stars & stripes

I know I have totally neglected this blog but I have my reasons!! We enjoyed a 2 week vacation at Myrtle Beach. & since we've been home - we've been swimming everyday, either at swim lessons or at grandma's pool & we've just been keeping it perfect hair for swimming - 2 french braids. Stays out of her hair the whole time & is not tangly when we take it out. So my apologies but I do have a fun one for the FOURTH of JULY

This is our version of the American flag. Girlie thought I was literally going to do stars & stripes - nope just improvise!! She loved it & giggled when she looked in the mirror saying how fun it is! & brother kept giggling & saying her hair looked silly. Pretty funky but oh so fun!!

our version:the American Flag - see it? please say yes!
Part the hair down the middle & divide a square on the left side where the stars would go. The rest of the hair is going in the "stripes"

Start braiding for the stripes. I put the elastic closest to the hair. You could do this a few different way. You could braid all the way down. You could bring all this into a side pony or if you can't french braid - you can do puffy braids - using elastics instead.

I braided 6 braids!

Now to the "star" section. Divide little sections in the hair & add elastics. Do the entire squared section

Do mini buns for the stars. I was wishing the entire time that I had those miniature clips (in red preferrably) to secure each bun. It would have been darling & added to it & also taken less time. I just wrapped with an elastic to secure.

Here we go. The stars are all bunned up & the braids stripey!

I just curled what was left down but you could definitely pull it into a side pony, I even thought about twisting it down to a low side pony.

front view. I know it's funky but it's way cute in person.

& she decided she wanted to bow in with it & it looked darling. Love it.

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little firecracker

I know. I know - another 4th of July style. I'm sure you are probably all so sick of seeing these but they have been so much fun to do. But thankfully for you, this will probably be the last one since we will be leaving here in the next day or 2 for the holiday.
First - I know you have all seen these. I was at the dollar store the other day & thought I have to get those - they would be perfect coming out of my girlie's hair. This is what you see on the top of the hair.

We started by doing our 2 pigtails with a zig zag part.

Next, add 2 different ribbons into the elastic. You are going to split the hair in half to do your corkscrew twist so you want one ribbon for each half.

Go ahead with your corkscrew twist.

Pull it back up & secure with an elastic. With the ribbon that was left hanging out, I just tied together in a bow.

As I was blow drying just the ends of her hair, I wrapped the ends around my fingers while the heat was on it to give it the curled over effect - so it looks like your firework. If your girlie's hair is a little more straight & doesn't want to cooperate, then pull out the curling iron & curl those ends over the pigtails. Spray to hold.

Clipped off a few pieces from the fireworks we got at the dollar store & just stuck them in all around the piggies enough so they would stay & not fall out. It's perfect because you can choose how many you want in there or how long or short you want them.

Super simple & there's your little firework girl!!

top view:

our front view:

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let's go for a star...again

I know I've already done a star - but we're just so excited for the fourth. If it looks a little lopsided to you on the left - it is:) We're not always perfect!! There are lots of pictures for those of you who are going to attempt this in hopes to making this easier on you.
This parts similar to the last star that I showed but you only need an elastic for each point of the star. Start out in the very front making a smal triangle for your point of your star.

Make the next 2 points by making a triangle off of the front point.

Add that front hair to your next set of points.

Here's a side view of what we've done so far:

So now, we need to bring our side back towards the center so just part the hair from the middle toward just an inch or two under the hair (look at picture)

I just sectioned the last 3 elastics off of the middle part. This might sound confusing but I'll try to explain my best. See right in the center - I parted a triangle - that is what where my bottom-middle point is going but before I put my elastic in - I need to do that right bottom point. So section off your triangle & clip back. Then part off from the triangle a small section of hair so you can add your elastic. Then bring that hair up & add to the triangle & add elastic there also. Make sense?

Mirror the same thing for the left bottom point (this is where I didn't even mine so much with the right bottom point - do better than I did:) Then bring ALL of the hair & what is left into a side pony - not necessarily making it even for that last point because a messy bun goes here & hides it.

To make the star stick out, we grabbed some ribbon, thread it on a very thick needle (you can also buy scrapbooking needles - it works perfect) & start at the very top point. I pulled more than half of the ribbon through the elastic to hold it in place - then just start wrapping around the hair all the way down to define your star. As you go around the elastics, wrap around them to also hide the elastics. End on your side pony.

Go back, do the other side the same way, also ending on your side pony.

Once I got to the end with both sides, I just tied a cute little bow around my messy bun.

Here's a side view from the bun.

Front view (for those who keep asking for a front view & I'm so bad at doing:)

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blooming flower

My little girl has been asking me to do a flower in her hair for the last week. I had to get creative & use some pipe cleaners to help out but it turned out darling. We went to Wal-Mart & I had several moms come check out & ask how we did it. These pictures don't do it justice. Super easy to do though!!

I started by pulling all the hair straight back in a higher pony tail. To keep the hair in a perfect bent shape to make a petal, I braided pipe cleaner into each braid. I stuck the pipe cleaner under the elastic, just enough to keep it still, section my 3 strand braid & add the pipe cleaner to the middle strand & begin braiding.

This is what it looked like when I was finished. Cut the pipe cleaner to the end of the braid so it's not sticking out. Also, try to match one closest to your girlie's hair so it blends better. We probably could have gone with an even lighter color.

I did 5 braids on the outside of the pony tail so you have a section of unbraided hair in the middle section that will be your center of the flower.

Bend the braid, starting with the top middle, into a petal shape. It's okay if hair is sticking out in the middle, you are going to curl it anyway. I really only ended up using about one bobby pin per petal to hold the flower down at the base, but this one kept sticking up right in the front, so we put a pin in to keep it from doing that.

Make your head around the pony tail & you can see the shape of the flower.

That hair that is left in the middle, curl all of it.

I added an elastic to bunch up her curls so that it wasn't so long - if your girlie's hair isn't as long, you wouldn't need to do it. I did this just for the purpose that you can actually see the flower.

I pinned the curls so it looked like a curly little ball in the middle to make the center of the flower. I had a mom email me & ask to explain how I pin up her curls - if you already know - skip this - I put the bobby pin in about 2/3 of the way down on the curl & then I just stick it into the bun. As simple as that!!

I thought I had the whole picture flipped thing figured out - but I guess not. Sorry!! Here's the finished product. We actually ended up putting a small bow in on the side.

Here's the best shot I could get with the entire flower.

**I failed to mention for the post below: I know you are all looking at it & thinking I do not want to take those elastics out. If you haven't figured this out - try it next time: a SEAM RIPPER. Works awesome!! & it's quick - just be careful not to "rip" or cut any of her hair out. It's soft on her head & fast. If you are nervous you are going to cut her hair then use the tail of a comb to lift it up & then rip through the elastic.

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going 4th of July style today...a star

Since the 4th is coming up in the next few weeks - thought it would be fun to do things they can wear for that day.

Start by parting the hair straight down the middle. About 1/3 of the way down go off the part down to the ear. This is what the top of the star goes off of.

I sectioned this into a triangle & clipped the rest of the hair back. What was in my triangle, we added to make the first part of the star. Make sure you don't have it going straight down but on an angle.

Now, the hair that was left out of the triangle is going to be added to the side of the star. So turn the puff braid so it is going toward the ear now & add the hair from the top of the head.

Section your next triangle, not going quite half way & start adding your next row of elastics, going toward the ear, once again. Once you get to the end, bring the 2 ends together into a pony tail.

Next, I parted the rest of the hair straight down the middle. With this, you have to make 2 more triangles to make the bottom part of the star. & bring them together into a pony tail just like the last pony tail.

Mirror on the other side.

Add some fun ribbons

Curl the pony tails that are left out.

& there you have your fun 4th of July style.

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