School Pictures

It's time for school pictures again.  There are a few things to think about when choosing a hairstyle for a photo shoot.  First of all, the back of the head obviously isn't going to be seen, so any style that looks amazing from the back but not the front is not a good choice.  I prefer down-dos rather than updos because they tend to frame the face better, in my opinion.  I also like seeing how long Belle's hair is from year to year in her portraits since it has changed in length so much over the years.  I think the person's face should be what draws attention in a portrait, and that the hair should complement the face, rather than draw attention away.  That is why I choose simple styles with few or small embellishments rather than large flowers and bows.  Here is Belle's picture day hair for this year. It is a hawser twist done like a half dutch braid (adding hair from only one side) with the bang section of hair.

Rather than spend an arm and a leg on portraits from the school (which often come back looking goofy anyway), I take a portrait of my kids at home.  I took this portrait last week in our bathroom.  I hung some fancy sheer fabric over the shower curtain rod, brought in an extra lamp, and took a bunch of shots.  I let Belle choose her favorite, and then touched it up on my computer.  Now I can print as many as I want wherever I want to have them printed.  (Belle's sparkly bobby pins are from Lilla Rose.)

Half-dutch Headband with Twists into Messy Bun and Variations

Here is a style that I had put in my gallery when my blog was rather new, but never did the step by step directions until now.  It's in my banner, too.
Begin with a part at the back of the ears across the top of the head.  Put the back hair into a ponytail.

Part a strip from the top of the ears across the top, maybe an inch and a half thick or so.  Get the front hair out of the way with a clip.

Do a half dutch braid ending at the side of the head, meaning that you add in all the rest of the from above the ear  before you actually get down to the ear.  Then braid to the end.

Pull the braided tail over the top of the hairband.  Twist the bang section and draw it up over the ponytail, clipping it in place temporarily.  You may have to twist part of the hair and then add a little more to it while you keep twisting to get it to look right.

Twist the other side and bring it up over the pony.

Add another elastic over the whole thing.

You can leave it like this. I think it looks nice this way.  Or turn the back into a messy bun.  You can leave the braid in or take it out.

Here are some old pictures from when I did it a long time ago.  On the smaller side I did a regular braid instead of another twist.

Here is another variation with the same general instructions, you just do a hawser twist instead of the half dutch and simple twist.  This also just has a fancy hairband on a ponytail instead of a messy bun.

Double Hawser Buns

I'm finally getting this style posted!  It's been in my banner for a long time.  This works best with very long hair.

Begin with a horizontal part ear to ear, and make two ponies, the top one at the part, and the bottom one halfway up the lower section.

Get the front section out of the way by twisting and bunching it up on top and holding it down with a big jaw clip.  Do a hawser twist on the lower pony.

Wrap the twist around the hairband to form a bun, hiding the tail ends under the bun.  Use bobby pins to hold it in place.

Let out the jaw clip.  Do a hawser twist on the top pony.

Form the bun on the top.  Try to make the bun low enough to touch the lower bun.  Pin in place.

You can finish here, or add some embellishments.  I made my own by hot-gluing some fake flowers to the end of a couple bobby pins.  To make the bow, I folded the ends of a short ribbon over, and then put the bobby pin over the middle like so:

Insert the bobby pins in random places.

Lesson 101: Side Twist into Twisted Side Bun

(This is the hairstyle in the April Fool's Day post.)  To begin, make a diagonal part from the front side of the head back to the opposite side behind the ear.  Push the front section of hair out of the way while you draw the back section into a side ponytail.

Brush the front section of hair together and twist it.  Add the twist into the ponytail with another hairband.

Make a bun: Do a hawser twist with the hair from the original ponytail, fastening off with a clear elastic.  (Leave out the shorter hair from the twist at this point.)

Wrap the twist around the hairband, tucking in the ends to hide, and securing it all with bobby pins.

Now do a hawser twist with the remaining hair that was added in from the twist.  Wrap it around, concealing any hairbands or fray from the first twist.  Tuck in the ends, and then put in bobby pins.

We added our rose from Gimme Clips to the side to decorate.  Then Belle reminded me of a Spanish flamenco dancer.

Lesson 84: Front Half Pony with Twist Crossover

Start with the front section of hair from temple to temple in a piggy.

Next make row on each side with a french hawser twist.  Twist them down the ends a bit and secure (temporarily).

Gather the hair up from ear to ear to make a front half piggy.  Include the hair from the forehead, but not the twists.

Twist up the twists tighter by turning them, and then cross one over the other.  Wrap them around underneath the piggy, and band them together.

Undo the bands at the ends of the twists.

Here is where you can add a decoration if you wish, or just leave it how it is.  I'm using our new Lilla Rose Flexi-Clip.  (Belle and I really like fairies.)

Lesson 80: Sock Bun with Hawser Twist

This style is similar to the last post I did for the Barbie hairstyle.  These pictures are from about a year ago, and I don't have step by step, so refer to the last post if you need to.

Start off by parting the hair at the side in front and making a box shape down to one ear.  Keep this hair out of the way while you put the rest into a high ponytail.  Stick the ponytail through the sock form (a rolled up sock with the toe cut out).  Smooth the hair evenly over the sock, and then add another hairband around the whole thing.  (Do not cover the bun with another layer of hair like the Barbie style--this one has the doughnut shape showing.)

Do a french hawser twist with the bang section you parted out by adding hair only to one side as you cross so that the twist lays over the part.  Continue twisting the ends, and add a small elastic.  Wrap the twist around the sock bun beneath the loose ends, and pin it in place.  Do a french hawser twist around the sock bun with all the loose ends.  Tuck the tail under to hide it.  Pin it all in place.  Tape the twist with a long ribbon.  (I wrapped the extra long ends around the whole thing this time.)  Add a bow or flower to cover up any messy spots.

Lesson 79: Bun with Ribbon Wrapped Twist

This is the Barbie hairstyle I named "Yet Another Musketeer" (number 10) in this Barbie Hairstyle post.  It isn't exactly the same, but close enough for me.  This special guest is my neighbor friend.  She asked me for help to do her hair for a dance competition.  She said that it lasted for her second day of dancing, and she just needed to spray some flyaways after she slept on it.
Start with a ponytail.  Next you'll need to use a sock to form the bump.  Cut the toe off a sock and then roll it until it looks like a doughnut.  Put the tail of the ponytail through the hole.  Spread the hair over it evenly, and then add another hairband.

(I guess I should have taken some more step by step pictures, but I didn't have a whole lot of time.)  Grab up a portion of the hair from below the bun, pull it up over the top, and arrange it to cover up the doughnut.  Add a small hairband (clear is best).

Tuck the little tail in under the bun, or if you can use it the next step.  Now you will need to do a french hawser twist around the bun.  Take up two sections of hair from beside the bun.  I did it on the side, but taking it from the top may make it less visible where you start from.  Twist each section one direction, then wrap them together in the opposite direction.  Add more hair to the sections as you continue twisting around the bun.  When you run out of hair to add in, keep twisting the ends together and put a clear hairband in the end.  Wrap it around the bun and tuck the ends underneath to hide them.  Use bobby pins to hold it all in place.

Now get a long piece of ribbon.  I didn't measure when I cut it off the spool, but just guessed and ended up with way too much.  Better too much than not enough.  Use a craft needle to sew around the twist.  This is called hair taping.  Tie the ends together and tuck them underneath to hide.  Use hairspray to keep the top layer of hair on the bun from sliding and showing off the doughnut shape underneath.

Lesson 77: French Hawser Twist

I don't actually know what this is called...  It is a hawser twist, but you add hair with each cross like a french braid, but a french twist is a completely different style, so I'll just call it a french hawser twist.  Before you try this one, make sure you know how to do a simple hawser rope twist.

There are lots of things you can do with this technique, but for today, just start by parting the hair down the middle like pigtails.  Keep one side out of the way with a clip or hairband while you work with the other side.  Pull up a section at the top of the head and split it into two with the division perpendicular to the center head part so that both pieces have a space touching the forehead.  Twist them both toward the face, and then cross the higher one over the other toward the back of the head.

Cross the lower over the first one toward the back of the head.

Add some hair to the strand that is now lower.  You will be taking hair that is both below the twist and above, but the hair that is above will be hanging down behind the twist.  When you french braid, you gather one side then the other, but here you are taking hair from both sides at the same time.  After you add the hair in, twist it in with the rest (toward the face), and then cross it over the top.

Continue in this pattern, adding hair to the lower strand, twisting it in, and crossing it over until you get to the bottom and have no hair left to add in.

Finish off with a simple hawser rope, and then fasten it with a hairband.

Repeat on the other side.

For a variation, you can tie the two together at the base of the neck...

...and then wrap them around into a bun.  Tuck in the ends and pin in place.