Messy But Cute-For Older Girls And Tweens Too!

Lately we've been seeing lots of cute messy type hair on the "older girls and tweens" around here. It seems to be the latest hair trend. I love the messy look, and wanted to try it. Here's my attempt. I think this would be cute on a girl of any age. To Start: Take a section in front and pull it back with some bobby pins. I didn't want it too perfect looking, so I crossed them haphazardly. (Is that a word?) If you want to puff the front up a little, that would be cute too.

Next, make a messy french braid going from one side to the other, towards the bottom. To make it messy, it works best if you're working with dry hair. Also, take hair from only one side, don't comb or smooth it too much while you're braiding, take larger sections of hair than you normally would, and keep it fairly loose. Make a messy bun on the side and add a flower or flowers. I got these flowers here. So cute!!


I love how it turned out! I usually have a hard time making messy look good. It always just seems to look messy when I attempt it!!

My New Background

I don't know how many of you noticed, but last week I changed the blog to 3 columns. Not such a great idea at first. My old background was too small and it was all squished together and looked like crap. Well, Karen at ABOG Designs came to my rescue, thank goodness. Look how cute my background is now!! I love it.

If you are in the mood for a new background, you need to go here and check out her stuff! She does custom orders too, so you can get EXACTLY what you want. I love how she matched my header perfectly! The switch was painless, even for ME and I'm technically challenged!

Thanks again Karen!! I have loved working with you and ABOG Designs!

Fluffy Piggies With A Twisted Sewn Headband

We did this one for a Christmas party. I love how it turned out!

Start by making a part on top, either on the side or middle. Make another part on each side, going from the back of the part, down behind her ear and split it in two. The front section is temporary, just keep it out of the way with a ponytail holder or clip for now. For the back section, put it in an elastic down towards the bottom. (Do this on both sides of her head.)Put some braids in the back sections. I did twist braids. Now bring the braids over the top of her head and back through the elastics on the other side. (If you're working with shorter hair, do what I did here.)Make some piggies on each side, adding in the ends from the braids. At this point I sewed the ribbon in, then brought the pieces of hair in the front back and added it to the pigtails. (This is to help hide that elastic holding the headband in place.)For the fluffy buns: I did a twist braid in each pig, twisted them into a bun (leaving the ends on top) and curled the ends. Add some bows, and Ta Da!
Now for a little TRICK: This is how it looked after a wild night of sleeping. Her face here says it all! (hehe) A bad hair day!! I wasn't in the mood to take everything out and start over. So, here's a dirty little secret that I use A LOT. Take out the bows and spray a little hairspray in the problem area. Then quickly (before it dries) run a comb through it, bringing all the little flyaways back over the elastic.
Tie the ribbon back on (keeping the flyaways in place.) Re-curl the ends, and GOOD AS NEW! See, she perked right up.

French Braid Star

So, my kids are going to be out of school all next week and of course up until after the first of the year. Yikes! I have one more Christmasy type do I'll be posting sometime between now and then. But, after that I'll be taking a little break to spend the time with my family. Not to mention that I haven't even started wrapping and still have some shopping to do!!!

This one looked better in person, it doesn't look quite so good in pictures. You need to see all the angles at once. Anyway.....

So, you start by making your parts. Make a star shape by parting out triangles where you will be french braiding, and upside down triangles where you'll be twisting. Put all the sections in temporary elastics and do a french braid in each of the star parts. It's hard to tell from this picture, but there's a french braid underneath the ponytail too. So, you'll have 4 braids total.

Now, take all the parts you didn't braid and twist. Pull everything into a pony in the middle.
Add a bow or scrunchy. And now you have a french braid star!!

Zig-Zag Part Video

Here's another one of your requests. There really is no right or wrong way to do these parts. This is how I usually do it. Of course, you can make the zig zags as wide or narrow as you want. Whatever works! Don't worry about getting it perfect either. In my opinion, it's supposed to be messy, that's what's cute about it.

Inside-Out/Dutch French Braid Video

Alright, I had a request to do a video showing an inside out french braid. Of course, I still have my crappy camera that doesn't give me much time to record. So, this is the best I could do.

This first video is to show the difference between a regular braid, and an inside-out braid. If you already know how to do a regular french braid, this will hopefully show you the difference, to help you figure it out.


Here's the inside-out french braid. My camera cut me off not too far into it. Hopefully you get the basic idea. Just keep repeating the steps all the way to the bottom.


Holy cow, I hate hearing myself on video. How embarrassing!! I can't believe what I am willing to do for you people!! :)(Oh, and the same person who requested this video also requested a zig-zag part video. Don't worry, I didn't forget. I'll be posting it soon/next.)Here's the finished product.......

The Winner Of The Cute Crocheted Hat! And More Giveaways To Enter!!

There are still some fun Christmas Giveaways going on that you won't want to miss out on. Babes in Hairland is giving stuff away 7 days in a row, with cute hairstyles to go along with the giveaways!! Also Bows by Christine has some adorable Christmas Bow Sets she is giving away. Head on over for a chance to get some cute Christmas gifts for free!!!

Now for the winner of the hat.........

Here are your random numbers:

34

Timestamp: 2008-12-12 15:42:18 UTC

#34
Kathy said...
I think it's a toss up for me. I love the woven beanies for my 8 month old, but my 3 year old would be so cute in a multi colored tutu.
December 9, 2008 10:55 AM

Congrats Kathy!! Please email me at hair4myprincess at yahoo dot com. I'll get your shipping info to the sponser and your hat will be on its way!!

Another Giveaway Brought To You By The Posh Baby Bowtique!!! NOW CLOSED

This giveaway is now closed. The winner has been drawn.
Here's the prize. Do you love it???? How cute would this be on your little princess? This adorable crocheted hat will fit a newborn up to about 12 months. I'm sure many of you have a baby girl this size or know someone who does who would love this. It makes me wish I had a little tiny princess of my own!!

Here's the rules for the contest:

One entry for leaving a comment.
One entry for visiting the Posh Baby Bowtique and leaving a comment letting me know what your favorite item is from her store.
One last entry for linking the Posh Baby Bowtique on your blog. (Either on your sidebar, or in a post.)

So, 3 chances to win! Just make sure to leave a separate comment for each entry so that they'll all count when I randomly draw the winner on Friday December 12th.

Thanks for playing!

PS- The Posh Baby Bowtique is not making any guarantees that this will make it to you before Christmas if you are the winner. She will ship it out in a timely manner, but keep in mind this is coming from Canada, so it might take a little longer.

PSS- I haven't forgotten about hair! I've got some videos and cute styles ready to go that I'm excited about posting after the giveaway. :)

Winners!!!

Be sure to check back here tomorrow for ANOTHER chance to win!! One of my favorite boutiques has generously offered up an adorable prize to give away. I'm excited about this one, you won't want to miss out!! And, for even another chance at winning, head on over to Babes in Hairland. She's got giveaways going on all week! With some luck, you may not have to go Christmas shopping at all this year!!

Now, for the winners...... Because of an overwhelming majority on the poll, I've chosen both winners from the comments:

Here are your random numbers:
257 22
Timestamp: 2008-12-08 16:03:59 UTC

#257: Carli Webb said...
Here I am again! Back for my final entry. Oh, I hope I win!
December 7, 2008 9:20 AM

#22: Becca said...
Thanks for the chance to win. I really love this blog and use your ideas alot. Keep em coming!
December 2, 2008 9:15 PM

Congrats! Carli and Becca, please send an email to hair4myprincess at yahoo dot com with your address and I'll get these out to you ASAP.

Thanks so much to everyone who entered! I have loved reading all of your comments. Make sure to check back tomorrow for another chance at winning some free stuff!!

A Christmas Giveaway!!!! NOW CLOSED

This giveaway is now over, the winners have been drawn. Check back tomorrow for another chance to win something cute!!!!

This is my Christmas gift to YOU !! I wish I could give something to every single one of you, but this is the next best thing. Two of you are going to win everything you see here.....

That's right, I have 2 of everything. Now, my next dilemma is deciding how to give these away. I could either draw 2 people from the comments on this post.... Or I could draw 1 person from the comments, then do another live contest like I did last time for the other winner, after the first winner has been drawn.

I'm putting up a poll to let YOU decide how this will go down.

Here's the rules for the first part of the contest (or the entire contest, depending on the majority on the poll.) I'm making it easy on you this time: All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on this post. Say whatever you want!!! If you want more than one chance to win, I am allowing you to enter once per day until the contest ends on Monday December 8th.

If you don't have a blog, or it's a private blog, please leave me an email address so I have a way of contacting you if you are the winner :)

Ribbon French Braid, Christmas Style

This one was done the same way I did this hairstyle. You can go there for more specific instructions. I just wanted to show you how it looks using thinner ribbon.

I braided the pony at the bottom and flipped it back up to the bottom elastic and curled the ends over the top to finish it off.
I got this adorable Christmas bow here.

A Faux French Braid, For Those Of You Who Can't.....

I know there are some of you who haven't yet mastered the French Braid. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a way to do something that looks like a French Braid, but isn't. Here is my attempt. It's very easy, and I think turned out really cute. If you can put in an elastic and tie a knot with a ribbon, you can do it!!
Start with a small pony in front. Bring a piece of ribbon through the elastic until both ends are the same length.
Leave the ends of the ribbon hanging down. Scoop up a piece of hair from each side of her head and bring to the middle. Pull the pony up with the hair you just gathered. (Leaving the ribbon down.)Bring the three pieces of hair together with an elastic.....Tie the ribbon over the elastic into a knot. I actually only tied half a knot. The ribbon I was working with was quite stiff and held just fine only tying it once.Repeat the steps again for scooping up the sides and adding the hair to the pony, leaving the ribbon hanging.Again, add an elastic and tie another knot (not shown.)Repeat all the way to the bottom, until you run out of hair to add from the sides......I continued tying all the way to the bottom of her hair by crossing the ribbon in the back and bringing it around to the front to tie the knot.

If I do this again, I'm going to start with tying the ribbon into a knot on the top elastic, I think it would look better that way. If any of you have "Trash Tie" or "Knot Heads" hair accessories, they would work great with this style. You wouldn't even have to tie a knot or use an elastic on each section. You could just cross the trash tie over the section and start on the next one. I wish I had one to show you what I mean, but I don't.Anyway, I did another style similar to this, only with thinner ribbon to give you another perspective on it. I'm scheduling it to go out next week.For a video tutorial on this hairstyle, go here.

The Fountain Hairdo For Girls

Really, this is just a continuation of this hairstyle. So much for keeping it quick, I couldn't help myself!! Start out with three sections like this............

Do the 2 pull throughs on the sides first. Split them both in two and send one of the pieces on each side up to the top. Gather them in with the top section and do a pull through. (If you don't know how to do a pull through, look under my "quick search labels" for "videos." You'll find a video tutorial there!)
Do more pull throughs on each side. Split these in 2. Send one piece up to join the next middle section. Also add in the leftover strands from the previous pull throughs...........
Do your pull through in the middle section, and repeat in the last section. Just try to make your last section straight and not crooked like mine. Ha Ha Add a bow if you want........
I'm trying to decide if I really need a topsy tail. I'm thinking it would keep everything a little neater. Do any of you use one? Let me know if you do, and if you think it makes a difference.

A Heads Up.....

I'm not going to be around for a little bit. I have some personal issues to take care of. I'm basically setting this blog on auto-pilot.

I've got quite a few hairstyles sitting in drafts that I'm scheduling to go out once or twice a week. So, keep checking back. Feel free to comment too. I'll eventually get around to reading the comments. Just know that I won't be getting back to you right away if you have a question -k-.

Thanks!

Sewn Cornrows

Alright, don't mind "the frizzies" here. Just look at the basic idea, not the presentation. :)
You can do this in so many different ways. I did two inside out french braid cornrows on the side, then joined them with an elastic at the top. (If you don't know how to do an inside out french braid, look under my "quick search labels" for "videos." You'll find an instructional video there!)Tie the ribbon onto the elastic and pull it underneath to hide the knot.Start sewing down the first braid diagonally. (With a needle.) When you get to the end, turn right around and come back up the braid, sewing diagonally in the opposite direction to form the X's. Do the same thing with the other braid, then tie off the ribbon back onto the elastic when you're done.Add a bow, and that's it!