Miss Tess as Fancy Nancy

A while back, Tess was invited to a Fancy Nancy Gala with some of her best girls. She needed to get all dolled up and wanted her hair the way Nancy wears it way up high on her head. We had a problem, the underside of Tess's hair is short...way too short to be pulled up so high without most of it falling down within an hour.

A concocting we went.

First I combed most of her hair as high as it would go and I parted it across her hair from earlobe to earlobe. I pulled that section into a ponytail and flipped it into a knot where the hair came out the top instead of the bottom.



Then I parted another section from the top of the ear to the top of the other ear and pulled it into a ponytail as well. I also picked up the first ponytail and put it in with this new ponytail. Before I secured it with an elastic, I pulled some pieces out. Then I flipped that ponytail into a knot as well.



I pulled the rest of the hair and this ponytail together. As before, I pulled pieces out of the ponytail and secured the ponytail WAY up high.



Now, curl all of those pieces that you left hanging down. Just so you know, the bottom pieces when we did it THIS time were a little wonky. The first time I did this, I left longer pieces down, which is what I would advise doing.



Now, add your elastic tied with a bunch of organza ribbon (or bow or whatever is FANCY in your house) and fluff all of those curls.

A Fun Christmas Updo

Because really, I don't know what else to call this.

We did this little ditty on Sunday and I LOVED it. I curled it tighter because, well, I felt like it. Today the curls aren't as tight and I STILL love it!

Start by pulling the hair into little triangle ponytails. With Tess, I started on either side of her bangs and went to her crown, then from that ponytail (and the one on the other side) I went just beneath the ear. What was left, was one more ponytail...like so.

Then I pulled each ponytail into a knot.

A bit closer.

Next, I took each ponytail and combed it to the center. When I had them all in my hand, I went around to each ponytail and pulled a little hair out of either side. You can see them hanging down. The middle I secured in another ponytail that I didn't pull all of the way through. That's just a temporary fix for a minute while I do a few more things.

Curl each of the pieces that you had pulled from the original ponytails and then spray the heck out of them with hairspray (dumb humidity).

Now I pulled the ponytail all of the way through and curled the rest of the pieces. Then I tied a bow around the base and fluffed the ponytail.

Ta-da!

More Knots

Wet the hair on the top and the front.

Make a slanted part. From that slanted part, you part the hair down from the end of the part to the ear. Divide this section in half, I followed the original part. Pull into a ponytail and secure with an elastic.

You then pull the elastic into a knot. To see a tutorial on how to make a knot, go HERE.

Then take that first knot and pull the hair from that knot down into the next section and make another ponytail. Then you make another knot.



Repeat on the other side.



Now, you could just leave it like this. It would be pretty with curled ends to make it feminine, however, it was PE day. Lots of running involved. So we pulled it back.



And we did just one more knot.

Knots

I'm not lovin' this. It didn't turn out as cute as I pictured in my head - but here it is anyway. The reason why I don't like it as much is because after I knotted the hair & I pulled it into another section, I didn't do it as tight as I should have. You'll see.

Do 4 parts in the front & section them off with elastics.
Knot each individual pony. I pinned them to keep them out of the way.
Section the hair further down & add the knot into it then add the elastic. This is where I was talking about. Make sure that it's pulled back tight before you add the knot on top. You can see hers is kinda loose.
Pull back into pony or bun. & that's it!!

Topsie Knotsies

I know...I know...this looks like a lot but it really is quicker & easier than it looks. Give it a try!!
Part the hair down the middle. Do 3 pig tails on each side, trying to make them as even as possible with each other.

Grab a small chunk out of the pigtails & criss cross them. (if you look close - you can see the top criss-crossed)
After you have criss-crossed, grab another small piece & pull it straight across. You could do it while you are doing your criss-crosses so you don't have so many elastics in her hair. I added an elastic each time I pulled a piece over.
EASY!! Right? So then I just did messy buns on all the pig tails. You could finish it however you would like.
If I had enough bows of that color, I would have put one on each of the pigtails. But I had to settle just for the middle. These bows - I actually bought at Wal-Mart. They came attached to an elastic. I cut the elastic off & hot glued them to aligator clips so they would be easier to get in and out. & SUPER cheap.

Knots & Twists

Part the hair down the middle & do tuck-under knots.

Grab the 2 pieces from the tuck under knots & tie them like you are going to tie a bow.
This is what it should look like. Pull the knot all the way down to the base of the head.

Put into pig tails including the ends of the knot.

Do the exact same knot that you did up above & pin it with bobby pins underneath to hold the knot. You can see the pins in the picture.

I scrunched the ends of her hair because she has natural curly hair. But if your girly doesn't, then curl the ends to do little ringlets. Add cute bows to the pig tails to finish it off.

KnoTs & WhaT KnoT

Knots, knots & more knots.

Part the hair a little more off to the side than you normally would, because there is only one line, it looks better. Gel damp hair. It's easier to knot the hair if you start by twisting the piece you are going to knot.

Wrap the hair to tie it into a knot.

Pull the knot tight & twist the next knot, adding the previous knot into it. Tie your second knot.

After I knotted the hair twice, I pinned it so I could work with the rest of the hair & pull it into a slight side pony tail. Then I took the bobby pin out after it was all pulled back.

After the hair was into a pony, I split the hair in half but I made the halves very uneven, with one large piece & one small piece. Tie the hair into a knot, right over left & pull it tight. Now, see the smaller piece of the two ends? Wrap that around the pony tail.
I put an elastic in place to hold the wrap around, but kinda hid it with the hair.

Although it looks like alot of steps, it really is so easy & all I needed was 2 elastics for it!! Pretty good, right?

Technique---Knots

I have had quite a few requests for basic techniques. Here is one for "Knots"

I apologize in advance for the flash. I usually turn it off, but since it was starting to get dark, the flash needed to be on.

Start with her hair in a ponytail. This is straight-out-of-the-shower, so there is no hair spray or gel involved. I usually use the product. It makes for a smoother knot.

Slide the tail end of a rat-tailed comb under the center of the ponytail. It makes you feel better if your comb is pink, by-the-way.

Holding tight onto the comb, pull the elastic up, I'd say about 3/4 of an inch.

Now, follow through with your forefinger all the way through the hair.

Flip the hair up and


through the space where your finger is.

Pull the hair all of the way through.

Pick up the ponytail and

split it in half.

Then pull the two sides until the elastic is tight agains the twists.

Then I comb the hair smooth.

Ta dah! A knot!