Friday's Film: French Braid

We've gotten many requests for a video tutorial on how to create a French Braid.  I figured I better post this one as soon as possible because it's a standard that we use in a lot of our hairstyles here at Princess Piggies.  Hopefully the video will help and give you some tips to make it easier for you!

Pulling it back from ear to ear is a good tip for you beginner braiders.  This will help give you a good chunk of hair to work with.
Also, if you're a fan of the HUNGER GAMES movie, here are some French Braid hairstyles that we've done in the past that appear on the movie:

These are our Low Frenchies as worn by Prim.  The only difference is that hers are not combined at the bottom.   

This is our Slanted style that seems to be getting more and more popular thanks to the movie. 

Easter Hair & Contest

We have a contest going on over on our Facebook Page "Princess Piggies" and we're looking for creative Easter hairstyles.  My princess will choose the winner on Saturday, April 7th. 

The winner will be receiving these beautiful hair pins which are the exact kind that we use in several of our hairstyles. 

Here are some of our Easter Hairstyles in the past:
(Click on the links to go to the original posts.)

Basket Case

Easter Basket Bun

A Little Something EGGstra

Easter Wraps

Basket Braids
Hopefully this will give you some fun ideas and hop on over to our Facebook Page to add your own and be entered to win these fun hairpins!

Perfect Picture Hair

*FACEBOOK FRIENDS - Don't forget about the Easter Hairstyle contest we have going on.  A winner will be picked on April 7th!  If you have not yet, go "like" our Facebook page to participate in the contest!*

My princess had her class pictures at school the other day and she and I had to come up with a style that would look nice for the photo.  Typically you want to try to have the hair down in a picture because it tends to photograph better than if it is pulled back.  This is what we came up with:

It shows the pretty length of the hair without being too over-bearing.

First of all we took a Waver Iron and put the waves throughout her hair.  I use my original Boss waver from the late 80's but the new ones with the 3 rolls work great too.  We added the waves because it give a soft look to the hair and seems to photograph well. 

Next, we placed the faux hair headband that we purchased at Sally Beauty Supply in her hair.  (These come in several different hair colors.)  I love this thing because it looks like I've put in a lot of work but it's just a headband that slides on and off.  I did make sure to secure the headband so that it wouldn't slip and you can see how I did that in a previous post found here.

And finally we added some hair pins that matched her outfit to complete the look.  Pretty simple but beautiful!

Friday's Film: Rosette Headband

Here is a beautiful hairstyle that only takes a few minutes to complete.  It is perfect for Picture Day at school or any other occasion. 

This is also a great style for adults as well. 

We call this our Rosette Headband.  If you have ever made a fabric Rosette Headband, it is exactly the same except we use bobby pins instead of glue.  . 

You can really use any color of stretchy band because it will mostly be concealed.

Don't forget to be twisting your Rosettes so that they lie flat instead up perked up like a regular bun.

You can leave the hair down straight or curly.  We've used a waver and it turned out really nicely.

You can choose to do as many Rosettes as you like across the head.  This would also be pretty going around the back of the head!   

We detailed our Rosettes a bit by adding some crystal hair embellishments that we found at Sally Beauty Supply.  They just twist right down into the center of the Rosette.

Here's a style that we've done previously using the same concept and we called this one the Rose Headband and you can find instructions for that here.

Dance Do

I've done several dance hair styles before but this one has a bit of a different twist on it so I thought I would post just in case any of you have little dancers out there and are stumped on hairstyle ideas.  Make sure you begin this style with wet hair for better hold. 

I started by sectioning out the bang area on the front of head and creating a Dutch Braid.  (A Dutch Braid is basically a French Braid but you have your plates go underneath instead of over the top.)

I did not have the Dutch Braid go all the way down to the ear but rather just to the end of the bang line and then I just finished plating the hair I had gathered into a Regular 3-Strand Braid. 

I secured that braid at the end with an elastic and then set it aside for a minute. 

Pull the remaining hair tightly back into a ponytail.  You can make the ponytail high or low depending on the look you are going for.  We've place this one right over the crown of the head.

Now go ahead and create a Barrel Roll from the hair used in your ponytail.  You can find a video tutorial for the Barrel Roll here.

Once your Barrel Roll is completed you can bring your original braid down around the back of the bun and tuck the ends underneath.  Use bobby pins to secure it into place and then give it a good spray with hairspray to ensure hold throughout the dance performance.  At this point you can spray the hairstyle with craft spray glitter as well if you want that sparkly look.  We usually do this but did not have any glitter on hand at this time.  Add some fun hair accessories if you like as well. 

This hairstyle holds very tightly and is perfect for keeping that hair out of the face while your princess is dancing! 

2-Minute Updo

I saw this hairstyle on Pinterest and wanted to try it on my princess.  It looked so simple and it definitely was!  I thought I would post it for any of you that may not be on Pinterest but are still looking for a fast and beautiful hairstyle.

Start by pulling all of the hair back into a low ponytail at the nape of the neck.  We've also create a small off-centered part at the front of the hair but that is totally optional. 

Now create a regular Pull-Through with the ponytail by using your Topsy Tail or by just poking your fingers up through the hair behind the elastic, grabbing your ponytail and pulling it all back through that space. 

The hair should now look twisted on each side above the elastic and have a ponytail hanging below the elastic.  Now, starting at the bottom of your ponytail, grab all the hair and start rolling it up into the head.  (I always refer to this as a Barrel Roll.) 

It will roll up right over your previous twists and into the head where you are going to bobby pin it into place.  Add a fun hair clip to it if you'd like and you're finished.  It takes less than two minutes and it will look beautiful all day long!

Friday's Film: Clover

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!  We wanted to post a video on our Clover hairstyle before the big day and this is our last opportunity to do it.

I apologize for the small slip up on the left side of the clover but I fixed it after filming and you can see the outcome in the pictures below.

Here's a picture of how we did the top of her hair since it was hard to see in the video.

Once you've creates the three sides of your clover you will join them together with an elastic. 

Then go ahead and pull the rest of the hair down to the nape of the neck - including the new ponytail from your clover - and secure it all into an elastic.   

We finished it off with a Quad Braid and some cute hair clips.

She was all festive for her day at school and now her hair was ready to go too!

Draped Ponytail

Here's a very simple idea that adds a nice look to a normal ponytail.  I've seen some different variations on this all over Pinterest and I thought it would be fun to try.

Simply start with a regular ponytail.  Now have some small elastics on hand because you will need the as you go.  Grab a thin section of hair from the back of the ponytail and bring it around left side of the ponytail and across the front.

Twist it and have it drape just a bit.  Now grab a small section of hair from the right side of the ponytail and combine the two with an elastic.  Grab another small section from behind the ponytail and bring it around the front as well - twisting as you go.

 Have it drape just a bit below your previous strand and then add it into that same section from your right side with an elastic.  (About 1/2 inch below your first elastic.)  Continue this pattern all the way down the ponytail and then add one final elastic around the entire bottom of the pony to end it.  Add in some cute hair clips and you're finished!  Easy Peasy!

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

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

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

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.