Autumn braids

With the weather changing from sunny to rainy and windy (here in the Netherlands at least) I always start thinking about autumn. For me, autumn is the leaves changing colors and of course Halloween at the end of the month. So why not add that to your braids?

Since Halloween is something different, I won't mention it anymore in this article. Instead, I would like to give you some ideas to add an autumn vibe to your hair.

The first and simplest idea is to add some decoration:

An autumn leave is a fun decoration in your hairstyle! I've done a double waterfall braid here and then added a Dutch braid on each side with the strands from the waterfall braid. I finished off the style with a regular 3 strand braid.

An autumn leave is definitely easy and fun, but it probably won't stay in during a long or active day. A bow is a great alternative:

This pumpkin bow has autumn feeling written all over it! I've done a waterfall braid and then added the waterfall strands to a ladder braid. I then took all of the hair together, tied it into a ponytail and braided that ponytail with a 3 strand braid. I then turned the braid into a bun and added the bow.

Another fun way to add an autumn feeling to your braids is adding ribbon. Orange is usually a real autumn color, but red and yellow can work as well. The fun thing about ribbon braids is that you can use as many or as little strands in your braid as you like: a 3 strand braid can already be turned into a ribbon braid by replacing one of the strands with a ribbon. Add 1 ribbon or 2... the possibilities are almost endless!

Autumn ribbon colors in these flower braids! I've done three 4 strand braids with a single ribbon and then turned them into flowers.

I hope you have some ideas how to give your hairstyles a little extra autumn feeling. If not, here's a few more ideas!

A 6 strand braid with 3 ribbons, one of the ribbons being orange. For me, this hairstyle isn't even that much about autumn, but the background really gives me that feeling.

(Note: the YouTube video link is a 6 strand braid with micro braids, but just replace the micro braids with ribbons for this hairstyle)

If one piece of decoration isn't enough, then why not add two? I've used my pumpkin bow on top of the ponytail, that is an intricate 5 strand braid. I've used three regular strands and two braided sections: each braided section is a 3 strand braid with one of the strands being an orange ribbon.

This background just screams autumn (apart from the parked cars of course! :P). The hairstyle is a 5 strand Dutch ribbon braid. I've stopped adding in hair when I was at the ears, but I did continue the 5 strand ribbon braid all the way down. With the leftover hair, I've done two 3 strand pancaked braids. At the end, I tied all of the braids together with an elastic.

5 strand ribbon braid

If the 5 strand braid with 2 ribbons is easier or more difficult than the regular 5 strand braid is something people can differ about. Personally, I think the 5 strand ribbon braid is easier as you can see more clearly which strands you're braiding with. The 5 strand ribbon braid is also a favorite of mine as a ribbon makes such a huge difference in a hairstyle. You can choose to take 2 ribbons of the same color (this will make the braid look more complicated than it really is) or you could take 2 different colors, giving you all kinds of combination possibilities. You could choose colors that go with a season (red + green for Christmas) or choose the colors of your favorite sports team!

The technique:
5 strand ribbon braid tutorial

Ideas:

The 5 strand ribbon braid as explained in my tutorial, only done on the side of the head. Ribbon colors: yellow and black for my favorite sports team (corfball).

Do a 5 strand ribbon braid as explained in the tutorial, but stop adding in hair when you've reached the ear. Then braid until the end of the hair without adding in hair. Use the hair you have left to do two regular braids and pancake these.

Do the 5 strand ribbon braid as headband braid! More details: How to: a 5 strand ribbon braid with accent

Start the 5 strand ribbon braid by adding in hair only on the left side, as a lace braid. Switch after adding in hair on the left about 8/9 times to the right side and add in hair 3 times. Then continue braiding without adding in hair.

Only add hair to your 5 strand ribbon braid on the left side, like a lace braid. Split the bottom strand into two every time and drop half of the strand. This creates a sort of waterfall braid.

Fun for carnaval / crazy hair day: 4 ponytails with 5 strand ribbon braids!