2 Puffy Braids

This very versatile do is a staple and the springboard for many of Kate's styles since she still has "mullet-esque" baby hair. It is a great do to dress up with bows or dress down for a playday at the park. It stays in really well. Here are the general directions:

1. Part the hair all the way down the middle into 2 sections like you are going to do pigtails.
   
2. Start at the top of one side and make a part and pull into a little pony (I usually do my part near her temple)
   
3. On the same side, do another part lower down (I usually do mine about the middle of her ear) and pull that section of hair into a little pony WITH the bottom of the top pony.
   
4. Take the remaining hair on the same side that is at the bottom and pull into a pony WITH the bottom portion of the middle pony.
5. Repeat this process on the other side. I usually use my first side parts to do the second side so that they are even.
   
6. Put ribbons at the bottom or use some cute colored/flower rubber bands. If your daughter has more hair, you can split this into 4 sections.
   

Puffy Braid Crown with Pony Tail

So far, out of all of the styles I have tried-this by far looks the fanciest. It is hard to find styles that look intricate or fancy that can still be done on itty bitty girl hair. I usually save it for church or for a day when I know we have an outing and she can dress up a little. It take a little longer than the others so I tend to let her watch the coveted Elmo movies while we do it.

Here are the basic directions:

1. Make a part that goes all the way around the head (like a hair headband). Be sure that you give yourself enough hair to actually pull into the ponies around the edge-especially with itty bittys this can be difficult.- so make sure your hair/headband part is rather thick.
   
2. Pull the center portion of hair into a loose pony. Right now, you are not putting it up to stay. You just need it out of the way. I even like to put it in a loose messy bun just to hold it up.
   
3. Begin at the nape of the neck. Part the hair in the center of the nape.
   
4. Starting on either side of the nape of the neck, gather enough hair to make your first ponytail.
   
5. Continue around the head by making a part about an inch or so from your first rubberband. (This can vary by how many rubberbands you want to end up with or how much hair you have to work with--I like to make my parts so she has a rubber band on each side of the nape, just behind each ear, one just in front of each ear, and one about where her temples are...plus the center on top of course)
6. Pull up the hair from the new part and the hair from the most recent pony and make a new pony (just doing a puffy braid headband around the head)
   
7. Continue to do this until you have reached the center part on the top of the head.
   
8. Repeat process on the other side of the nape of the neck.
   
9. Take the leftover ponies on the top of the head and gather them into a final pony right on the center part on top.
   
10. Take the top center pony and pull it into a large ponytail that you can make with your saved hair from the middle.
    
11. Place a bow and voila--a beautiful do.
    

I hope I explained this well enough to follow. I am still pretty new at all this. Enjoy!

Criss Cross Hair

I love this hairdo because it looks complicated, but it is sooo easy (they have to be for me to do them on my 18 mo old) It also stays in pretty well. Here are some general directions.

1. Part hair down the middle to the crown (or thereabouts)
   
2. Make a "T" part from the middle out to the sides. For Kate's hair, I usually line it up to the front/middle of her ears but you can vary this according to how much hair/thickness your daughter has.
   
3. Pull each side up into a little pony tail. I like using the colored little rubberbands you can get at Wal-Mart in the baby section but you have to wrap them about 5-8 times around baby hair and they are only good for one use. Still the colors can add some fun/sporty flair to the do and they usually carry different colors as the seasons change.
   
4. Split each of the top 2 pony tails in half.
   
5. Take the inner half of each pony and combine together in the middle of the back of your daughter's head with the hair that is normally there in a new ponytail. You can make this look very neat by parting the hair diagonally from the rubber bands on the upper pony tails to the "middle" part on the head. Also, make sure to make a clean part under the hair you take. It should look like and upside down triangle in the middle when you are done.
6. Split the middle ponytail in half
   
7. Combine left half of middle pony with outer half of top left pony and remaining hair left of middle part on the bottom into a new ponytail (or as low as you want to go. Kate's hair is too sparse/fine at the very bottom to stay in well so I do a clean horizontal part all the way across and leave a bunch loose at the bottom to curl under)
8. Combine right half of middle pony with outer half of top right pony and reamining hair right of the middle part on the bottom into a new ponytail.
   
9. Add bows or leave the colored rubber bands. I have even seen small clips added.
   
10. If you daughter has more/thicker hair, you can continue the criss cross pattern down her head for more than one "x". You can also make the ponytail sections smaller so you can fit more in on a small head.
    

Bobbed Piggy Braids

I love this hairdo when I am looking for something that will stay for the day but still looks girly. It holds up pretty well. Here are some very general directions

1. Part hair down the middle to the crown
2. Make a T part from the middle to the ears on both sides at about the crown
3. Put in elastics to make 2 little pony tails(i like the colored elastics from wal-mart but you have to wrap them 5-8 times on little girl hair and they are only good for one use)
   
4. Braid the little pony
   
5. If your little girl is big enough, she can hold the end for you. Otherwise, you have to put a small rubberband (loose enough to get out easily) at the end of each braid.
   
6. Take each braid and make a little loop. Fasten the looped braid to the pig tail base with another rubberband. (and pull out the place holder you were using)
7. Attach little clips or bows to dress it up or just leave it with colored rubber bands
8. The unbraided ends of the braid stick out in a "messy bun" type way. You can straighten them or curl them or just leave em alone. Kate's are pretty short and there aren't many of them so I just leave em.