Missed our Bloggiversary

I just realized we missed the anniversary of our 1st post in July. Hairdo How-to is three years old. Since I missed the stats, I'll just put them from today. So far we have had 354,741 all time page views. Our viewers' favorite post is still the Waterfall/Fairytale/Fountain braid post, now with 9,053 views. We have 89 members. This is our 186th post, and this year we've seen a huge increase in the number of viewers looking on with mobile devices rather than computers!

Belle has done another ten inch hair donation, this time to Pantene Beautiful Lengths. I gave an eight inch donation myself. Pantene will take a minimum of 8 inches, and Locks of Love takes a minimum of 10 inches. Belle's hair is now short! She has an a-line bob at the middle of her neck. It's so cute and easy! I haven't been styling her hair much since I've been busy putting my house back in order after the flood. It's nice to have a low-maintenance length haircut.

Not As Complicated As It Looks Braid

This braid looks like very difficult weaving, but it's really not so difficult.  Begin with a ponytail.  Divide the tail into three equal sections.  For each section you will make an wavy braid by taking two tiny sections and braiding them with one large section, and then tugging gently at the edges of the large sections to make them flair out a bit.

Make three of those braids, and then braid them all together.

Add bows or bows or flowers to accessorize. (Ours are from Gimme Clips.)

Hot Rollers

I have had these hot rollers for a really long time. I use them only occasionally.  We tried them on Belle's hair quite a while ago.  She didn't like them because they were too hot for her skin.  The curls were cute, and lasted about as long as curling iron curls, but not as long as slept-in curls.  I think they are faster to put in that curling iron curls.

I wear gloves when I use the rollers to protect my hands from getting burned.  They don't sizzle and blister like an iron, but they feel too hot to handle if you touch a wrong spot.  This set has a red dot on the fat rollers that turns brown when they are heated through.  Use the fattest rollers for the shorter hair and the thinner rollers for the longer hair.  Roll up from the ends, and then put a clip upwards around the middle of the roll. Start at the top and work your way back.

Let them stay in until the hair feels cool, then take them out, starting at the bottom.

They make cute soft and wide curls.

Home Again

We are home again!  They aren't yet finished with all the work, but it's completed enough to live here.  It's good to be home, even if it is cluttered with moving boxes.

House Flood

We just got back from our vacation yesterday to discover that our house was flooded while we were gone.  The upstairs toilet broke and let water run all over.  I will probably not be posting hairstyles for a bit while we get our house rebuilt.  We could use a few extra prayers.  Now we have learned how important it is to turn the water off when you go away, and not just in the winter!  Some wisdom comes at a high price.

Tapering Braid

This is a super easy style.  Start with a ponytail.  Braid the top loosely, and then pull out the edges of the plaits to widen it.  Gradually braid tighter to the end.  This style probably would work better with very curly or kinky hair since you can braid further out to the ends without worrying about the ends popping out.

(I'm experimenting with some new software that came with my camera.  I doesn't do much, so I need to keep searching for that old disk...  This image is huge, and I can't put my blog stamp on it.)

New Computer

My new computer is awesome, but it doesn't have all the software yet to do picture and video edits.  I will post something again as soon as I am able!

Rolled Sock Bun

I have posted sock bun tutorials before.  Click on the pictures below if you want instructions.

Today's tutorial is a little different.  Rather than pulling the hair through the middle of the sock, wrapping a band around it, and dealing with all the ends sticking out, this one will have the ends rolled up into the sock.  It will not be as tight an neat looking a bun, but it is still pretty.

For a sock bun form, get an old sock you don't need anymore.  The closer to the hair color the better in case any of it shows out.  Cut out the toe.

Beginning at the toe end, roll the sock until it resembles a doughnut.

You can by a bun form at the beauty supply store like in the picture below.

I bought one thinking it would be an improvement somehow over the sock, but was disappointed.  It doesn't stretch much, so you can't use it for this hairstyle at all.  It will work for the other sock bun styles I linked at the top.  The advantage is supposed to be that you can put bobby pins through the mesh, but I haven't discovered a need for that, and when I tried it, taking the bobby pin out made one of the strands of mesh pull out.  Save your money, and use a sock.

Put the hair into a ponytail.  Insert the ponytail through the middle of the sock.  Pull it up to the head. Straighten the tail hair, and hold it so it is tight together like a stick. (I didn't do this in the picture but figured it out later on.) Bring the sock down to where the shortest strands of hair are.

Wrap the ends of the hair around the sock in at least two directions. Do your best to keep the tail tight like a stick while you wrap the ends around and pull them through the hole again.

You can tuck a few ends of hair under the lip of the sock if it's turned the right way.  Keep everything as tight as you can at this point. Tug the ends to tighten them, and push them back around if they fall out.  Now turn the sock roll inside out by rolling it outwards.

Re-tuck the ends that come loose, and roll it inside out again.  The hair will roll up around the sock as you do this, and will cover the sides.

Keep rolling until you get up to the head.

The elastic in the sock will hold it in place now, but for added durability, put in some bobby pins around the bun.  Here's a side view:

On another day, we decided to spice it up with this headband and bow clip from Gimme Clips:

This hairstyle can be a little tricky to learn, but with practice, it can become quite simple and fast.
Here is a video:

Sideways Dutch Braid into Braided Bun

This is a variation on a post I already wrote.  This post seems to be a favorite.  The only difference is the braid is a dutch braid instead of a french braid.

Guest Blogger Invitation

This is an invitation to contribute to our blog.
If you have any great ideas you want to share, send me an email, leave a comment, or post on our Facebook  page.  We may choose your photos and instructions to post on our blog as a guest blogger!

Bad Hair Day

What can you do when your hair just won't cooperate?  Wear a hood!

Happy April Fool's Day.

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!  I hope you are all enjoying the spring as much as I am.

For inspiration for more Easter hairstyles, take a look at the side-bar links to hairstyles for Easter, up-dos, and special occasions, or look in our gallery.

No tutorial today--our family is so busy!

Rainbow Ponytail

Happy St. Patrick's Day!  My idea for this was to put some gold at the end of the rainbow, but I created this before school and didn't have time for perfection.  I had wanted to use some gold Christmas wrapping ribbon at the end of the ponytail, but didn't have time.

To begin, put the hair in a ponytail.  Measure a piece of ribbon off the spool the length of the ponytail, add a little bit more to account for wrapping, and then double it.  Cut the ribbon.  Cut all the other ribbon colors the same length.  Insert the ribbons stacked in rainbow order (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) into one of the loops of the hairband, and center the ribbon.

Pull the ribbons around to the back of the ponytail.

At this point at first I tried to do a fishtail with adding a ribbon to each strand.

I had trouble with this when I came down to the second go-round of colors.  I didn't have time to really figure it out, so I started again just fishtailing the ribbons, no hair.  It ended up like wrapping a maypole.

Once you have crossed each ribbon over once, start again one at a time by bringing the ribbon around the back of the ponytail and then over top of the last ribbon that was crossed over.

Repeat with each ribbon.  With Belle's length of hair, I was able to do three "rainbows."  The ribbons will be bumpy and loose and cover each other up, but you fix that by pulling them tighter at the ends and scooting them over.

I added a big green flower that probably came from a dollar store.  Like I said before, here would be the part to add the gold at the bottom.

If this fishtailing is too hard for you, I also imagined braiding with a regular braid adding two ribbon colors to each strand: red and orange for one, yellow and green for another, and blue and purple for the third.  I haven't tried this yet, but perhaps I will.

If you have success with this hairstyle or have any tweaks or improvements, I invite you share your photos on our facebook page!

Don't forget to check the link at the sidebar for more St. Patrick's Day hairstyles.

Elegant French Braid Updo

One of my young friends at church wore an adorable hairstyle similar to this some time ago.  It really struck my eye.  Gorgeous!  She had two regular french braids with a part down the middle, and the tails wrapped up like in this one.  It inspired me to try this on Belle with a little improvement in the braiding technique to lose the part.  This is done with french braids down both sides of the head, but rather than adding horizontal rectangles of hair to each plait, you add tall triangles with the top point at the same place each time.  The top front does have a part, at the side or middle, so you braid like normal at the beginning, but once you reach the crown of the head, you start adding triangles rather than rectangles.  The braids come close together at the back of the head.  Braid out the tails as far as you can and then add a clear elastic to each.

Next you need to wrap the braids together, almost tying them in a knot.  This diagram helps show the path that each braid takes.  If a braid doesn't turn sharp enough on the side, you can can try folding it and turning it backside out like I did on the right here.

If Belle's hair were just a little bit longer, the elastic would've been easier to hide.  At least it is clear.

Tuck the ends in to hide them, and add bobby pins.  Belle wanted these You-Pins (from Lilla Rose) to decorate.  You could use little flowers or ribbons or leave it without extras.

Crazy Hair Day: Rag Rug

I gave this hairdo to Belle a couple evenings ago just for the fun of it.  She didn't actually wear it out anywhere--we were just being goofy.  It's just in time for Dr. Suess' birthday, though, since a lot of schools have a crazy hair day, so I'm posting it anyway.  Belle's school is doing a literary character dress-up day instead of crazy hair day.

This hairstyle is a half dutch cornrow spiraling all around the head.  Start at the crown with a small section, begin braiding around.  Since I was just playing, I used my fingers to draw up new sections of hair, but you could make it look a little neater if you use a comb.  There is nothing you can do about the ends of the hair sticking out.  Once the hair you began braiding with runs out of length, you'll have a new piece of hair running out with every plait til the end.  Braid down the end when you run out of hair on the scalp to add in.  Wrap it around, tuck in the ends, and bobby pin it in place.  Or just leave it hanging for more craziness.

I call this the rag rug because it reminds me of those braided oval or circular rugs.

Check out our other crazy hairstyles by clicking on the link in the right sidebar.

Milkmaid Braids

I've already posted a different version of the milkmaid braids here, but I wanted to do this one that's a little different for shorter hair.

As you can see in the picture, you don't cross the braids over the back like the other post, but braid above the ears and pull them straight up.  I fastened off the end of the braid with a clear elastic, and then added another clear elastic down from the first to keep the ends of the tail from fraying out as much.

You have to draw the braids up together and then use bobby pins to hide each tail under the other braid.  It helps if your braids are loose and wide so you can spread them out flatter and make more room for the tails to hide.

You can see the elastic just a bit here.  It would help if her hair were maybe an inch longer.

Braided Heart Ponytail

To help celebrate Valentine's Day, here's another heart shaped hairdo.  Instructions are show for the ponytail version, but this is also really cute as pigtails.  (This picture is from a long time ago!)

Begin with a front piggy.  Put the rest of the hair in a low pony, being sure to leave the tail of the top one out.

Braid two sections of the lower ponytail at the sides.  Make them as even thickness as you can.  Secure the ends with a temporary clip.

Pull the braids up and then back down to add them with the hair of the top piggy.

Add an elastic here, careful to keep the braids at equal lengths on either side.  Split the hair from the tail in half, and tuck them behind the braids.

The braids will make a C shape on either side. To get the sharper angle at the bottom of the heart, you can fold them up and add another elastic on top of the pinch.

The ends of the braids will be much shorter than the tail of the pony.  If they pop out the sides like in the above picture and that bothers you, you can add this additional step.  Pull the short ends together behind the ponytail.  Wrap a small clear elastic around them a few times, and then once around to whole ponytail.

I'll admit this makes the bottom look kind of weird, but that can be hidden with a flower or bow.  (Satiny flower clip from Gimme Clips!)

Click the Valentine's Day link on the right sidebar to see more Valentine's Day hairstyle ideas.