Friday's Film: Puffy Braids

We had a request from one of our Facebook followers that we do some of our basic videos to help those that are a bit newer to the hair scene.  :)  Here is a video of one of our favorites, the Puffy Braid:

I hope that helps make it a bit easier for you.

 Here is the finished hairstyle.  You can use all the hair and create one large Puffy Braid as well instead of separating it into two halves.

Here is the top view that shows how all of our parts are uniform coming off of that main center part.  

This is a side view so that you can see a bit better how we were sectioning the sides of the head.

 Finish it off by adding some fun hair accessories.

Long Knot Puffy Braids

Thanks for being patient with us while we took a couple weeks off.  We have had family in town and lots of school and extracurricular activities going on.  We are excited to get back to posting some hairstyles and our first one is called "Long Knot Puffy Braids". 

 Start with wet hair and divide it in half  by creating a part directly down the middle of the head.  Now make a small section at the front of the head on each side of the part.  Combine each of those sections into a small elastic so that you now have two small ponytails - one on each side of the part.  Take those two ponytails and do the first step of tying your shoelace - take one over the other and pull it through so that the ponytails have created a twist and are now on the opposite sides from which they started.  

Have your princess hold those two strands while you sections out two new areas.  (Right below your previous two.  Add the ponytail on the right side in with that new section on the right and secure it with an elastic.  Do the same on the left side as well. 

Now take your two new ponytails and just repeat the steps.  

Continue creating new sections of hair down to the bottom of the head.  You will finish with two final ponytails.  

Kissy Lips & Bendy Braids

You will definitely need a Topsy Tail or tool like it for this hairstyle.  It's got two parts to it - the "Kissy Lips" and the "Bendy Braids" but they both derive from the same components, Inverted Pull-Throughs and regular Pull-Throughs. 

Here is what the Kissy Lips look like.  First you will gather a section of hair at the top of the head into an elastic.  Then create an Inverted Pull-Through by poking your Topsy Tail up from under the elastic and pulling the hair through.  Next you will gather another section of hair right before the first and secure it into an elastic - making sure to add in that hair from your Inverted Pull Through.  Have your new elastic lying fairly close to your previous one.  Now create a regular Pull-Through with that new section of hair by poking your Topsy Tail down through the hair behind the elastic.  These two Pull-Throughs create your Kissy Lips.

I've sectioned out the hair and done two sets of Kissy Lips on each side of the head. 

The lower set of Kissy Lips lies in the middle of the head on either side.

The hairstyle is finished off with Bendy Braids that are created simply by securing an elastic around the ponytail - about 1.5 inches below the previous elastic.  Now grab your Topsy Tail and create and Inverted Pull-Through with that section of your ponytail.  Add in another elastic (again 1.5 inches down) and create a regular Pull-Through.  Continue this pattern down through the ponytail and then follow the steps with the opposite ponytail as well.  The two different kind of Pull-Throughs will create a bent look in the ponytail.  The picture doesn't really do these justice but they are pretty cool. 

Friday's Film: Basket Weaving

This was another hairstyle that we got SEVERAL requests for a video on.

 It's our Basket Weaving hairstyle from last week and it's very easy as you will see.

The original post for this style can be found here and it's got the written instructions plus some more pictures.

There are several ways you could end this hairstyle.  Here we have two piggies and in the video we have a 4-Strand Braid.  You can use whatever you like.

Back & Forth Puffy Braids

This style is a variation on one of our favorites, Puffy Braids.  You will be creating a series of horizontal parts as usual but the difference is that there is no vertical part down the center.

 

Start by creating a horizontal part from ear to ear and making a small section of hair along the bang line.  Secure it into an elastic that is pulled to the left side.  Now create a parallel part behind the first that you will secure into an elastic over on the left side. 

Create a 2 inch braid out of your left ponytail and have your princess hold it while you create a third parallel part/section.  Pull that section over to the left as well and add in the braid before securing it with a new elastic.  (Your braid will be lying over the top of your second section that is over on the right.)

Now move over to your right ponytail and create a 2 inch braid out of that as well.  Create a 4th part/section and pull it to the right where you will add in that braid and secure it with an elastic.

Now move back to the left and repeat the pattern back and forth from left to right. 

When you get to the bottom of the hair you will have one braid that ends higher than the other.  Finish off your final ponytails with Regular 3-Strand Braids and you are all finished! 

Friday's Film: Python Piggies

(This is a day early but we are headed out of town for Memorial Weekend and I wanted to get this up for you!)

Here's a fun hairstyle that is not too hard but does take a good 15 minutes to complete.  Start with wet hair and make sure you have a Topsy Tail or similar tool handy. 

You can make your top section that you keep out as big or as small as you like depending on what you want your wraps to look like. 

Here is the finished product.

This angle shows you what the top looks like as you begin to wrap the hair around.

This one also shows the way we created our parts.

Very easy and really cute!

Basket Weaving

Here's a new one that we came up with today that is basically just a variation on our Swedish Piggies.  It looks difficult doesn't it!  That's the beauty of it, this is one of the most simple hairstyles to create!  We've called it "Basket Weaving" because that's exactly what it looks like but there is no weaving involved - thank goodness! 

You can start with wet hair or dry hair but I do find that the ends sty in place better with wet hair.  Make a small part coming off of your bang line that is about 2-3 inches long. 

It can be right in the center or off to ones side like we've done here.  I like how the bags look "swept" this way.  Now comb the remaining hair straight back. 

Gather a section on each side of your part going down to the ear and secure those sections into little piggies using elastics. 

You now have two new pieces of hair that you are going to work with.  Simply cross them over each other at the back of the head (over the rest of the hair) and tie a half knot.  (The first step when tying your shoelaces.) 

 Have your princess hold the left side while you gather a small section of hair on the right side just below that first elastic.  Secure the right side of your half knot in with that small section by using another elastic.  Do the same over on the left side.  You've now made the top of your "basket". 

You still have two pieces of hair to work with and you are going to cross those over each other to create a half knot once again and just repeat the steps as before.  Continue this process down the head until you have gathered all of the hair in from the sides of the head.  You may still have some hair hanging down and you can divide that in half and add it to each final piggie by securing them with elastics.  The style gives the really cool effect of being woven together when really it's just stacked.

  Told you it was simple!  

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. 

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!

Jacob's Ladder With Weave

This is a hairstyle that takes a bit more time so it's not a great one if you've only got minutes to spare.

  Begin with wet hair and separate a small area next to the left ear that you will set aside for later.  (This will be the hair that you weave with.)  Now create a horizontal part all the way around the back of the head from the left ear over to the right ear.  It can either be right in the back of the head or it can lay a bit lower on the head - depending on where you want your Jacob's Ladder positioned.  We've done the Jacob's Ladder hairstyle before but I don't think I've ever posted about it so I will give some step by step instructions.  This one is a bit different than we usually do because it is positioned horizontally and we usually do it vertically. 

Start by grabbing a section from the bottom half of your part by using a rat-tailed comb to go from the part down to the bottom of the hair.  (Make sure your sections are not too large because you want to have a nice weave in the end and the more sections you have, the better the weave will look.)  Pull that small section into a ponytail using a clear elastic.  Now move up to the top half of your part and create a  parallel section from the edge of the hairline down to the part.  Before you secure that into an elastic you will want to pull up the top half of your first ponytail and add that in with you top section.  Now secure it into a ponytail and you've created the first rung of your Jacob's Ladder. 

We just finished a rung on the top section so you will now be creating another section on the top.  Pull the complete ponytail from the top in with the new section you just created and secure it with a clear elastic.  Divide that new ponytail in half.  Now create a parallel section on the bottom half and add in the other half from your very first bottom ponytail and half of the last ponytail you created on the top.  Secure it with an elastic and you now have your second rung of the ladder.  Create a new section on the bottom and pull all the hair from your most recent ponytail in with the new section and secure it with and elastic.  Divide that ponytail in half and create a parallel section on the top half. 

 You can see how I've created the top sections here and what our parts looked like.

 Keep moving back and forth from top to bottom with these instructions until all of the hair has been gathered over to the right ear and you've created several rungs to your Jacob's Ladder.

Now go back over to that hair that you section out at the very beginning and divide it into two equal sections.  Make sure it is still nice and wet and start weaving with your top section.  You will be going over and under the rungs in your Jacob's Ladder.  I used a Topsy tail to do this but it is not necessary.  Once you have weaved it all the way through your Ladder you can combine it with the top ponytail on the right side by adding another elastic.  Now go back and do the same thing with your bottom section but make sure to alternate the over and under with what you did using your top section so that it gives the basket effect.  Secure that piece in with the bottom ponytail on the right side. 

You should not have two full ponytails on the right side of the head and you will divide each ponytail into two equal sections and weave them all together to create a Flat 4-Strand Braid.  There are instructions for how to create this braid here.  Add a flower to the bottom of your braid and you're finished!

Friday's Film: Swedish Piggies

We tried to get this video up as soon as possible because we had a lot of response on the hairstyle and many requests for a video.  I wish that the hair on the video looked a little more crisp and clean but you should still be able to get the general idea.

If you want to see pictures of the finished product as it should look, you can refer to the original post here. 

See, now wasn't that easy?!  :)