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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short hairstyle

I often get emails or comments that they wish their daughter's hair was longer or thicker or not so much in the mullet. Most everything I post - you can do on anyone - although some things you may have to simplify. I watched my little niece the other day & she did not want her mom to do her hair but when she was over, I asked if I could do it & she said yes. I thought it was a good chance to show a little girl with short hair & something fun you could do with it.
First, I wanted to show you what I was working with.

I started by parting her hair on a side slant. Going off of that slant, I sectioned the top half into piggies (scroll up to the top picture to see how I parted going off the side slant part)

Now go back & decide what side you want to start on & begin to make piggies directly underneath the first row of piggies. As you go along, cross over the top piggie, doing this all the way across.

When you get to the end, just bring the ends both together to make your side piggie. We didn't pull her hair all the way thru but then pulled strands just to give it a messier look.

Here's the front view. She would not smile normal so you get the pirate eye.

So now here's how my girlie's hair ended up being with this same style:

We did the exact same steps as I described but added a little "twist" to it. As you cross over each piggie, just twist over each other & pin one side while you are securing the other with an elastic.

Don't mind the very ornery face (she wanted to turn the camera on by herself so I don't get a smile) We left the pony tail down instead of pulling it into a messy bun & curled. Super easy - but a little different than the first!!

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a french braid on it's side

If french braiding doesn't come very easy to you - this is a simpler way to french braid. You only take strands from one side, instead of both, making the braid look like it's leaning on the side instead of flat. It's a fun little twist to the normal french braid.
I started by sectioning what I wanted in the braid & clip the rest back so it doesn't get included. I failed to show that I brushed the hair that was going to be included in my braid forward since you are only taking from one side. Makes it much easier - you'll see once you get going.

I realize this isn't a very good picture but just wanted to give you an idea how the braid goes. Start with your regular 3 strand braid. When you come around to the RIGHT side, grab a strand from the hair brushed forward. DO NOT grab anything when you get to the left side!! Keep going until it's the right side's turn again & just keep grabbing as you go along only from that right side. Make sense?

From the front, this is what it looks like. Add an elastic to secure the braid.

I pulled the rest of the hair up into a side pony, including the braid. This is what the braid looks like from behind, you can see how it looks like it on it's side. If you wanted, you could only grab from the left side & this would be in the front. Up to you!

front view of braid

I wanted to show that you could do it on 2 side by side braids, also. But when you do the left side, only grab from the left. When braiding the right side, only grab from the right. You can go as far down as you would like.

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a fun summer do

Because you do have to braid each pony tail, this does take a little longer. So if you want it to be quicker, I would just do one row of the twisted braids. But it's super cute & I have to admit - I've NEVER had my girlie sleep in a hair do & wake up the next morning to wear the same thing - but she woke up this morning with the braids still in tip top shape so we just redid the pony tail parts (& curled them instead of braided them & pulled them up) & it looks just as cute as yesterday - so since this took a little longer - I was excited she could wear it 2 days in a row!!
Start by doing 4 piggies right in the front (sorry -can't see the 4th piggie)

Braid each one. The middle 2 though - you are going to divide in half & braid 2 out of one piggie. The far 2 side though, just get one braid out of it.

Do another row of piggies directly behind the first. If I was going to do this again, I would put all my piggies up first then go back & braid.

This is the easiest thing ever. I've done it before with the pony's straight but the braid just adds that much more to it. So grab 2 braids that are right next to each & go right over left (just like you are tying a lace) & pull.

This is what it looks like. So now I want to add them to the piggies that are already there. The best way to do this is by pinning one side so you can work one side at a time without the other wriggling around everywhere. Do ALL of your braids just like that. 2 of your piggies will have 2 braids to it since you split the middle down. You will see once you get going.

If you feel like that took you too much time - stop there & keep the hair down or whatever you feel would look cute. But if your feeling ambitious - do another row. It's totally worth it - it just looks too cute not to. You do the exact same thing you did with the first row.

You could probably even go one more row but I stopped there. Braid each piggie now.

Pull them up so that loop & secure with an elastic. Then I curled over the hair so that it was curling over the piggies. I had some ribbon but I thought it started to look like way too much going on. So we kept it without bows or ribbons in her hair today.

Super cute, right? LOVED it.

All you need to know is how to braid for this & you've got it!

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