3-Tiered Braid

Here is a very simple style that can be down in less than 5 minutes for those mornings where you have to get right out the door. 

Start by pulling the hair half up and securing it with an elastic. 

 Now go ahead and make a 3-Strand Braid out of the ponytail but make sure to only plate it 3 times. 

 Now add in another bit of hair to the two outside strands of the braid and plate it another 3 times. 

Finally you will want to add in the last remaining hair to the two outside strand of the braid and then plate the hair all the way to the bottom and secure it with an elastic.  It is a form of a French Braid but it is not meant to be tight.  It should have a bit of a loose look. 

Pretty easy huh!
(You may also notice that my princess has earrings now!  She's very excited about it!)

Flashback Friday: French Twist Connection

This hairstyle will be easiest if you first straighten all of the hair.  (Your princess may already have straight hair but my princess needs some help to get her completely straight.)  You can curl the ends too if you like.  

 Grab the middle-bang section from the front of the head and begin twisting it.  Each time you wrap the twist, gather in some new hair and twist again.  Continue gathering hair until you get to the ear and then finish twisting without adding anything in.  Have your princess hold that twist while you move over to the other side of the head and create another small French Twist - ending the addition of any new hair into it once you get to the ear. 

 Twist the remaining hair on that side as well and then combine your two twist together on top of the head with an elastic.  Add a flower clip to hide the elastic and the hairstyle is complete.

Bottom Braids & Bun

This is more of a formal hairstyle but we just used it for church one day. 

 Begin with dry hair and choose your favorite headband and place it in the hair.  (The headband is optional - the hairstyle will work fine without it as well.)  Pull a section of hair out in front of the headband right by each ear. 

 Now part out a 2 inch bit of hair all the way around the base of the scalp, from ear to ear.  Throw all of the hair above the part up into a clip to temporarily keep it out of the way. 

 Now begin next to the ear on the right side of the head and create a French Braid along the base of the hairline.  Your French Braid should be plated right over the top of the headband to help hold it in place.  Once you've created your French Braid all the way to the nape of the neck, finish plating it as just a regular 3-Strand Braid.

  Repeat the same steps over on the left side of the head.  Now you should have 2 small braids right by the nape of the neck. 

Take the clip out of the hair on top and comb it all straight back.  Divide it in half and create a low 3-Strand Braid out of each half.  You should now have 4 braids by the neck, two smaller and tow larger. 

In no particular order, start wrapping the braids around themselves and bobby pinning them as you go. 

 Make sure you tuck the ends of your braids under the bun and pin them into place.  Once your entire bun has been created you will want to spray it with hairspray for a good hold. 

 You can be finished at this point or you can add some small flower pins like we have done here. 

 We got lots of compliments on the style and it also created some beautiful waves in her hair for the next day!

Securing A Stretch Band

My princess loves wearing the stretch headbands but I've always hated them because I can never get them to stay in place.  After a few trials and errors we finally found our solution. 

I usually start by creating a small, off-centered part in the bangs and I brush them towards the ears. 

I then pull a bit of hair next to each ear forward before placing the headband on the head. 

 Get your headband in place and then pull the two pieced of hair over the band and secure it with another small piece of hair behind the elastic.  Use a small elastic to join the two pieces on each side. 

 Now lift all the hair up and pull a small section of hair out from underneath the band right at the nape of the neck.  Pull it over the band and secure it with s bit of hair under the band with an elastic.  Once these three elastics are in place, the band will not go anywhere! 

You can leave it like this or finish of the hair however you like. 

We've done a Corkscrew next to each ear that we joined in the back of the head with an elastic. 

I straightened the rest of her hair and then added a flower clip to hide the elastic.  Her hair looked as good at the end of the day as it did at the start!  Hope this tip helps!

Flashback Friday: Pull-Through Rolls

I wish I had gotten a closer picture of this hairstyle but I had no idea I would ever be sharing it with anyone so I was a little ill-prepared. 

 Start by parting the hair down the middle and separating it into two halved.  Pull each side up into a piggie and create an Inverted Pull-Through out of each.  (This is done by poking your Topsy tail up wards behind the piggie instead of downwards.)  Once the hair is flipped through, you can roll the ends down over themselves and pin them into place.   This will give you a little roll sitting on top of your Inverted Pull-Through. 

 My princess was running around the party all night long so the ends slowly started to come undone but it almost looked better this way - a bit of a disheveled look! 

The Switchback

This hairstyle is super easy but looks like you put a lot of time and effort into it.  (The best kind of hairstyles!)  Start with dry hair and make sure you have a bunch of bobby pins handy. 

Brush all of the hair straight and grab the top bit of hair from ear to ear.  (I've also made a small off-centered part on the top of the head.) 

  Pull it a bit more to the left than to the right and place bobby pins in an "x" pattern directly in the middle of the head to hold that hair flat.  (I used about 4 bobby pins.)  Now roll the hair to the right over the top of the bobby pins and secure that twist in place with more bobby pins. 

Grab some new hair from each side - under the previous hair - and add the previous hair in with that.  This time you will want to pull it all slightly more to the right and get your "x" bobby pins in place right in the middle of the head.  Now twist the hair to the left over the top of the new bobby pins and secure that twist in place with more pins.

  Continue grabbing new hair and alternating your left and right twisting until you get to the nape of the neck where you will secure it all into low ponytail. 

Go ahead and add some curl to the ponytail and you're finished!  The is a fast one that we're going to add to our favorites!

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.