Floating Braid Made Easy

You might remember seeing this floating braid we posted awhile ago. It has other names such as a fairytale braid, waterfall braid, fall-through braid etc. Anyway, the Princess requested it the other day, so I got to try it out with her shorter hair. I was happy to see we could still do it with her new haircut! I was messing around with it and also discovered an easier way (in my opinion) to create the same type of look. If you were having trouble getting the hang if it the first time, maybe this will work for you! To compare: This is how the "old" technique from the first floating braid video ends up. And this is the new technique. See the difference? It almost looks like an inside-out braid, but it's not.
Of course if you wanted to, you could do either of these techniques on both sides of the head like we did the first time. We call that the medieval princess hairdo at our house as it looks like a hair style you might see at a renaissance fair or festival!

Princess For Hire

Uh, no. Before you get any big ideas...... our Princess isn't for hire, nor are we looking to hire a Princess LOL. BUT since this is a site about all things Princessy and lots of you have little princesses who would enjoy this type of thing, I just have to take a little break from hairstyling and tell you about a cute book I've read recently:

Princess for Hire by Lindsey Leavitt. Lindsey (the talented author) just happens to be my cousin! Well ok, she's actually married to my cousin. But I'll claim she is MY actual cousin because that makes me sound more cool. :) I guess we just have a thing for princesses in this family! Anyway, her book "Princess For Hire" was recently published by Disney Hyperion. And, I've heard a rumor that Disney may even make this book into a movie. See, now THAT is cool!! I was able to get my hands on a copy to read a few weeks ago and I have to say, I loved it! It's geared towards the YA audience, but I would say most girls (even adults) over the age of about 10-11 would love it. It's a fun read and actually not what I expected at all. I won't spill the beans and give away the plot or anything. But, if you or your girls are looking for a fun and uplifting book to read over the summer, I would recommend it. (And not just because I'm sorta related to the author.) I'm pretty sure you can find this book in most book stores. I saw it in our local "Barnes and Noble" the other day. Or there are links to purchase it on the Princess For Hire website.

Ribbon Lacing For Short Hair

Can I just say that we're both loving the Princess's new short locks? I'm especially liking this cute laced hairdo on her! I think it has to be another one of my favorites. It's just really feminine and sweet.
I love using ribbon in our hairdos and we've done several similar ribbon hairstyles on the blog with her long hair previously. This is just a quick and cute new lacing version that will work for girls with short hair as well as long. Start by making a side part and then parting out two rectangular sections directly underneath it. Then make a regular elastic braid in each section. (I did three sections in each row, you can do more if you want.) Now you can sew in the ribbon. I'm guessing you probably already know how to do the lacing, but we added in a video at the bottom of this post just for fun if you need it.

And no, you're not color blind. This picture was actually taken on a different day than we did the original pictures with the silver ribbon. For some reason I didn't get a decent picture of the side the first time.




Here's our video showing how to lace the ribbon if you need it..........Oh gosh, I don't think I'll ever get used to hearing my own voice on these videos. LOL It's just weird and I'm completely self conscious that I sound like a total dork. Am I the only one who has video/audio fright?? I really am a nerd. And yes, our "mid-blog crisis" is over. I changed the layout back to our old one (minus the background so it will hopefully load faster.) Truth be told, we both missed the cheery bright pink! The blue background seemed kind of depressing.

Katie's Bows And Things Giveaway Winner!

Has been posted on our giveaway blog!!

Twist Hairstyle For Short Hair - Video Tutorial

Now that the Princess's hair is shorter, we'll probably be posting more simple and quick hairstyles. My opinion is: With short hair, less is more. I think her hair looks adorable just left down and I don't really want to take away from her cute new A-Line haircut with a crazy style. Hopefully you won't be bored to tears. :) We also have several long styles that we did before the cut that I'll post here and there for those of you with longer hair.

Ready for our very first short hairstyle post? A fun twist hairdo that took all of 5 minutes.

I just parted out two cornrows at an angle and used our rat tail twisting technique (video below) in each section. Quick and Easy!

I love this style because her hair is mostly down, but still held away from her face for the most part. I think this hair style would be cute on a little girl, tween, or teenager. Maybe even a mom.
We had a request for a video showing how to do these tiny twists with a rat tail comb that we posted awhile back in picture form. (You can click on that link if you prefer pictures over video.) Or if you like video tutorials, enjoy!

Choosing Where To Donate Your Hair

I've done some research since we donated the Princess's hair. I have heard some stuff about Locks of Love from various sources that was concerning to me and I wanted to check it out.

Here are some of the things I have heard and what I found while researching:

*Locks of Love sells some of the donated hair they receive.

This is something they don't try to hide, it's info you can find right on their website. Locks of Love is a non-profit organization which has to support itself through donations. They get lots of hair donated to them and some of it can't be used (not long enough/bleached, etc) so they do sell unusable hair and use the proceeds to fund operations.

*Hair donated to Locks of Love doesn't usually go to cancer patients.

To be eligible to receive a wig from Locks of Love, the recipient needs to be under 18 years old and suffer from permanent hair loss in most cases. This would include children with Alopecia Areata, burn victims, and sometimes children undergoing radiation and chemotherapy. Most children who are undergoing cancer treatments will be able to grow hair again eventually and may not be eligible to receive a wig from Locks of Love.

*Locks of Love recipients sometimes have to pay, where Pantene Great Lengths doesn't charge the recipients for their wigs:

I think it's important to note that Locks of Love wigs and Pantene Great Lengths wigs are made entirely differently and Locks of Love wigs are more expensive to make. Locks of Love makes custom wigs for children under age 18 with life-long hair loss which can be worn while swimming, playing sports, dancing, etc. Recipients are set up on a sliding scale program and only pay what they can afford. Pantene makes cosmetic wigs mostly for adult women who may be undergoing chemotherapy or temporary hair loss (which are cheaper to make.) I think both programs serve an important purpose.

*Locks Of Love has only made enough wigs to account for 2% of the hair that has been donated to them since they started.

I'm actually not sure where this figure came from and I haven't been able to confirm it through a reliable source. If it is true, it does raise a huge question in my mind as to where the rest of the hair went. Surely more than 2% of the donations they receive should be usable, right? But, since I couldn't confirm it, I would consider this hearsay and wouldn't consider it while making my decision.

*After doing this research, I still feel okay about donating to Locks of Love. Even if The Princess's hair does end up being sold instead of being made into a wig, the money that is made from her hair will still help a child to receive a wig. The Princess really wanted to help another child because she can understand how hard it would be to not have hair at her age. If we could do it all over, would we make the same choice? Maybe, maybe not.

*Please keep in mind, I'm not speaking for any of these organizations and the info I have found may or may not be true.
If you are considering donating your hair, here are some choices:http://www.wigsforkids.org/
http://www.childrenwithhairloss.us/
http://www.locksoflove.org/
http://www.beautifullengths.com/en_US/parties.jsp

I actually would feel good about donating to any of them. I guess you would just need to decide which is right for you. I know that several of you have already donated your hair to various organizations. If you have any input on your experience, I would love to hear about it in the comments. :)

P.S. Guess what I'm watching right now?? If you're in Utah, turn your TV to channel 4!! Adopt a Do (one of my favorite fellow hair bloggers) is going to be on Good Things Utah today at 10:00. How cool is that?

Locks Of Love Hair Cut - Before and After!

Yep, we really did it!

Here she is with her dripping wet long hair before the Locks of Love hair donation:

And, here she is with her new, cute, short "A Line" haircut after:


Do you like? I happen to think she looks really cute with this new hairdo! And she is soooo excited about it. She's been wanting go get it cut for awhile, but I made her wait for a couple of weeks after she made the decision. I wanted her to be sure it was what she really wanted. Because you know, once it's cut.... it's cut! My mom (the Princess's Grandma) passed away right before The Princess was born from cancer and we've talked about how she lost her hair and had to wear a wig. The Princess is also aware that some children suffer from hair loss and really wanted to help out another child. She wanted to help make someone happy. That is the main reason she wanted to do this.I'm so disappointed in myself. I had our camera all ready to record the hair cut at the salon so that the Princess could watch it later. I had the perfect angle, sat there with the camera and filmed big moment (or so I thought) and then when I went to play it back, nothing was there. I must not have pushed the record button!! LAME
So unfortunately you won't get to watch the actual cutting. But, we made a "post hair cut interview" for your viewing pleasure instead.
Here's the Princess's thoughts on her new haircut and why she wanted to do it.....Oh and one more thing.... I've been hearing some "stuff" about Locks of Love from various sources. I'll be posting on that topic next. I appreciate all of your feedback!

Can't Think Of A Title, We're Still In Shock Over Here!

Ok, I'm not quite sure how to say this. So I guess I'll just blurt it out!

We did something crazy, fun, exciting, shocking, different, unbelievable, cute, (and honestly a little sad) over the weekend. *It was the Princess's idea:)

I'll give you a hint..........

It rhymes with:

BEAR MUTT

and

CLOCKS OF DOVE

I'll let you think that one over for a little bit......

Hair Needed To Clean Up Oil Spill

I wasn't planning on posting anything tonight, but I just saw this and felt the need to pass it along. So, here's my PSA for the day: If you're planning on getting your hair cut anytime soon, you may be able to make a difference by helping to clean up the recent oil spill in the Gulf Coast!

I just saw a news story and video from Matter Of Trust (you can click on that link if you want to watch the video) about how human hair and even pet fur clippings are being used to make "hair mats" and "nylon hair booms" (hair stuffed into recycled nylons) to soak up the oil. It sounds a little strange, but apparently hair is super absorbent and it works!

You don't need to have long hair to do this either. Even short hair from a trim can be used.

I feel really sad about what is happening to our oceans/animals right now and this is a small, easy, painless thing that can be done to make a huge difference. Who knew we had a natural renewable resource growing right on top of our heads?

SO, if you're going to be getting a cut soon..... maybe let your salon know about this. I'm guessing lots of salons are throwing away tons of hair that could be used!

Ok, and now that I've had my "tree hugging moment." Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there!! I hope you're having a fun, relaxing and enjoyable day with your families. I know I hope to be!

Hairstyles for Dance Competition, Recital

We had a request from Michelle on our facebook page for a dance recital hairstyle. Her dance group will be wearing their hair half up with a piece of fabric used as a headband. How convenient! I didn't even need to come up with anything new because The Princess's dance group uses a headband with their costume this year as well. So, I dug through our dance pictures and this is what I found....
The little girls in the Princess's dance group are told to put their hair up in a bun/hairpiece with the headband. But this style could easily be changed into a half ponytail by only bringing up half of the hair in the back.

I took step by step pictures for this hairstyle one time before a dance review, but half of them got deleted. So, we did it again for school the other day.
Start by making a part from ear to ear and add the headband, ribbon, or piece of fabric. This time we used a ribbon that is tied into a knot underneath her hair.
Part the hair in front on the side. Take the hair on the side where the least amount of hair is, spray it down with some water and twist it up. Now, this is what helps to keep the headband in place..... Grab a little piece of hair from underneath/behind the headband... And add it in with the twist on the other side of the headband. You'll want to twist this hair in fairly tight to keep the headband from moving.
At this point I thought it would be easier to make the ponytail before I did anymore twists. I had my daughter hold the twist I had already done while I put the ponytail in. Important: Before making the ponytail, I made sure to leave out 2 more pieces of hair behind the headband to add to my other twists. (One more on the side and one on top of her head.) You can see the one on the side in this pic. I then temporarily placed the first twist where I wanted it with a couple of bobby pins. (You can see the other piece of hair I left out on top for the next twist in this picture.)
You can now take the section in front and make your next twist. I added these both into the ponytail with an elastic at this point.
If you want the twists to cross over the headband instead of a V like we did with the blue ribbon, just switch the hair you add in with the twists in the back. (Add the twist on the right with the hair behind the ribbon on the left and vice versa.)
Now take all of the remaining hair in the front and make the final third twist (adding in the last strand of hair you left out behind the ribbon) and add to the ponytail with another elastic.
I took the easy way out and added our "fake hair" to finish off this messy bun. If you want to do a real messy bun, you can check out our messy bun video for long hair.



You can't really see the hair I added into these twists behind the ribbon, but having it twisted in this way held the headband in place perfectly for school and for dancing! Of course, I need to show this next dance hairdo as well, it's one of our favs. I stole this idea from the mom over at Babes in Hairland! You can click over to her site to see the instructions.
Hope you can find something you like Michelle. Good luck with the recital!

Also, it's the last day to enter our contest for the gift cards to hair flair boutique. 3 winners and not too many entries.... the odds are pretty good!

Photo Contest Winners!

In case you missed the announcement on our facebook page last night, here are our winners from the photo contest!

First Place:
Second Place:
Third Place:
Congrats!! I also wanted to thank everyone else who entered and voted. This has been my favorite contest we've done on this blog. It's seriously been so fun to look over everyone's photos. And gosh, you guys have THE CUTEST kids!! (Not to mention some great photography skills.) So, thanks again for participating. We also have a giveaway going on right now for some gift cards for hair accessories. If you want to enter that one, the details are here. One last thing, one of our readers has a little girl who has autism and is hoping to raise enough money to get her daughter a service dog to help her. You can read her story and how to donate here.

Hair Flair Boutique Giveaway

We're having a giveaway for 3 gift cards to the hair flair boutique! To enter: Go to our giveaway blog here.

Also, it's the last day to vote for your favorite photos in our photo contest! This contest will end tonight, May 3rd at 8:00 pm Mountain Time (9 central, 10 Eastern.) We will count up the votes and announce the two winners shorty after on our facebook page.

And one more thing. (If you're a "Youtuber") We finally have a YouTube channel set up for all of our hairstyling videos. I haven't added all of our old videos yet, it's a work in progress. But, I'll be working on getting our old stuff up and adding some new ones soon. :)