Feather Fashion Clip Extensions

Feathers have been in style for at least a year now.  I've seen a lot of extension that are semi-permanent, where you have to use pliers to attach a metal ring to a piece of hair near the scalp.  Personally, I prefer to be able to take whatever is in my hair out every night.

Feather Fashion Clip Extensions sent us these (real) feathers to try out.  I like them because they have a tight grip that doesn't hurt, but are easy to put in and take out, and you can use them over and over.  The teeth open and close like a snap barrette, and there is a little rubber tubing one side to keep it from sliding.

This hairstyle is a simple french braid.  I braided back a bit, inserted the clip behind the braid, and then continued a bit further with the french braid.

For anyone that is crafty and creative, the little ring that holds the feathers on is malleable, so you could open the ring, remove the feathers, and hook on something of your own creation.  I would consider buying the feathers just because the clip is so neat.  

To get these feather clips, you can email abell@lifestyle-prod.com. You can see the other colors they have at their facebook page.  (They are $5 each with $2 shipping for up to 6 clips.)

Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2 Cover Hairstyle/ Half French Braid

This hairstyle is from the movie cover of Barbie in a Mermaid Tale 2.  This tutorial is for an everyday realistic hairstyle, but if you are going for it to look just like the cover, there are a few changes that I'll tell about at the bottom of the post.

To start, make a part over the top of your head from ear to ear.  Pull the back hair out of the way into a temporary ponytail.  The front half is going to be a half french braid.  To do a half french braid, you should know how to do a regular french braid first.  This will be like that, but you only add hair to one side.  When you add the hair in, gather a new section all the way back to the part, and cross it over the middle strand.

Then cross the back strand over the middle without adding any hair to it.

When you run out of hair to add in, keep braiding down.
You can put it into a side ponytail for a variation.

If you are trying for the authentic "just like the picture" style, leave some hair out at the front for long side-swept bangs.  If you want pink hair, you can use an extension clip or color your hair with dye, markers, or pastels (girls, ask your mom first!).  You will also want to curl the ends a bit with a curling iron, but not the pink extension or it will melt.  And of course, don't forget the tiara on top.  (If it's for Halloween and you don't have really long blonde hair, you could do this style on a wig, but don't use a curling iron or it will spoil the wig and the curling iron.  Boil the hair like in this post.)

Belle's Baptism Bun

This is Belle's hairdo for her baptism.  Since she was baptized by immersion, I wanted something that would hold up to the water.  I also wanted something that wouldn't take long to fix up afterwards since all our family and friends would be waiting for us.  This hairstyle turned out amazingly well.  All I had to do was dab gently with a towel and use a comb to smooth back some flyaways.  Then it didn't even look like it was still wet.  It stayed in place.  These pictures are actually from after her baptism.  They are a few little fuzzy places, but overall, it still looks great.

I didn't get step by step pictures since I had bigger things on my mind that day.  Start with a half dutch braid for the front section of hair.  Put the rest back in a ponytail.  Add the braid in.  Make several more small braids from the tail of the pony until all the hair is braided.  Wrap the braids around the hairband.  Tuck the ends under, and use bobby pins to hold it all in.  Add a flower or bow to decorate if you want.  Ours is from Gimme Clips.  I removed it before she got wet and replaced it afterwards.

During her service, we sang a song called "When I Am Baptized."  The first line starts out with "I like to look for rainbows whenever there is rain."  To hear the song, click on this link, and then mark the circle for "words and music."  We thought it was very special that we were given a rainbow on the day she was baptized!

If you would like more information about our church's view of baptism, click here.

S-Shaped Bun

This bun reminds me of the little angular figure 8 doodle I used to see everybody drawing in high school.
Begin with two piggies, one on top of the other.  Put the elastic of the top one right at the edge of the part so that the part will not show.

Split each of the tails into two sections.  Twist one of the sections and wrap it around the elastic, tucking in the loose ends.  Bobby pin in place.  Repeat for other piggy.

Twist the remaining tail of the top bun.  Drop it down to the bottom bun and wrap it around the outside of the other bun.  Tuck in the ends, and pin in place.

Twist the last tail. Pull it up and around the top bun.  Tuck in the ends and pin.

All twists should be done in the same direction, whether it be clockwise or counterclockwise.