Little Girl's Hairstyles - How to do hair for School Pics!

I don't know about the rest of you, but School Picture Day is probably one of my most stressful mornings (pathetic, I know). I stress because:

1: I can't be there to rearrange, comb, spritz anything back into place, and 

2: how do I get the hair to STICK, look natural, but not move until it's picture time?

I justify my erratic and tense behavior because, as I tell my girls, "I'm paying for these, so I want them to be PERFECT." So, now that you are feeling sorry for my children, let me share with you some possible ideas, that I think would be SUPERB for picture day.

I really really like my girls' hair down for pictures. I think that if I'm going to do something fancy, it should be visible, and since most of my fancy stuff is in the BACK of the head, it does nothing for their pictures, which I really want to show off their cute little faces. So, here's some of my favorites, with the hair down, that I think we'll be choosing from, since our picture day is tomorrow!

But, I know some of you may want to have the hair up, so I've picked a few faves for you too. They are at the end. Enjoy! Good luck with your morning!

Hair Down

French Braid Headband

Twists with curls (soft curlers)

Double Twist Braids with Waves

The Thumbelina

Side Puffy Braid Headband

Daisy Chain Braid with waved hair

Rosettes/Twist Bun Headband  (I will be sharing a video on how to make the actual headbands soon!)

Twisted Laces in Crown Or Side Puffy Braid

Hair Up

French Twist Braids with Stuffed Bun

If you wanted to eliminate the top twists, I think a side bun with a flower would be adorable for pictures as well. I'm leaning towards this hairdo myself.....

The Heidi Updo with Four Strand Braids

Side Pony with Twists

Little Girl's Hairstyle - Twisted laces in crown 10-15 min

This is a variation on two hairstyles that I've shared earlier. First, it's similar to my regular Twisted Laces, and also it's like my Side Puffy Braid.

I don't have step by step pictures, but I did a side puffy braid, but twisted it, making laces, instead of going from 2 to 3 ponytails and back to 2.

I finished the ends with a twist braid.

And did corkscrew curls in the back. I have a corkscrew curls video coming soon!

Enjoy and get ready for some compliments!!!

Little Girl's Hairstyles -Knotted Laces with a Twist Braid 10-15 min

This shot doesn't show the laces, now does it? Hmm. Scroll down to see them at the end.

Start with WET hair. I parted down the middle, then put two small ponys in the front to begin the laces.

I first parted off a second section, the same size, on the right. Then I picked up the two ponys. Have your little person hold out the parted off section or clip it off.

Another shot showing the parted off section.

Knot the two ponys on top.

Take right section after knotting, and pull it into second pony on the right side. I had my little gal hold the other piece so it stayed tight while I secured it. Part off left second section.

Secure left side into pony.

Repeat again, and then on 4th set of ponys, leave in ponytails (or whenever you get to this point on your gal's head). I wish I had knotted the last set of ponys as well, instead of just bringing them straight down here.

On pony tails, wet thoroughly, and then knot them together.

Once you have your knot, then just begin a regular twist braid down to the ends.

Side view

Top

And my favorite!

Little Girl's Hairstyles - Laces to the side 7-10 min

II wanted to show a style that could work on shorter hair, so I asked my cute little neighbor to come over and let me do her hair. She showed up with her hair all wet and combed out and ready to go!  This is what we started with, to give you an idea of the length of her hair. You'll need a small handful of elastics for this.

I parted it in half, and since I made a pony on the bottom first, I clipped up the top.

I parted off two ponys here. After I did the one on the bottom, I transferred my clip to the bottom section of hair, and combed the remaining hair ontop forward, to stay out of the remaining hair.

I crisscrossed the laces, just like in the twisted laces, but this time, since her hair is shorter, I didn't twist them. You may want to use gel here, since the shorter pieces being crossed will want to escape a little faster.

Continue until you get to the final sections of hair. Don't part those off separately, but comb them all together and put up in an elastic. I did a teeny stuffed bun here, and it was a tad bit tricky, since there wasn't alot of length to work with. You can do a simple pony, or just do a half-pulled through pony too, just whatever you can manage.

Front view with a flower clipped in. She looked super cute! Thanks darlin!

Little Girl's Hairstyles -Twisted laces 10-15 min

This was a first time attempt at an idea I had, and it turned out pretty alright I thought. Here's the back view. *NOTE* On this style, if your daughter does not have really long hair, don't twist the ponys when you bring them across. This will help keep the hair in better.

Of course, I began with wet hair. You can use hair gel on this one, just rinse your hands after, since sticky hands make putting in elastics harder. Just FYI. You'll need a handful of elastics for this.

Make a center part all the way down, and comb away from the part. You'll want to spray the hair frequently throughout this to keep it easier to handle.

Part off front section just before her ears, and then make two centered ponys.

Part off another equal sized pony below the first set. This pic shows me getting it ready for an elastic, and then bringing the cross pony over and twisting it. Do this in steps: First, spray down your cross ponytail, this helps it twist with one hand easier. Second, comb your new section and get it ready to put in an elastic. Third, grab the wet pony and twist it with the other hand, bringing it over to the new section.

Lay the twist on top and put in your elastic.

After the first set of twists is done, continue down her head. When you are combing off a new section, flip the ponytail above it over, to keep it out of the way. Make sure to spray each new pony, so you can twist it easily with one hand.  She's holding the piece out of the way here for me. Use those little extra hands if you need to! This one was tricky!

Do however many ponys look good, depending on your size of sections. I did four total on each side here.

I did twist braids on her bottom ponys. Spray again thoroughly with water, and divide pony into two.

Begin twisting both sides in same direction,

and then twist around each other in opposite direction.

Front view

And here's a different option for the back. I did this on my other daughter, but I only put in 3 ponys going down her head (time saver), and instead of twists, I put in another elastic down her pony. I tried spacing it down about the same as the ponys on her head. You can put in more, continuing down the hair, to what you judge to look right. Her hair is more curly, so I just twist the bottoms around my finger when it's wet, and spray with hairspray all over.