of school. She had the Bottom Braids and Bun hairstyle the day before for church (which we created a video for and will be up soon! Woohoo!) so we just used the waves from those braids. You can also get waves by just braiding wet hair the night before or using an electric waver.

We wanted kind of a Bohemian look so we basically just made a short off-centered part on the top and then gathered some hair back into an elastic.

We did leave some hair loose by the ear so that it was not a full half-up hairstyle.

We tied a ribbon over the elastic and just let the rest of the hair fall in waves. It was very simple but very beautiful. It did not take very long either which is perfect for those morning that you just need to get out the door!

She had a great first day of school and had many compliments on her hair.