Bow Giveaway

This is our first giveaway here at Hairdo How-to.  It's always fun to see it on other websites, so I wanted to try it here.  In my small effort to spread goodwill to all the world, the winner of this drawing will receive these three hair bow clips that I made myself.

Here is how to enter:

Mandatory entry #1:

Do a service for someone else, like a random act of kindness.  Big or small, this service must be something out of your ordinary routine and not expected of you.  Leave a comment at the end of this post.  You may choose to tell what your service was or not.

Optional entry #2:

Read The Mansion by Henry Van Dyke and leave a comment with your short review of the book.  If you don't have it and can't find it at the library, do an online search where you can read it on the internet. 

Optional entry #3:

Share this contest with your Facebook friends or Pinterest or whatever your social media of choice is, or share it with your real friends.  Leave a comment.

Deadline for entries will be Friday, March 2 at 11:59 PM Mountain Daylight Time.  Belle will help me choose a random number (we'll draw from a hat or something since I don't want to spend the time to learn how to do it electronically) and announce the winner on Saturday, March 3.  The winner will then have 48 hours to respond with their contact information, or I will have to redraw.  Have fun!

Lesson 95: Rounded French Braid with Side Braid Bun

I absolutely love this hairstyle.  It is so gorgeous!  It is pretty enough for a special occasion, I think.  These pictures are from Belle's long hair days.

Part the hair at the top on the side.  French braid the hair down the middle of one side (the side with more hair), but when you get back to the top of the head, begin gathering up triangular sections of hair (use a comb), all with the same point at the end of the part.

Braid around the back of the head to above the ear.  Add in the remaining hair from the front. Fasten it all off with a hairband if you want to, but it isn't necessary.  Braid the tail, fasten the end with a clear elastic, and wrap the braid into a bun.  Hide the ends underneath, and secure it all with bobby pins.

There is a drawback to this style.  There will be a lot of different lengths of hair ending in different places in the braid.  It may be difficult to keep short strands from popping out of the braid.  Also, the little ends poking out can make this hairstyle very itchy.  Belle couldn't stand to leave it in very long.  I've been trying to imagine something like a doughnut shape piece of fabric or something to protect the scalp from itchy hair, but I don't know if the pins would stay then.  Let me know if you have the same trouble and if you have any solution ideas.  Please leave a comment.

Now that Belle's hair is short, we can't do this, of course.  Here is the closest facsimile I can create:

I used larger sections for the braid since was I was hurrying before school, and just made a side pony instead of a bun.  This was Read-a-thon day, so I put in this fabric flower with words all over it.  It is from Gimme Clips.

Lesson 94: Wide and Flat Dutch Braid with Messy Bun

"Boho-chic" or "hobo-chic" is a style that has been coming and going for a while now, meaning basically looking like a stylish mess.  (It comes from Bohemian gypsies, hippies, and homeless).  I think I pulled it off here...  I tried it out on myself one day and then on Belle the next so I could get step by step pictures.

Start by parting the hair on top, side or middle, but not all the way back.  Dutch braid both sides.  When you take hair from the middle of the head, gather a triangle shape piece with the top of the point at the crown of the head rather than a horizontal rectangular piece.  It shows how better on Belle's photo than mine since I couldn't really see what I was doing when I braided my own hair.  Hold the ends with clips or loose hairbands.

To make the braid look wide and flat, pull on the outside edge of each plait one at a time.  You can start from the top or bottom, going back again to readjust any that get tightened up again.

Fasten the braids together at the base of the head, and then make a messy bun.

This was a school day, so I used tiny jaw clips to hold the messy bun in place as well as bobby pins.  Then I covered it up with this flower thingy I made for her Halloween costume to hide some of the clips.

Lesson 93: Half Pony with Hawser Twist

Here is a simple hairstyle for every day.  Since my hair is too short (plus I'm too old) to put fancy braided hearts in, I'll decorate for Valentine's Day with my heart flexi-clip from Lilla Rose.

I've taken the front section of hair near my forehead, twisted it up, and put a clear elastic in.  Then I pulled up the front half of the rest of my hair, adding in the twist, and then held it together with the flexi-clip.  This one is size small.  The elastic is hidden behind the clip.  If yours hangs down below where you can see, you can undo the elastic.

Lesson 92: Bleeding Heart Ponytail

We named this one after Belle's favorite flowers at her Oma's house.

Begin with a ponytail.  Pull up a small section of hair from the tail, and put an elastic a couple inches down.

Beneath the elastic, divide the hair into three pieces.  The center piece will stay hanging down, but the two side pieces will be brought up to the sides.  Squeeze them against the hair above the elastic, and then add another elastic a wee bit above the first.  This is a bit tricky to do without making a big puff of the hair above the elastic. Try pulling down gently on the nub of hair at the elastics to adjust it if you have to.

Smooth out the curves of hair on the sides, and bring them together with the center piece of hair, forming the heart shape. Twist them or dampen them with water if you need to to help get the right shape.  You could even braid them or do hawser twists to take it a step farther.  Add another elastic to keep it all in place.