Topsie Knotsies

I know...I know...this looks like a lot but it really is quicker & easier than it looks. Give it a try!!
Part the hair down the middle. Do 3 pig tails on each side, trying to make them as even as possible with each other.

Grab a small chunk out of the pigtails & criss cross them. (if you look close - you can see the top criss-crossed)
After you have criss-crossed, grab another small piece & pull it straight across. You could do it while you are doing your criss-crosses so you don't have so many elastics in her hair. I added an elastic each time I pulled a piece over.
EASY!! Right? So then I just did messy buns on all the pig tails. You could finish it however you would like.
If I had enough bows of that color, I would have put one on each of the pigtails. But I had to settle just for the middle. These bows - I actually bought at Wal-Mart. They came attached to an elastic. I cut the elastic off & hot glued them to aligator clips so they would be easier to get in and out. & SUPER cheap.

Braid Flower

I came across a blog a couple of days ago where the woman made a comment in regards to my blog..."she probably thinks that she thought of these hairstyles herself."

So let me set the record straight on that. I don't think I thought of these myself. I watched my mom do my little sisters hair. She had AMAZING ringlets that her sweet daughter inherited. I had stick-straight hair and very little of it so I was always coveting those curls. I watched her braid it, fish-tail it, etc. I started doing little girls hair when I was about 9 years old and I started babysitting for a hairdresser. I was able to do her three daughters hair. She taught me a lot. I learned from her. I learn from watching movies, especially teeny-bopper shows. I see hairstyles in parks and libraries and my daughters schools and I emulate them. I learn from friends, neighbors and family members. Some times I will think I have thought of something myself and I see it being done already. It is hair. Saying I thought of it first is like saying there is only one great chocolate chip cookie recipe. It just isn't possible.

So today, I will show you one that I used from another blog. First I saw THIS post by Jenn, who has become a wonderful friend, and I loved how she did the loops. Then I saw THIS post and loved the braids. So I combined the all up into a ponytail and then did the braid flower. See...not original. But it fulfills the purpose of this blog...and what I assume is the purpose for all of the other hair blogs that are surfacing...to share ideas.

Basic Instructions:

Pull the hair into a tight ponytail

Using pomade, braid the hair into five equal sized braids...make sure to end the braids the same distance down

Pull the braid into a loop and push the ends of the braid through the elastic...as shown HERE

Repeat with each of the braids.

When I had them pulled through, I used my flat iron and curled the ends and then I used a pliable putty (by Garnier of course) and pieced them out.

The Side Swipe

A Smooth Move

dOubLe WaTerFaLLs

I've done the waterfall before with nothing else on it but the one pony tail. This time, I did 2 with the climbers going up.
I parted the front of the hair on a slant & then kept it going straight down the middle. Do tuck under knots, climbing up, instead of going down. Do 3 in a row. The 3rd one up is your "waterfall". Let it hang over the rest of the hair. Blow dry it & curl it so it flips out, looking like a waterfall.
I added some clips underneath. I teased the top part of it, just to give her hair a little more volume. Spray to hold.
Front view

Classic Updo With Tiara

Classic Updo With Tiara

Short Bob

Short Bob

piggies into a pony

This was really easy & stays together all day long. Part the hair straight down the middle but do your pigtails a little more forward & on the side than what you normally would.
Do a puffy braid with elastics half way down the piggy tail. Do it on both sides. I alternated with a light pink & dark pink - but it would be cuter if you had a color contrast on it (she just didn't have any other color on today:).
Bring the 2 pig tails together & secure with an elastic.
Add your bows in the front (or you could add them where the 2 piggies meet) & you're finished. You have a cute, high pony tail.

Gorgeous Half Up, Half Down Style

Gorgeous Half Up, Half Down Style

Side Fish Tail

If you don't remember how to fish braid, you can click on the link to the right that says Fish Tail Braids & it explains how on both posts.
Start by dividing the hair in 3 sections & add your elastics.
Begin fish tail braiding the first section. Once you get to the middle section, begin including it into your braid (remember to divide the 2nd section in half too). When you start adding the sections together, make sure you grab hair from the 2nd section into the 1st so that they connect. That's what hold it together. Once you get to the third section, just add your elastic so it ends in a side pony.
Curl the pony & add your cute bow. & that's all there is to it!

Short-to-medium bob

Double Criss-Crossies

If you click on this picture, it will enlarge it so you can get a better view. We went to the lake just over a week & I did this on her & it was perfect - because it stayed exactly like this - all day long, even when she swam in the water. It stayed out of her face good. I don't have step by step instructions but I'll quickly go through it.

First, part the hair down the middle. then divide each side into 2 halves. So you have 4 elastics going across the front. Braid each one. That 2 sides of her hair are thinner so the braid doesn't go quite as far, but I think it still looks fine.

Continue to part your hair down the middle. Put your hair in piggies. Criss-cross the middle 2 braids into the piggies. Then criss-cross your outside braids over the other braids & add to your piggies. Then I just did the messy bun. That's all there was to it!!

A short-hair updo style, worn flawlessly by Iman.

A short hair/updo style, worn flawlessly by Iman.

2 low pig-tail braids

I think this makes her look older - but it's so cute.
I normally do her hair damp, but with this one, I totally dried it before hand. Then I added polmade, like usual. I pulled her bangs (pretend bangs) back & ratted it under neath to give it a little more volume. Then pin the bangs back.
Then I did my zig-zag part. Pull one side into a clip so it's out of your way. I again ratted (ratted sounds so gross) the top & put it into a pony tail. Pull the hair up a little so it's not tight against the scalp. Do the same to the other side.
Braid the piggie tails. I only went about half way down - just so I could curl the ends of them.
Add some cute bows & you're finished.

Short hairstyles for the modern Black bride.

Short hairstyles for the modern Black bride.

Updo with flowers and ornaments

Updo with flowers and ornaments

The Beyonce Updo

Beyonce Updo

2 Simple Braids

This is about as easy as it gets. I've seen this around on bigger girls & thought it would be cute on her. It's nice because it keeps her hair out of her face but you can still leave the hair down.
Just part the hair straight down the middle & do a small braid on each side. Easy, right? & quick too!! She wouldn't look straight at me - so sorry I don't have a picture straight on.