I thought it would be fun share a few more updo’s this week since the holiday’s are coming and there always seems to be a party or two where you want to look extra nice! This tutorial I actually shot clear back in 2009 when Bug was only 5 years old and before she cut her hair for Locks of Love. I found this going through some old holiday photos on my computer & they’d been filed in the wrong spot! Apparently I didn’t take pictures for every single step, so hopefully you get the idea. It’s not too hard!
Step 1 – Make a side part on top of the head
Step 2 – Part hair from ear to ear
Temporarily clip those off because you’ll work with those later.
Step 3 – Make a ponytail
Pull all the hair behind the ear back into a low ponytail and secure with a rubber band. With that ponytail, make a rope braid and secure the end with a rubber band. If you need help with that, you can watch our rope braid video.
Step 4 – Bring hair from the front to the back
You’ll be making “Barbie bangs” as we like to call them. Smooth the hair from the front nicely, and pull them together to meet under the big ponytail you made in step 3. Secure them with a rubber band at the nape of the neck.
Step 5 – Make a rope braid with the little ponytail & secure the end
Step 6 – Make a bun
Wrap the big rope braid around to form a bun. Don’t make it too tight – you don’t want it to be a “knobby” bun! I left the tail hanging out and tacked it in at the very end. Secure the bun with bobby pins. Be sure to get your bun close enough to the mini-rope braid so there isn’t a big gap between them.
Step 7 – Wrap the bun
Take the micro-rope braid and wrap it around the edge of your bun. Secure with bobby pins as needed.
Step 8 – Tuck in the ends
I tucked the tail in from my big ponytail to cover up where the end of my micro-rope braid stopped. This technically is an optional step depending on the length of hair with which you’re working.
*If you aren’t real great at rope braids, you could totally do this with regular braids for a pretty look as well.
Finished!
Don’t know if you can tell from just her profile or not that she’s only 5 here – but she looks so small to me in these pictures! My how she’s grown up! She just loved her “Santa” dress she got that year! We also added a pretty flower to add an extra pop of color to coordinate with her fabulous red dress!
Come back soon for another holiday updo! It seems like it’s been a while since I’ve posted any updo’s, so it’s been fun making some for this time of year!
So, I love this…but for some reason I just can not get the rope braids to stay! I don’t know what I’m doing wrong? I’ve watched your tutorial and I just don’t know why, but they always loosen & unravel….I love the look of the rope braid…please help!
I stumbled upon your website and I love it!! The directions are easy to follow and the hairstyles are awesome!! I am going to try this hairstyle on my stpedaughter tomorrow for a Christmas party. Her bangs are front bangs and I think I am going to try to pin them to the side. Also I was wondering about the curl formers…I have very straight hair that hates to curl. I tried the sock bun, I left it in overnight and the curls fell out within a 1/2 hr. Will the curl formers work better? Thank you in advance for your time!!
So happy you found us Bonnie. Everything I’ve ever heard from my readers who’s hair won’t hold curl is that Curlformers are the only thing that works for them. We, obviously love them, but lots of people have written to me and said nothing else has worked in their or their daughter’s hair until they found Curlformers. Now, I obviously can’t guarantee that for you, but even if they don’t stay in all day, I’d be willing to bet they will hold a lot longer than anything else you’ve ever tried. IMO, there is nothing better out there on the market! hth
I love this look! I did this hairstyle on myself for a symposium I had to present at, and I got a lot of compliments. Thank you for all the wonderful ideas and easy to follow steps.
Thank you! I’m so happy it turned out well for you!