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.

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.

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.

French Twist with You-Pins

I am excited to share my new favorite hairstyle to do on myself.  It is elegant enough for a special occasion, yet fast enough for an every day do.  After a little bit of practice, it is really quick to put up.  I am using You-Pins from Lilla Rose.  They are beautiful pins with two prongs about the length of my finger.  They are malleable enough to bend somewhat to shape for a comfortable fit, but quite sturdy, and they hold a surprising amount of hair in place.  Belle and I chose the sparkly stars as our favorite, and this will be a fine hairstyle for the Fourth of July.  (This post is going to have a lot of labels!)

Begin as you would for a low ponytail.  I started here at the corner of my head to keep the roll at the center of the head.

Grab the hair from underneath, and begin to twist it.

Pull the tail upwards and continue to twist.

Twist upwards, tightening the inside of the twist by pulling the inside hair with the other hand.

Pull the ends of the tail over to one side, away from the crevice. Insert a You-Pin at the edge at the top of the roll.  The curve of the pin should be opposite of the curve of your head at this point.

Roll the pin over to the side and push it in against the scalp.

Insert another You-Pin the same way a little bit lower.  With practice, these two pins are enough to keep the whole thing in place.  If you have trouble keeping it all together, you can add a bobby pin or two down through the top, or a spin pin.  Also, if your roll angles to the side like in the above photo (which, by the way, was taken by five year old Sweetheart, and I couldn't see what I was doing without my mirrors), try starting the ponytail on the opposite bottom corner and rolling up as if to the opposite temple rather than straight up.

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.

Dutch Braids into Messy Bun

I won't leave step by step instructions for this, but if you are not sure how to do this by looking at the picture, have a look at these links:
Dutch braid
Messy bun

These little accent flowers are sewn onto mini jaw clips.  You can get them from Gimme Clips.