Basket Braids

Here is a different idea on an old favorite.  We love doing weaving of any type in the hair so we decided to  give it a try with braids.  This one does take a bit of time so make sure you have plenty set aside.  Start by creating an off-centered part in the bang line. 

 Create two more parallel parts on both sides of the part so that you now have two long sections.  Divide each of those sections into 5 equal pieces of hair and create a 3-Strand Braid out of each piece.  You should now have 10 small 3-Strand Braids.  Now go ahead and section out a -inch hick section of hair from the part right down to the ear on each side.  (Create this part parallel to the bang line.)  Those two new sections of hair can be divided.   Make 4 equal sections on the large side of the part and 3 equal sections on the smaller side.  Braid each of those sections into 3-Strand Braids.  You should now have 7 new 3-Strand Braids along the bang line.  Take the very front braid from the smaller part and include it in with the 3 braids on the bang-line of the smaller side of hair so that you now have 4 braids along each side of bang-line. 

Grab the two bang-line braids that are closest to the part (on either side) and bring them to the back of the head where you will join them with an elastic.  Now grab the next bang-line braid on each side and pull those to the back of the head.  You will combine those with an elastic as well but also make sure to include the hair from the braid combination above it.  Do the same thing with the last two braids on the bang line so that they all eventually meet up in the back of the head and you should have 4 elastics in a row in the back of the head. 

 Start with one side of the part and grab the braid nearest to the front of the head.  Pull the braid through a Topsy-Tail and feed it with an in-and-out motion straight down through the braids that you pulled back.  When you reach the last braid you will actually feed your Topsy-Tail through the plates of the braid to hold it in place.  Unplate any remaining braid from the one you just used to weave.  Move to the next braid on that same side and weave that one as well, just be sure to alternate your in-and-out pattern. 

 Do that with the rest of the braids on that side of the head and then move to the opposite side of the head and repeat the same steps. 

REMEMBER to pull the braid right through the plating on the bottom braid to hold it in place. 

 We finished off her hair by using the Conair Spiral Curling Iron and adding some curls. 

We individually curled each of the woven braids for a fuller look.  Our final step was to add some hair bows over the elastics in the back of the head.  

Flashback Friday: Toddler French Braids

When my princess was very little and hardly had hair, we used to do fake French Braids with elastics (Puffy Braids) but once she finally had enough hair, we were doing French Braids all the time. 

We would start by curling her bangs forward and then dividing the rest of the hair in half to create two separate braids.   

We secured the bottom of the two braids together with an elastic and then placed a bow over the elastic to hide it.  We happened to be at the Alpine Slides in Park City, UT at this particular time and my princess was a little scared - to say the least - but at least I got a picture of her hair!

American Flag

I saw this hairstyle over at Babes in Hairland and I've got to give a shout out to her because she is AMAZING!  My princess fell in love with this style and wanted to wear it on the 4th of July so this is our version it.

I started by parting the hair from ear to ear so that I had a section in front.  I divided that section into two off-centered pieces - the larger piece being on the left side.  I secured that larger piece into an elastic. 

 I then created a part straight down the middle of the remaining hair.  I started with the right side of the part and divided it into 4 parallel, horizontal sections and I secured each section with an elastic.  I moved over to the left side of the part and did the same thing but I made sure to offset my horizontal sections from those on the right side so that they were not exactly even.  You should now have 4 elastics on the right side of the head and 5 elastics on the left side of the head.  (The extra elastic being from the first ponytail up in front.) 

 Feed some red ribbon through all of the elastic on the left side and some white ribbon through all of the elastics on the right side.  Make sure that the ribbon is through the elastic right at the middle point so that two equal strand of ribbon are hanging from each ponytail. 

You also want to make sure that the ribbon is the same length as the ponytail. 

 Now you will create a Quad Braid out of each ponytail by dividing the hair into two pieces and using the two ribbons and your 3rd and 4th pieces.  (Make sure you start braiding with the two ribbons between your center fingers so that they end up in the right place as you plate the braid.)  Secure each braid at the bottom with an elastic. 

 When all 9 braids are done you will cross them over to the opposite side of the head so that the reds and whites are alternating. 

You can either bobby pin them in place at this time or combine each side into an elastic which is what we've done here because my princess has pretty long hair. 

 Add a blue hair clip over the front left elastic to finish off the look of your flag. 

Very fun!

Independence Day Hair

I have a bunch of fun hairstyle for the 4th.  Click on the names of the hairstyles to be taken directly to the instructions.  :)

 One of them is The Fourth of July Star, 

Another is The Glowing Star. 

 You make it glow by inserting glow sticks into it. 

We actually did this one again this year because it's a fun one.   

It looked a little different this year because I offset one of the parts a bit. 

One of my favorites is The Firework.
Hopefully these will give you some fun ideas!

Flashback Friday: Pajama Day

This is our final Flashback Friday and it's been fun to add a few of these old hairstyles into the mix.   On this particular day my daughter's school was having a "Pajama Day". 

We had talked about how she would be wearing things that she wore to bed and she quickly piped up and suggested that we put pink curlers in her hair since she wears those to bed.  I thought that was a great idea and so she went to school with pink overnight curlers in her hair.  She was quite the hit at school and she had darling curls when we took them out! 

Braid Woven Beanie

This one is really simple.  Begin by dividing the hair right down the middle.  Grab a small section of hair from the front of each side and braid it. 

Now go ahead and pull the rest of the hair into a low braid on each half.  Keep the two small front braid out and slip a woven beanie over the hair.  Now pull your two low braids through holes in the back of your beanie. 

Move back up to the top and thread one of your braids through a Topsy Tail. 

 Now weave that Topsy Tail in and out of the edge of your beanie. 

 

When you get down to the bottom you can secure it in place with a bobby pin that will be hidden under the beanie. 

 Move over to the opposite side and repeat the same steps. 

 You can add a flower clip on the front of the beanie to finish it off.  It gives a fun new look to wearing a beanie!

The Uneven Quad

Here is one that's really fast and easy but looks just a bit different than the original. 

 Pull all of the hair back into a tight ponytail and divide it into 4 pieces.  Make sure that 2 pieces are large and 2 pieces are small.  Here is a video if you can't remember how to do a Quad Braid. 

 I held the large pieces between my first two fingers and the small pieces between my last two fingers. 

The end result was really neat looking because it had the large strand all on one side and if you looked at it from a different angle you could see the small plates.