Never Ending French Braid Bun

French Braiding, Circular Style

I'm not exactly sure of the "official" name of this braid, or if it even has one. I've seen it done before, but I've never seen the name. So, if you know... please tell us in the comments. :)

We're calling it the Never Ending French Braid Bun because it's hard to tell where the braid starts and where it ends! This could also be called a French Braid crown or a Halo Braid. Well, whatever you want to call it... it's a fun and unique french braid hairstyle that probably isn't done very often!

You could do this hairstyle in several different variations. We actually did a hairstyle using this same concept awhile back in a half ponytail. You can see that one here: Rays of Sunshine Hairstyle.

Here is the hair style using one single braid/bun:
Or, you could double the braids up and make french braid pigtail buns!
In pigtails, this actually reminds me of a Princess Leia Hairstyle. ;)
Here's the video tutorial:

Of course if you wanted to, you could add some flowers or ribbons to this hairdo. I think it would be an adorable Hairstyle For Easter Sunday!

Chutes and Ladders Hairdo

Silly name, I know. But, do you see the "chutes and ladders" in this hairstyle? Yep, we've even resorted to using board games to name a hairstyle. :) What next?
So, begin by parting out a square on top of her head and putting the rest out of the way in a ponytail for now. Then, make a diagonal part in the front of the square, smooth the hair to the side and secure with an elastic. This will make the first "chute."
Then part out another row and make a "ladder" by adding elastics all the way across the row. (When you get to the end, add in the ponytail from the first section.)
Add another chute......
And another ladder and chute. Just keep going until you get to the back of the square.
At this point, you can add some pigtails, a ponytail, a side ponytail, braids. Whatever you want!
I thought this might be a cute hairstyle for soccer or gymnastics. I like hairdos that keep her hair out of her face for sports.
We took out the messy pigtails before she went to bed and left the top in while she slept. In the morning, we added some quick pigtails and she was ready in 2 minutes. Sometimes recyclable hairstyles are nice!

Ribbon Wrapped Hairstyle

Make a part from ear to ear (like a half pony) and then 3 square sections diagonally, across the top of the half pony.
Thread a ribbon through each of the elastics, making the ends the same length on each side.
Split the hair in half in each section and wrap with the ribbons. If you want hair showing between the ribbon more like this hairstyle, use thinner ribbon. If you don't want the hair showing at all, use thicker ribbon.
Split everything up as shown and make some pigtails in the half pony. At this point you could either leave it just how it is with her hair down. You could make some little buns with the pigtails. You could bring the pigtails together in the back, princess style. Or, you could make some pigtails with the rest like we did.



Of course if you didn't want to use ribbons at all, you could braid the sections instead. Or just twist them up, or leave them like straight. Whatever makes you happy. :)

Fancy Woven Ponytail - Quick!

I think one of our all time favorite styles is this basket weave hairstyle. We love it, but let's get real. Something like that is probably not going to happen on a school morning! Here's a compromise, a quick little weaving trick to make a boring old ponytail or pigtail go from ordinary to extraordinary!

First make your basic ponytail, then get your plastic needle out for some quick weaving. (Really, this only takes a couple extra minutes.)

Man, I really wish I could figure out how to turn off the flash on our camera! Besides the unwanted flash, this is showing how to easily thread your hair onto the plastic needle. Start by putting both ends of a small piece of dental floss through the needle like this.....


Then take a small piece of hair from the underside of the ponytail and put it through the loop of the dental floss.
Pull on the ends of the floss and thread the hair right through the eye of the needle!

Now start "sewing" the hair around the ponytail...
I was able to go around the ponytail twice with one strand. If your daughter's hair is shorter, you may have to use 2 strands of hair and only go around once with each strand. Just make sure you go through the hair the opposite way on the second time around (over or under first) to create the woven look. You could go around as many times as you wanted, but I wanted this subtle, so we stuck with twice. Also, make sure you end with the strand underneath the pony.After you are done sewing, take another small piece of hair and wrap it around the elastic of the ponytail. Secure with one more clear elastic at the bottom of the wrapping to hold everything in place. I pushed the hair up out of the way so you could see the elastic in this picture. We did this with pigtails one day.....


And a ponytail the next.

A quick and different hairstyle for school mornings!

French Braids And A Braided Headband (The Sunscreen Post Hairstyle)

As requested by several of you. The hairstyle from our sunscreen post! Start with a regular old part down the middle, putting one side in a temporary pigtail.Coming off of the center part a little ways back, part out a rectangular section of hair. Take the top inch or two of that section and clip it or flip it over to the other side to keep it out of the way for now.Take the hair you have left, brush it up towards the top of her head and braid it. (This may seem a little awkward since normally you would be braiding downwards.) It needs to go upwards to lay flat against her head though. Repeat these steps on the other side of her head. You should now have 2 braids, one on each side. Split the 2 sections you left out earlier in half and lay the braids through the sections, over the top of her head. Comb everything smooth and spray with a little water. To start the french braids: Make your first 3 sections by grabbing the hair on either side of the braids, then split each side in 2 (4 sections) now combine the middle pieces to make 3 pieces. It will lay much smoother if you start it this way.French braid like you normally would. The braid hanging down on each side will just become part of the french braid. You won't even notice it. Just make sure to take the elastic on the end of the braid out if you don't want it poking through. The french braid will hold the braid in place and keep it from unraveling, so you don't need the elastic.

Normally I make the headband up closer to the front of her head. It's more noticeable that way.

Btw, if you don't know how to french braid, you could use this same concept with regular pigtail braids ("indian braids.") The hair you're working with would need to be fairly long to go all the way over the top and down the sides of her head though.

And, since many of you have requested a video tutorial for this style... here you are, enjoy!

4th of July Hairstyle - Yes, Another One!

Start with 6 small ponytails across the top of her head, 2 rows of 3.Pull some red ribbon through the elastic of the middle front pony. (Try to make both ends the same length.)Split that pony in half and wrap the ribbons around both pieces of hair. Add them in with the 2 outside ponytails in the back. (Use a clip to keep one side from unraveling while you work on the other.)Same thing with the 2 outside ponytails, except don't split them. I brought this blue ribbon through the elastic the same way, then used both strands to wrap around the ponytail all in one piece. Add these both to the middle back ponytail.If you want to leave her hair down. Stop right here. Just tie the leftover ribbon into bows and you're done! (I added some white ribbon as well just for fun.)Or, if you want her hair up, you can keep going. Make 1 more row of 3 ponytails underneath what you already have. Take that middle ponytail and split it in half. You should have 4 blue ribbons in this pony. Take 2 on each side to do your wrapping. Add these in with the 2 outside ponytails beneath. Now you can take the 2 red ponytails on both sides, wrap them up and add them both to the middle.Now, make 1 more row (of 3) with all of the hair you have left.You could add more ribbons to the last row if you wanted, but I didn't really think it would be seen and I was getting lazy at this point. Split the 2 middle ponytails on the top and bottom, then gather everything you have left on both sides into a set of pigtails to finish.Of course, tie the leftover ribbons into bows on the pigtails.
Some crazy fun hair for the fourth!