French Braid Pictorial

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This is just one of Mrs Hannigan's blogs.

Make Beaded Hair Pins

Beaded bobby pins are such a cute idea, you can use a loop of beads, like the one pictured here, or you can just glue one pretty bead at the end of the bobby pin.









In these pictures, seed beads were threaded on a straight wire and looped through the end of a bobby pin.




after this point, the wire is pulled through and twisted to close.

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This is just one of Mrs Hannigan's blogs.

Free Virtual Makeovers

Love those virtual makeovers. This one was really easy to use. It's from Mary Kay. Just take a picture of your face and upload it to the tool. You get to play with all sorts of new customized looks. Try it, it's fun. My teenage daughters had a blast with it.


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This is just one of Mrs Hannigan's blogs.

I dry my hands on my shirt

How pathetic is that? I do it all day long. I never trust that a kitchen towel is clean, so I use my shirt and I have been known to change it a few times during the day.

I think about the apron lady all the time. What a neat hobby. I'm going to keep my eyes open for vintage aprons. Maybe I'll make one. Whenever I get my sewing machine fixed. And learn how to sew.

I think the Dishwashing Diva would probably be the most appropriate apron for me, since I do more dishes than anything. For looks, I like the Cutie Patootie best but I think my bootie might make it end up being a bit... well.. not nearly as cute as the picture. Lucy is the Sky with Diamonds is probably the most practical and cute. I love the patchwork and the quilted/hippy look. I never thought something could be equally Grandma and John Lennon at the same time. My second choice would be Polka Dot Momma. In fact, if I bought that one, I might end up wearing dresses and heels every day, too.

What do you think? We almost entered an apron-making contest in the fair last year. My daughter and my mom made an apron for it at the last minute and ended up not using it. It was cute. Short, if I remember correctly. I found an apron fetish site looking for pictures, that was interesting.

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This is just one of Mrs Hannigan's blogs.

Medieval Braiding Resource- WooHoo

I found another fantastic website with articles on historical hair styles. I particularly liked the diagrams for four-strand braids and other complicated braiding techniques. Medieval clothing pages has several articles that interested me, because we're studying the medieval time period in history next year, so I'm supposed to be gathering resources for our studies, recreationism is such fun and also because Upbraid your friends taught me a lot about braiding techniques.

Upside Down Braid Pictorial

The Upside-Down Braid is such a pretty way to do an updo. G1's hair here is only shoulderlength, so it's an easy one to do on shorter hair. The underneath stays in nicely. I think the hardest part is funding a comfortable way to sit. She probably would have preferred to have a pillow under her knees or something, I think it actually might have damaged her to sit still for so long, it's so against her nature. The bun at the top was a last minute-thing, another online braider did a similar do on longer hair that she called a cobra ad it really looked snakey the way the braid was coiled up onj top of her head. I think this is the prettiest her hair has ever looked, it was so angelic. I should have gotten her profile but see that black nailpolish, yeah- she scratched her cheek before the polish was dry and had a big black line on her cheek for 3 days so I wasn't really in the mood to take pictures of her face. The do is very flattering,t hough. I think it would make a nice bridal hair style. Can't you just picture little flowers or beads intertwined in this braid?

Traditional Milkmaid Braid Pictorial

Traditional milkmaid braid comes from two braids, one on each side, like Laura Ingalls. Those two braids are then wrapped around the head like a headband and secured, usually by tucking them into place. It makes sense that milking cows while your braids dangle in front of you might not be a good idea, unless you're going for a milkfat conditioner.

In another pictorial I will show a variation of the milkmaid braid, since it takes very long hair to wear a traditional milkmaid. The variation is similar to a halo braid and can be worked on medium length hair.

On a side note- why do teenagers turn the camera sideways to take the pictures? We'll work on that, sorry.

Braided Bun Pictorial

The thing with a braided bun is to make two or three braids to form the bun with, otherwise there isn't enough texture and you end up with big chunks of hair at the base and teeny ones at the ends. So you start with a ponytail. This one is high upon her head, at the crown, but you can also do one at the nape of the neck. Or even use pigtails and put two on each side. Quick- name the Vintage Sci-Fi character with that hairdo? Yeah- on a side note, I have never seen Star Wars. I have never had any desire to. Or parts two, three and whatever else. I get lost in the whole written scrolling opening credit thing.

Anyhow- so you start with a ponytail and then you split it into a few different sections and make a few rope-like braids. When each one is braided, you twist them together into a bun. The smaller your braids, the more texture you'll end up with. Her hair is pretty fine, so I just used two smaller braids.

Herringbone Braid Pictorial

A herringbone braid is a two-strand braid and it is so easy. The first time I saw one I couldn't imagine how it was done. I played with my daughter's hair forever until I figured it out, it is so very simple. In the picture, it's a french-style herringbone braid. Begin with two sections and add hair from the opposite side into each section, alternating from one side to the other. Once you get to the end of the french-braiding part, when it's time to braid the "tail" just remove small sections from the backs of each side and send them across the front to the other side. Putting it into words makes it sound far more complicated. No worries; I'll be producing a children's hair styling video series soon that will make this far easier!

Dutch Braid Pictorial

Love how the braid magically appears in only three pictures, huh. I plan to reshoot this and add more pictures, I actually snapped these myself while I was braiding and it was just too confusing to braid backwards and take pictures at the same time. The funny thing is- none of these braids will ever stay because every time I buy rubber bands for their hair they end up being used as slingshots, to seal up a roll of paper, or for Barbie dolls, or they use them to make doll clothes by looping one around a washcloth for a cape. Anyway- so all these braid pictures are of braids no one ever sees is real life.

Criss Cross French Braid Pictorial

A Criss-Cross french braid is an adorable little braid for a flower girl or even just to wear every day. OK, maybe not every day. Have fun trying this one.

It begins with a 4 part section, one goes over the head from ear to ear and the other goes from front to back straight down the middle. You might notice that my middle part sucked and that's OK.

Begin by french braiding (or dutch braiding) one of the front sections. Have the girl lay her head on one shoulder so you don't have to be a contortionist to braid comfortably.

Make each of the two front french braids go toward the point on top where the parts intersect. It will probably take practice. No big deal, just practice. I happen to have 6 daughters, so practice is really not hard to come by.

Once the two front pieces are braided to the ends, release one of the back sections, Braid its opposite side into it. In the pictures, I did a french braid, but I think I prefer using a dutch braid for this part, it gives the illusion that the braid is lying on top of the hair and it's realy prettier, I think, in this situation.


Once one is done- do the other.

That was easy, right?

For bridal hair or special occasions, you can add ribbons or flowers into the braid, it's really versatile.

Enjoy!