Maiden Braids

photo from a beautiful mess

Over at A Beautiful Mess there is a great tutorial "How To Style Maiden Braids". I have not tried it yet but I am going to, its really pretty on her!

Dutch Braided Halo

This is a new hair style for me and I did it with no help, tutorials, or prompting.

 I have looked this up after I did it and could not find the exact name for it, but I do know that it is a dutch braid.

 I used one clear elastic and three hair pins to do this.

I found this Youtube video that shows how to do the "Dutch" braid, but it does not go all the way around the head like mine does.

A "Dutch braid" is the same as a "French braid" except it crosses over the opposite way to make the braid pop out more. It is a simple braid to do once you learn it.

Here is how to do my version:

- Only take hair in from the bottom!

- Start braiding at your right temple and braid to your left.

- Braid all the way around until you reach where you started.

- Braid the rest of the hair all the way out with a regular braid and secure with the elastic band.

- Tuck the remainder of hair under the hair you began with. 
- Use hair pins to secure the hair you tucked in.
- Spray your hair with hair spray to finish.

Braided Top Bun

More experimenting with hair up dos, this time it's a braided top bun. This is super easy to do, it didn't take me but two minutes to get my hair to do what I wanted it to do. I don't know if I like it yet, maybe only for goofing around the neighborhood or maybe a girls afternoon out . It does feel real weird when I move my head forward because of the extra top weight on top. 

 It might be one I add to my bag of styles! I will see how it holds up to playing water guns with my sons before I make the final call.

A CUP OF JO has a Braided Top Bun How To.

Chestnut bun

 I was searching for a new way to do my hair to get it off my neck and out of my face, also it had to be something that did not look like all I had time for was a pony tail. My search came to an end with this site A CUP OF JO and her tutorial on How To do a Chestnut Bun, I am a smitten follower now!

 It is a great tutorial but my hair is really long and extremely thick so her version didn't quite work with mine. I added a step for those with my hair type. On step 7 instead of wrapping your hair around your hand bend it in a accordion fold (only the hair to be hidden) and rubber band it. Rubber banding it also helps keep the extra hair in place (if you have a lot of hair like me) Then do step 8, it works just the same as if you had thinner hair. 

  

My version with the extra hair banded

Excuse the lack of makeup, this was my Monday crafting day.

This has officially became one of my favorite hair styles.

Scarf Braiding

THREADSENCE has a real cool post called DIY with Late Afternoon: Braided Scarf and if you know about my love of scarfs you will know that I will want to try this.