5-Strand Braid With Ribbon

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!*