French Braided Headband

I thought I would get a few girls hair styles up here before school starts next week. I love do do things with girl's hair. I taught myself to french braid on my barbie when I was little because my mom didn't know how. I was french braiding my own hair all the time after that. I guess I got pretty good at it. Once when I was 17 I did 28 braids on a moving greyhound buss on the way to a marching band tournament for the girls, including two drum majors! Two braids on each head 14 people!!! I should have charged $1 a braid or something.

This is one style that I do quite often for my daughter and she always gets complements. I think people try to figure out how to even start this braid. So here is how I do it. I have done this style on MANY types of hair while I worked in a preschool/daycare room. It always seemed to come out cute!

What you need:
You need to know how to do a simple french braid.
You will need two hair elastics (aka pony tail holders)
Comb
Brush
A pillow
A couch (you could use the bed or the floor)


How:
Start by brushing through your daughter's hair. We do this style wet or dry. If you have a girl with curls or thicker hair that is more prone to staying one direction, I would suggest possibly wetting their hair first. If the child is prone to tangles then I suggest some spray conditioner as well, to make things glide more smoothly.

Once hair is tangle free, make a part going from the top of one ear over the head to the top of the other ear. I use my fingers mostly for my daughter but sometimes a comb is necessary to get the part straight.

Secure the hair behind the part with a pony holder to keep it out of the way. You will not be braiding the back part.



Next I have my daughter lay down sideways on a pillow. You can have your child hold their head sideways but I am telling you the pillow is the way to go. No stiff neck, no crying. Today she laid down and watched Clifford and I didn't hear a peep out of her. Makes this SUPER easy! Make sure they are not laying on any of their hair by picking it up and putting it towards the top of their head. You are going to start by the ear that is facing up. Brush this hair towards the top of their head as well.


Start your french braid by picking up a small section of hair by their ear and dividing it into three parts. Braid picking up a small amount of hair from each side each time a new strand is on the outside. Braid until you run out of room. This ends up being around the top of their head, or just a little past.


At this point I have my daughter sit up while I am still holding the three strands. Once she is sitting up I am able to french braid down to her other ear. When you run out of hair to pick up just continue down to the end and secure with second pony tail holder. You can then take out the back pony tail holder.


You can leave the look like this and I sometimes do during colder times of the year. This style is great for keeping hair out of her face. When it is summertime like it is here now... I make a pony tail in the back and add this braid into the pony tail so that all the hair is off her neck. Nice and cool.


This is also a good hairstyle for soccer. I should know because I often did my hair this way for soccer games I played in, even in college. Sometimes girls who have pony tails end up with breakage in the front parts of their hair causing what I call "whispies" or some call "flyaways" They tend to fall down into your face while you are playing sports or if it is windy. This style keeps these out of the way so they are not bothering you while you play.