Braid Overlay

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

*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

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.  

Baptism Picture Hair

My princess is getting baptized at the end of this week and we wanted to get some pictures taken for the invitations.  This is the hairstyle that we came up with:

First I completely dried her hair and then I began by creating an off-centered diagonal part in the front.  (I had more of the bang-line on the right side of the diagonal.)  I then sectioned out the hair from one ear to the other so that I was only working with the top half of hair. 

I tied off the left side of my diagonal part so that it was out of the way while I worked with the right.  You'll want to create four even sections out of that side and make sure they run parallel to the diagonal part.  Secure each small area with an elastic at the back of the section. 

 Now move over to the left side and create 5 equal sections. 

 My first 3 section came straight off of the diagonal part instead of running parallel to it.  This just breaks up the design a bit.  Secure each of those areas with an elastic at the back of the section as well. 

 Now you should have 9 small ponytails at the top of the head.  Take each of those ponytails and cross them over and under each other in a weaving pattern.  Go ahead and secure the ends together at the back of the head with bobby pins creating an "X".  

You can either leave the remaining hair straight or curl it like we've done here.  We used a spiral curling iron to get these ringlets. 

We finished it off by giving it a good spray with hairspray and then adding some flower hair pins and velcro pearls. 

The hair not only held up through her photo shoot but all the way through the end of the day too. 

The pictures turned out great and she's very excited for her big day this Saturday!

Friday's Film: The Quad

It's Friday again!  Today we wanted to flashback to The Quad.  We had lots of questions on this one originally and it's a braid that we use ALL THE TIME!  People always stop us and ask how we did that so here are the instructions:

Hopefully that helps a bit and makes some more sense.  The first couple times I did it, I was really slow but after a few times it comes very naturally.  Good luck!

Awesome New Tip

I've tried many different ways of organizing our hair supplies and I've posted several of them in my Accessory Organization post. 

Click on the link for some great ideas for your ribbon, small clips, elastics, flowers and other hair supplies.
I've always struggled with organizing headbands.  They are bulky and don't fit in small containers. 

You may remember my post on the Cure for the Headband Headache (instructions are on the link) and this is definitely a great solution but I found that I only had room for two of these containers on the dresser and we had many more headbands that needed a home.  I was browsing my favorite new site, Pinterest, and came across another idea that I had to try:

They are paper towel rolls that I attached to the inside of the bathroom cupboard door.  The original that I saw was attached the wide way but I needed two so I attached mine the long way.

I took an unused roll of paper towel and covered it with some fabric. (Zebra is my princess's favorite)  I stitched the fabric together for the length of the paper towel, placed it over the roll and then just hot glued the two ends in place.  It works perfectly for us and hopefully it will be a helpful idea for you!

Hidden Half-Up

This hairstyle is really easy and has a neat look to it. 

 

It's easiest when using wet hair for this one.  Create a small off-centered part in the top of the hair and then comb everything straight. 

 

Grab some hair from along the hairline that is right above each ear.  Twist those two side over the combed hair and combine it at the back of the head with an elastic.  (Have the combined area somewhat low on the back of the head.) 

Now gather two more sections of hair just below the first two and twist them together at the back of the head as well and combine them with another elastic.  You should now have two elastics at the back of the head and a section of hair still hanging that is combed straight. 

 Grab all of that hanging hair and roll it up over the two elastics.  Tuck it underneath the elastics creating a roll.  Secure it in place using bobby pins and add any hair accessories you like to finish it off.