Braids, Buns, & Bows - Oh My!

This is a post about: Hair Styles.

Yep, that's what this is. 

Totally not adoption-related.

My now 4 year old, G, has had long hair since...she was born.  

So she's had a bow in her hair since day one.

As her hair grew, I got bored just doing single ponytails, so I started looking around for ideas.

I've had several people ask me about how I do G's hair.

I get ideas from two places:

1) I totally steal them from all those great "Hair Blogs" out there, Pinterest...

2) I just play & make stuff up.  And this works b/c I'm not the type to care a whole lot about what others think.  So if it looks kinda crazy...oh well! ;)

So, b/c of the questions, I thought I'd just throw a few ideas out there for anyone like me, just looking for something new, some tips or tricks, etc.  

And if your daughter is anything like mine, hair is important.  In fact, we're at the point where about 50% of the time, G tells me in DETAIL how she'd like me to do her hair that day.  

I do my best to fulfill the big ideas she's come up with.  Haha!

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Since we do baths at night & her hair is so long, I usually dry it w/ the hairdryer.  Right after is the only time her hair looks "straight." (the first photo below)

*Note: I don't wash her hair every day, so a lot of the styles you'll see below are great for 

'2nd day hair.'  

And this is 'natural' when I don't blow dry it straight:

Here are a few ideas that work for us...

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Headbands

Probably the easiest.  I use these on 'good hair days,' where she's not planning on being too active. (They don't stay in all that well if she is, & I hate redoing them 100 times.)

I love craft shows.  I picked up the handmade red & yellow flowers below for $1.00 each.  Then, I just slide them on a thin plain band.

I added a twist w/ the left one above by adding a little braid. (see the green band?)

You can also use headbands when doing a ponytail- high or low. 

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The "Basic Bow"  

I'm fortunate enough to have a super crafty mom (Noni), who makes many of these bows for us! It's awesome!

The most basic ways I do her bows are just by pulling about 1/3 of her hair up & putting it in a ponytail.  Either in the center or to one side.  Then clip on a bow.  (Remember if you're doing it on 'the side,' to make it far enough on the side that it doesn't look like you were trying to put it in the center & were off. Trust me.  Haha.)  I tend to like them closer to her face rather than farther back, but that's just my preference.  

The photo of the back of her hair is how her hair looks if I put braids in it the day before.

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Hats & Such

I LOVE hats & hoods on my kids.  I've put them on them since they were super young.  

So, they're pretty used to it & even ask for them sometimes.  

Her hair is down here, but you could do two low ponytails as well.

The one of the left is a bandana type headband.  Love them, but hard to find. 

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Fishtails

This has become one G & I can agree on.  It takes me a little longer than a regular braid (plan for even longer if you are just learning how.).  I just really like the way it looks, in comparison to a traditional braid.  It's really simple.  This isn't a tutorial, but there are plenty out there.  Just Google it or YouTube or something.

* I'm realizing just how unhelpful I am being, haha.  Sorry, it's late & I'm tired.  

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Double French Braids

One of my personal favorites!  How I love thee.  Let me count the ways.

I love how tight I can get them (The trick is to dampen a lot w/ a squirt bottle!  This goes for all braids/'dos.), that they stay in place ALL day, that you don't have to keep redoing the hair, it's comfortable, you don't have to add a bow, and you can make some adjustments to make a new look or two.  

G might not like them as much,  b/c to do it 'right,' it takes me longer than most other styles- and you have to pull tight to get it in good.

This is almost ALWAYS how I do her hair when we travel - daytrips in the car or 10 hrs to the grandparents', we double braid.

This one I tried to do a little differently.  I braided closer to the 'outside' (away from her part/close to ears) & then tied them together in some kind of bun thingy. 

I was playing around & came up w/ this one. (As you can see, I only do it to one side.  In fact, I've never even tried it the other way, haha).  Start w/ a part on the side, & then just draw your part (w/ the tip of one of those combs- what are they called?) to resemble something like what you see below.  Tie the smaller section (for G, it's the right) up while you start w/ the longer/wrapping part.  So, I french braid the left side first.  Then put a hair tie on it to keep it in place.  Then do the right side in a french braid.  

From there, you have a couple of options.  You can braid one all the way down to the tip of the hair & stop the other one at the crown of her head. (below right photo).  Or you can take the six strands that you'll end up with, put them together & make 3 strands and just braid them together (below left photo).  Or you can braid one all the way down; then when you get to the crown/neck w/ the other one, make those 3 strands into 2 & use your first braid as the 3rd strand; braid together.  Gosh, that probably doesn't make sense, huh?  And sorry, couldn't find a photo, although I really like the third option looks.   

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Other Braids

There are so many styles you can do with braids.  Here are just a few we've tried & liked.

My beautiful niece, J, was sweet to let me try a style on her & her amazing hair!  Here we did 3 small french braids just on one side.  I think it turned our great!  Great style for older girls, I think; although, I have tried this on G & liked it, too.  

Starting at part, just french braid along hairline in front, pulling only from the front. Just pull a small amount from the side & pin back.  

My first ever inverted/inside out/Dutch braid. Basically, the exact opposite of a french braid.  For some, this comes super easy.  For me, it's SO hard!  I need to practice more b/c I like how it looks.  But, any of the styles you see that I've french braided, you could always do this instead.  

Part in the middle from forehead back about 1/2 way.  French braid to the 1/2 way mark, tie off each w/ small bands.  Pull the rest up w/ all the hair into a ponytail band. (You don't have to do a ponytail.  You could leave the rest down & add 2 bows- one on each hairband.)

A crown braid.  G loves this.  Of course, it's one of the more difficult ones to do.  You would probably need to see a video tutorial of someone doing it to fully get it.  Brief description of how I do it:  Start slightly behind her left ear, french braid towards her face, using maybe a 1 1/2 - 2 inch strip of hair along the hair line.  When you get around to the other side near her right ear, you'll start pulling pieces of hair from the rest of her head.  Continue doing that all around the back.  When you run out of hair to pull (near your starting point), just continue doing a regular braid all the way down, as far as you can braid.  Then just wrap the braided end so that it overlaps the french braid you did in the front.  Tuck the small hairband/end of the braid under & pin w/ bobby pins.

G came up w/ this hair style in detail & begged me until I did it.  Kind of quirky, but cute!

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Double Ponytails

Can be done high, medium, low, on the sides above the ears or towards the back. 

This one was done the day after a 'braid day,' hence the volume of curls!

Low ponytails pulled to the front

Ponytails w/ braids

Ponytails.  Variety added by putting a small braid in front & making the part 'wavy,' not straight.

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Buns

You can do so many different types of buns.  I've experimented w/ a few.  

Again, you can do them high or low, in the center or to the side.  

Sometimes I add a flower clip on the side of a 'side bun.'

A braided bun is probably the type I use the most.  It seems to stay better & has texture.  I just do a ponytail,  Then divide into sections (however many you want, but I usually do 3.)  Braid each section, then wrap them around the ponytail band one at a time.  Pin w/ bobby pins.  Can do with or w/o a bow.

Left: A Knot Bun- Ponytail first.  Then pull off little sections, tying each one in a single or double knot.  Do a few then wrap a band around.  Can twist or bobby pin as you like.

Center: First, pull aside a few pieces where you'd like to put braids, along the hairline.  Pull the rest of it into a temp ponytail.  Braid anywhere you want.  Then, take down the ponytail, & pull it all up together.  Then, I just did a standard wrap around bun & pinned.  This one was to the side.

Right: A very basic clean bun.  High ponytail, wrapped around bun & pin.  Hairspray for smoothness.

Double side buns.  I love this style! You can totally do a regular center part, but I just think it's fun to do it 'wavy,' as you can see on the right.  You just use a pointed comb to draw your part first.  Do a temp pony on one side while you work on the other side.  Both of these photos show high braided buns, but regular or messy ones would work too.  The one on the left, I added one large bow; although you could do this without bows (on the left), or with two smaller bows.

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Tiny Ponytails

One look that's fun, but a little time consuming, is lots of little ponytails.  There are tons of ways you can do this.  What we do most is just 5 small ponytails in front, from ear to ear.  Just use the sharp comb again and divide your sections first.  Oh, and be careful when taking them out...you should 'unwrap' them instead of just pulling them out- or you'll break her hair.

Recently, G came up with this idea.  She said she wanted lots of little ponytails all the way around, "like a crown," and a bun.  So, here's my attempt; I actually liked the result!  

Good job, G.

I always did this one when she was younger/her hair was shorter.  I liked coordinating the different bands w/ her outfits, it held her hair back really well, & was a 'last all day' hair do.

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Twists

I watched a video tutorial to learn a twist.  You just take two pieces to start with, and just twist the same direction, pulling hair in from only one side each twist.  Again, there are so many options with this, but here are a few of our ideas.

This one is parted in the center front, and I did a small twist, going back on each side.

I love the look of this one, although I haven't mastered it.  I have to attempt twice sometimes to get it right.  I part on the side.  Then on the 'small' side (her left), I start a twist and go back, picking up hair ONLY from the bottom.  I go all the way around until where you see the bow.  You have to hold this pretty snug as you go.  Then I have G hold it there (It'll fall out if you use a hairband, so your girl may need to be old enough to assist w/ a hand...unless you have a better idea, of course!) while I hurry and do another small twist on the right.  Then I put them together in a ponytail.  Mine have looked messy where they come together, but a bow covers it nicely! ;)  Then, do whatever you want with the ponytail.

The Double Twist  OR Rope Braid (G & I came up w/ the names...I really don't know what it's called.)  Anyways, this is a style that is SUPER easy & quick to do, but I think looks really cute.  From afar, it looks like a regular braid, but up close you can see the dimensions of this 'do. I think it looks like a rope.  We use this one a lot.  Of course, you can do one or two of them.  Basically, you start w/ a ponytail again.  Then, divide into two sections.  Take one of the sections and divide it into two smaller sections.  Twist the smaller two around each other in one direction (let's say, to the right).  Do the same, in the same direction with the other section.  Then take your two twisted sections and twist them around each other in the OPPOSITE direction (say the left).  Hold with band.

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"Other" Ideas

Just for fun: Soccer Star Ponytail for little brother?  Yep!

Abstact French Braid?  IDK. ;)

Just started on the upper left & braided in a slant to the bottom right.

And in the opposite direction:

Two regular ponytails.  Twisted each one, then just tied each end to the other band.

The Deceptive Double Braid (Yes, I'm making up most of these, ha.)

Super easy, again.  Ponytail first.  Divide into two sections.  Braid each section.  Put one ponytail band around the bottom of both together.  Take a few bobby pins and pin them together (up & down) in the back.  Stretch the pieces outward to give it a fuller, looser look.  It looks like one large, 4 stranded braid.  Deceptive, right?

** I'm thinking twice about giving away all my tricks here. I'd really like for you to think I work a little harder.  ;)

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X Braids

Made up the title, but totally saw the idea somewhere else & tried to recreate.  For this one, take your pointy comb & draw a 'cross', dividing hair into 4 fairly even pieces.  Put the bottom two in temp ponys while you work on the top ones first.  French braid as usual but, when you braid, go to towards the center of 'the cross,' braiding until you get to the center.  Then continue a regular braid all the way to the opposite corner.  Take down that ponytail, include the braid & tie together in a ponytail, or as I've done here, a messy bun.  Do the same on the other side.

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** Wondering what kind of hair our two new little ones will have...long, short, curly, straight...?

If we get girls, I better set aside some 

extra time in the mornings! ;)

There you have it.  

All my hair secrets. 

Happy braiding!

~ 6 in Love ~