I have been dreading this day....

On Sunday night, Emma handed me this note-

 (Yes, she waited all weekend to tell us, which could have potentially lead to a lice infestation catastrophe!)

So, I did the check- at the nape of the neck, behind the ears, all the places that they say lice love to hang out. Luckily, Emma did not have any sign of the little buggers.

BUT, I figured that there would be far less of a chance of her picking them up somewhere if her hair was up for the next few weeks. (Does anyone know if this is true? Makes sense to me.) :)

SO, that leads to the next few hairstyles- Creative ways to pull up hair that are not braids. (Emma has developed a small hatred of french braids. I'm naming them "ANTI-LICE Up-Dos" haha.

Has anyone out there dealt with lice? Did you use the regular shampoo or another home remedy? 

Monday:






This one was just simple rubberbanned sections into a long ponytail...

Tuesday: 
Cute trendy little top-knot with a headband...

Inspired by: Pinterest!

Pinterest is absolutely addictive. If you haven't signed up yet, you should. They have an entire section just for Hair & Beauty, but make sure you've got some time if you check it out. (Here is my hairstyles board if you'd like to follow it!)

I found this style a while ago, and tried it last week- super simple braids, but tight at the base of the head. It was a great one to do when my hair was wet, and worked well on my somewhat wavy hair, but would also look great on curled or straight hair as well. 

I only used 2 rubberbands and a few bobbypins and it held all day long. It even looked better as it dried throughout the morning. (Also, I did a two-into-one braid on one side, as my bangs still aren't quite long enough to reach without falling back...) So here's the video, although it is long, and a little boring, so feel free to skip through the steps. :)

Super Simple Milkmaid Braids...

Here's a super quick style for a short morning- simple milkmaid braids using a topsy tail. Takes maybe 10 minutes for all of the steps.

You'll need-

4 Rubberbands (I used two black, and two clear)
Bobby Pins
Topsy Tail


1. Start with basic pigtails- place them a little more forward than normal pigtails, these were a little too far back, I usually try for right above the ears.

2. Use a topsy tail to flip the pigtails up. (blech, sorry about the melted popsicle in the sink!)

 

3. Now braid the hair into simple braids and tie with a rubberband. 

Now just flip them on top of the head, and pin into place. I try to hide the ends in the little "flip crevice" that was made from the topsy tail.

These are Emma's new prized possession. $15 at Target. Nice. :)

Simple Curlformers Style...

I really like Curlformers, but have gotten out of the habit of using them. I think it's been a good 6 months at least since I'd done much with them. BUT, they are so nice and really make some cute styles really simply.

I put these in last night, using just some leave in conditioner to moisten the hair, and took them out this morning. I don't usually curl her bangs in with the curlers, but she wants to grow them out, so they're a little long for just keeping in her eyes. Anyway, I just used some bobby pins to pin back her bangs, and separated the girls a bit with some hair spray. Nice and cute! 

Have any of you been to the Lowe's Build and Grow program? I took Emma and Michael for the first time yesterday, and they really loved it! A fun free program every Saturday. They do different projects, and when they finish they give them a cute little patch to sew onto their apron. We're planning to go back again soon.

Flip Through Ponytail Bun

I'm positive this can't be original, but this was the first time I have done it, so it's original to me. :)

All you need is a ponytail, a topsy-tail, and a couple bobby pins.

1. Start with a simple ponytail, then use the topsy tail and pull it through the top. (So the loop is at the bottom, and the point is going up through the hair.) This picture is pulled through once.

2. Repeat! Just pull it through again, leaving this cute little bump. I just pinned the ends in a few places, and it was good to go. It looked great throughout the day, and took maybe 3 minutes total. I think it would have looked much cuter with a bow or something covering the "part" of the hair right above the ponytail, but Em's against bows at the moment. :)

Inspired by: Heidi Klum

So I'd like to apologize in advance about my pictures- my kids got my "real" camera, and it's having some issues, so I've been using my phone instead. Not great pictures are the result. Too bad my husband doesn't think this is a big enough issue to get a new iPhone with a better camera. :)

Anyway, I caught the end of a Project Runway the other night, and of course, Heidi Klum had great hair like always. So here's my take on it...her's was a little fancy for laundry day, so I did a more casual version. :)

 1. Start out with a small bun with the back half of your hair...Nothing fancy here, just a not-pulled-through-ponytail.

 2. Now, with the top section, shape the little bump by smoothing the hair, adding a small twist, and then pinning in place. (If you X the bobby pins, they will hold better.)

3. Take the side section, smooth and twist a couple times. I just pulled this back to the bun and used a rubberband to keep in place.

 4. Repeat on other side...(This is where a nicer phone would come in handy...check out that quality photography!)

 There ya go! I super simple, easy style that looks great for any occasion. Best part is it takes all of 5 minutes, and you can do it with wet hair.

 If it were a fancier date or something, I would curl the hair first, leave the hair in a ponytail during "construction" and then pin in into a messy bun after the front was all fixed into place.

Who needs expensive spas for mud baths?? Just have your brother dig a big hole in the backyard and fill with water. :)

Topsy-Tail Piggies and CinderBooty...

I know this cannot be an original, but I had a dream about this hairdo last night. (Crazy that I think about hair that much, huh?) Pretty simple instruction wise - you just need a few rubberbands and a topsy-tail.

1. Separate the hair into two sections. We did a zig-zag just for a more fun look.
2. Starting with one side, band a small section and do a pull-through with the point of the topsy-tail pointing to the back.
3. Pull this section and the next piece of hair into a band, and repeat the pull-through.
4. Repeat as many times as you can.
5. On the last pull-through, I did it opposite- with the point of the topsy-tail pointing forward...this just gives the ponytail a little more bounce and volume.
6. You could just leave this down, but we curled it. You could also add some messy buns which would turn out really cute.

Just for fun, this is the style that Maia calls CinderBooty. Not sure where she came up with that name (my guess is a mix of Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty) but she requests it often. Just simple ringlets with her bangs pinned back. :)

Fun with Pigtails...

Next time you're in a rush, but want something a little different, try switching up the standard 2-pigtail look. This was a get-everyone-ready-in-20-minutes-day, but we were going to church so the girls couldn't go with scraggly hair...So, Maia got 3 lower pigtails, and Ruby got 4. Easy day, but I got a lot of compliments on how fun the extra pigs were. :)

(these looked nicer, but Maia decided to rub her head on the couch before we left...silly girl.) :)

A quick Holiday Do...

This is a super quick, but really cute style, and you can adapt it to any holiday by changing the ribbon. I just love it on Christmas because it ends up looking like Emma's a little present. :)

Anyway, just take three small sections at the top of the head (I do it right at the top, and as you can see from the picture, I pull the center one into the two side sections, only because I don't like it when the center piece of hair is flopped off to one side.)  Then add ribbons by tying the sections onto the rubberband instead of the actual ponytail. (This helps them stay in place better.) Curl up the ribbon with some scissors, and you're all set!

Triple Threat...

A cute quick idea- took all of 5 minutes!

Sunday Dos

With our church now starting at 9, plus fun out-of-town cousins here to play this morning, we didn't have much time at all for hair. I usually wouldn't post just simple styles, but I'm sure some of you could use the ideas. Emma's was just a simple bun in the back (her's was still wet when we left or I would have curled it) and Maia's had much more curl before we left for church. That's what having a good day (finally!) in nursery will do to it. :)

Have a good week!

(I usually don't get all formal like this for pictures, but the girls were both wearing their Grandma-Christmas dresses, and I needed a picture to send.) :)