Gymnastics Hair

Alex is wearing her Gymnastics shirt today and wanted hair to match. ;) We did a simple style, but it works well to keep the hair out of her face.

I started with a puff-braid headband by parting the hair down the middle at the front and going all the way around her head. I pulled the back-middle together with the ends of the 'headband'.

Next is the section on top right behind the 'headband. I just parted out 3 little sections.

I pulled all of the hair together into a ponytail... There really isn't anything fancy here, but it looked cute and Alex was happy with it! ;)

We do a lot of "all-up" hair dos during the summer and this was a nice change from our typical ponytail. We'll probably do the same thing for dance next year, but I might part the front differently...

She had to try a cartwheel, of course! ;)

 

I'll have another gymnastics do tomorrow, from that show everyone is always talking about. ;)

Be My Little Baby Bumblebee...

Okay, so I have just been scheduling my blog posts to start one day at a time, but I realized with this one that I am almost two week late! ;) Oh well, still the same stuff right?

Anyway, it is recital time again and my kids were all pretty excited! Mr. Cool was in a Michael Jackson dance, "Beat It". They did an awesome job and got to participate in a competition earlier this spring where they received the Top award in the division!!! Yay! ;) Then there is Drama Boy who was in "I Want It All" from HSM, very fitting. Lol! He did great, but then missed his que to go back onstage for the end of his dance... he was still adorable! ;) Okay, so little miss Alex was a Bumblebee with her "twin" cousin. They were all so stinkin cute!

This was just before they went on stage for the competition. They all danced really well and received the top award for their division, as well as 7th place overall, WOW! ;) They had a blast and Alex kept asking if she could do another competition -though I think the trophy had something to do with this!

Oh, and yes I made the hairbow antenae for the girls... and then just before the recital I lost Alexandra's dance bag!!! How embarassed was I to be the "bow mom" for the studio and not have my own daughter's hairbows. GEEZ! But, being the "bow mom", I just happened to have this bow that is the right colors. Lol.

Okay, the first performance they did, I just made two little french braids to help the bows stay in place. For the recital, I did something a little different, which worked out well, since I had to pull them together... I'll do a tutorial on the style soon; it was really cute in person! ;)

So, this is the girls on stage at the recital... Alex would be the one with her stinger in the air! She did this last year too! Go figure! ;)

Oh, here's one where she's actually dancing! Of course she never misses a chance to shake her hips!

As an aside, I am super excited to mention that this is my 100th post! Yay! Lol, I probably should have hit that mark ages ago, but there you have it! ;) So in celebration I am going to randomly give away a pair of hairbows to one lucky person who comments on this post! You will get to choose from my rediculously huge inventory! ;) Thanks everyone for following!!!

Red Villa Headband

Don't know if anyone will love this headband as much as me, but I was just pleased as punch! ;)

I made this to match a new outfit of Alexandra's from the Red Villa Baby Gap line. There's a funky and simple style here too...

First, for the headband... I used organza ribbon in crimson and just off-white to make a huge bow. It is attached to a mega thin headband and topped off with a crocheted butterfly. So pretty! ;)

For the hair... This took less than 5 minutes, really! I just grabbed a section of hair, no parting, and twisted it. Fold the twist over itself and wrap an elastic around it. I did this all the way around her head, leaving pieces sticking out all over the place! A little crazy and super messy, but we got more compliments than almost any other hair style I've done. ;)

She wore this style to dance that night and tumbling... it stayed up and out of her face and everyone thought it was cute. Bonus! ;)

Can you tell who picked the shoes?! ;) ~ Alex was being really sweet that day, so I just clicked away. And then she had to throw some diva in there... yeah, this last one is all Alex! ;)

Lovely Updo ~ A Poof & 2 French Braids

Finally a new style! ;)

This was inspired by a style I saw on a tv show...

It was pretty easy to do, but I did adapt it a little for short hair.

I started with a simple little poof on top. I used just a touch of mousse and did a small amount of teasing/back-combing in the middle of the top section. Then brush the top smooth and add an elastic about an inch away from the head. Then pull on just the bottom part of the hair in the elastic to tighten it. This puffs up the hair a little better.

And really, you could stop there, it is cute enough. ;) Anyway, I did french braids in the remaining hair, one on each side. And I sort of braided toward the middle by taking more hair from the outside than the inside. Although I used all the hair, I put the elastic in above her hairline.

After both braids are finished, put use another elastic to hold the ends together. For short hair, this seems to be the best way to go. I twisted the pieces in and up before putting them together, but you could also do a pull-through knot. --- For longer hair, you have several options. You could just pull all the hair into a low ponytail, or do a bun. You could curl the ends or do a messy bun. It would also be cute to do the braids straight down, then split the top section in half and add it to the braids. Just a few ideas. ;) ---

Okay, so this step is difficult to explain, and obviously I'm not really that good at it anyway. ;) I took the hair in that top section and pulled it to the side turning the end up. I added the end to the ends from the braids and used an elastic to hold them together. Then just move the section back in front and mess with it 'til it looks right. Lol, yeah great instructions, huh? ;)

And to hide all those hairs I had sticking out... a flower clip! ;)

If you wanted to hide the top elastic, you could do a wrap around with the hair or use a smaller clip, I was pleased with the finished 'do and Alex loved it too. ;)

I actually think this style is kind of fancy and would look really pretty for a dance. ;)

3 French Braid Styles

So, the entries are in and a winner is being chosen;) While you wait to hear the results, I thought you might like to see a few variations on the french braid. This is a group of adorable girls at our church. Two weeks ago, we were missing a teacher for the school age class. Since I am the nursery director, I just took all the kids outside to play. Being mostly girls, we ended up having a hair party;)

This was super easy to do and it looked way cute! I just did a simple braid on the side and then layed it across her head. I added it to one of the three beginning sections for the french braid, which I just did sideways, nothing special. "A" loved it!
And this little princess, who is not related in any way(lol!) wanted a braid but fast. So, I just french braided the top half and gathered everything in a pony.

Sorry the pics are a little dark, hope you can see the style. This was really pretty in person;)

And last is one of the cutest little girls;) She requested this style specifically. It is just two frech braids, but only in the top half and I started with a side part. I also braided down a little before doin the elastics. This keeps the hair from pulling and is more comfortable.

Styles like this are popular for gymnast and dancers because they look cute down, but the hair is out of the face and can be pulled up quickly!

So cute!

Pull-through braids to Piggies

I was so excited about Alex's look today, so I decided to go ahead and post this one tonight;) Besides, I got behind after last week, so I have lots more posts! I guess you all can just read the ones that look interesting and ignore the rest;)I've been making clips like a mad woman lately. I just bought 120 clips last week and am down to 25 now! Anyway, here are some of the new ones.
I took these first thing in the morning, so we had perfect lighting. Alex looked so pretty;)

Oh, and she does have a little bit of sparkly powder on her face;)

Anyway, this first pic looked so cute and then I got it on the computer, full screen. I'm embarassed to say that her fingernails are so dirty! Lol, I guess princesses do get dirty sometimes too...

The next two show the hairdo a little better. I just did pull-throughs starting at the bottom and adding the remaining hair to the next one. This is a great style for short hair.

And it gives the same adorable piggies I used to get with her long hair;)

ZigZag French Piggies and a custom 4th of July Set

Okay, so I know this is rediculously late, but I wanted to show it off anyway;) This is the first full custom outfit I made for my daughter and I was just Thrilled at how it turned out! But first, here is a simple, but fun 'do that is perfect for hot days and the start of school.

Oh, and of course a little sass;)
I started with a zigzag part and held one side back with an elastic. I french braided the other side, leaving a little of the bangs out.(Sorry I don't have a tutorial for this; my camera does not do vids and there is just no good way to do step-by-step pics of a french braid. However, you should go scout around Girly Do's by Jenn and The Story of a Princess, both sites you can find in my right sidebar, for great video tutorials;)

Anyway, when I reached the bottom, I did a normal braid until I was about 2 inches from the ends of her hair, then secured with an elastic. Next, fold the end up(or do a bun for longer hair), grab another elastic and wrap in around the first one and as close to her head as possible on the braid, leaving the folded part sticking down. Then just fan out the ends and maybe spray a little. Follow with the other side, of course;)
You could add bows or flowers, etc. to liven it up. Though, as you can see, she didn't really need the help;)

This looked supercute and stayed for almost a full 4 days! --and that's in her crazy-soft hair. With a little spray in the mornings and strategic use of a rat tail comb, you could stretch it out even longer;)

The rest of these are just of the outfit. I found this material at WalMart and fell in love...

I did a really simple double layer ruffle skirt with elastic waist. In the picture above, you can see a little of the dark blue underlayer. The corset top is a very simple design also and then I just added little cap sleeves since she's so young;)

The awesome bow is made from ribbon that I got in a grab bag of all places;) I was so lucky!!! I paid 2.99 at Hobby Lobby for a bag of 25 "scrap/damaged" ribbon pieces, each 2-5 yards.

Maybe I was a little too proud of myself, but I was just amazed that I succeeded;) Lol, it really was a lot of fun to dress up my princess and she was really excited to watch the creation! Also, I made matching t-shirts for the boys, which you can check out on my other blog in about 15 min.;) Since then, I have made 5 more outfits for Alex which I will post about as I get pictures. This was SO fun!

And totally worth the cute factor! ;)