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.

How to: Ladder braid with 3D split braid

Helpful tutorials:
Waterfall braid
3 strand braid
3D split braid

You'll need:
1 big elastic
1 small elastic
2 temporary elastic
Topsy tail

How to do this hairstyle?

1. Part the hair just off center.
2. Take a small strand of hair from the side with the most hair and divide it into three. Do a waterfall braid with this hair.
3. When you've braided until just behind the ear, stop doing a waterfall braid. Continue a little further as a regular braid and then finish off with a temporary elastic.
4. Now take a new section of hair below the waterfall braid. Divide this section into two - left and right.
5. Take your first waterfall strand and cross it over strand Left from step 4. You now have three strands to braid with again.
6. Cross strand Right from step 4 over the middle strand.
7. Add the next waterfall strand to the left strand of your braid and cross them together over the middle strand of the braid.
8. Add some hair to the right strand of your braid (be careful not to take any waterfall strands!) and cross the strand over the middle on.
9. Repeat steps 7 and 8 until you've added in all of the waterfall strands. Try to keep your braid close to the waterfall braid, so it will look like the two braids are actually 1 big braid.
10. When you've added in all of the waterfall strands, braid a little further without adding in hair. Finish off with a temporary elastic.
11. Take all of the hair together, including the braids, and put an elastic around it. You can now remove the temporary elastics from your braids.
12. Take your topsy tail and put it just behind the elastic. Take a small strand of hair from your ponytail, wrap it twice or three times around the elastic and then put the end through the eye of the topsy tail. Pull the topsy tail down.
13. Divide the hair from your ponytail into three strands and do a 3D split braid: before crossing a strand over, split it into two and cross the top part over the middle strand and the bottom part under.
14. Continue until the end of the hair and finish off with an elastic.

Good luck!

4 strand waterfall braid

When you've mastered the regular waterfall braid and when you've leaned the 4 strand braid, then this 4 strand waterfall braid is easy for you. It's a super fun braid, that's easy and beautiful. Tip: make sure you're always going under on the side closest to the part line, this gives the best result.

The technique:
4 strand waterfall braid tutorial

Ideas:

A 4 strand waterfall braid on the right side, combined with a French braid on the left side.

Two 4 strand waterfall braids

Again two 4 strand waterfall braids, finished off with a bubble braid

A double 4 strand waterfall braid

A 4 strand waterfall braid, combined with a braid that's a combination of a regular braid and a fishtail braid

Two 4 strand waterfall braids, finished off as a flower, with a mermaid braid below.

Flower braid

A braided flower in your hair can be created in hundreds of ways, but the technique is pretty much always the same: you do a braid, pancake one side and then bring the braid into the shape of a circle, making it look like a flower. The exception is the slide up flower braid - you don't pancake this braid, but you'll use the original braid to create a flower.
Below you can find a few ideas to use a braided flower in your hairstyle, but there's loads and loads of other ideas!

The technique:
Flower braid tutorial
Slide up flower braid tutorial

Ideas:

The flower braid as explained in my tutorial.

The slide up flower braid, as explained in my tutorial, combined with a French braid.

Another flower combined with a French braid, only now with a 'regular' flower braid.

Variation: try the flower braid with a 5 strand braid!

A waterfall braid finished off with a flower.

Fun as well: a flower braid with a ribbon braided into it!

Why only use part of the hair? Try the flower braid with all of the hair!

Waterfall braid

One of the most populair braids is the waterfall braid: a braid in which you're dropping a strand of hair and replacing it with a new strand. This may sound complicated, but if you can do a French braid, you'll get the hang of this technique in no time!
There's all kinds of variation on the waterfall braid (with 4 or 5 strands, with ribbon, knotted, as a fishtail braid), but I'd recommend starting with a regular waterfall braid with 3 strands. Once you've mastered that, then check out the playlist Waterfall braids on my YouTube channel for fun ideas!

The technique:
'Regular' 3 strand waterfall braid tutorial
Dutch waterfall braid tutorial
Waterfall snake braid tutorial
Waterfall braid with braids tutorial

Ideas:

Two waterfall braids brought together, as explained in my tutorial.

The Dutch waterfall braid combined with a 5 strand headband braid.

Turn the braid you have left after your waterfall braid into a flower!

Or if you're doing two waterfall braids: turn it into a heart!

Try the waterfall braid as headband braid and add your waterfall strands to a new braid, for example a Dutch fishtail braid!

Maybe a little trickier: drop strands on both sides and replace them with a new strand of hair. Then add your waterfall strands to a new braid.

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!

Headband braid

A headband braid is basically a braid that's done near the front of the head. You can use any braiding technique you like to do a headband braid - from French to Dutch braid, from rope braid to 3D round braid to 5 strand braid... If you know a braiding technique, you can do a headband braid with it!

The technique:
Headband braid tutorial I (Round 3D braid technique)
Headband braid tutorial II (5 strand Dutch braid technique)
Headband braid tutorial III (Ladder braid technique)

Ideas:

Round 3D headband braid as explained in Headband braid tutorial I.

5 strand Dutch braid as headband braid as explained in Headband braid tutorial II. Added to it is a Dutch waterfall braid.

Ladder headband braid as explained in Headband braid tutorial III.

4 strand Dutch braid as headband braid.

Double Dutch braid as headband braid.

French fishtail headband braid with a slide up braid.

Your age in the number of strands

If you have some more time to braid and you'd like to do something different, then why not try to create a hairstyle with the same number of strands as your age? For example: if you're 15, try to create a style with a total of 15 strands. This may sound like a challenge, but how about three 5 strand braids? Or five 3 strand braids?

The older you are, the more difficult it may be to think of a style. I am 30 for example, so that would mean I'd have to use 30 strands. Above you can see two examples of how I did that. Waterfall braids / twists are perfect for adding in extra braids for example, so this gives you a big number of strands easily.

Do you dare to take the challenge and use your age as number of strands? Feel free to share your photos on the Facebook page Miriam's Vlecht Lessen!

Need a little help?
--> How to braid with 3 strands
--> How to braid with 4 strands
--> How to braid with 5 strands
--> How to braid with 6 strands

30 strands: ten small Dutch 3 strand braids

A waterfall twist into a lace braid (3 strands) + four 5 strand braids (20) + a 4 strand braid + a 3 strand braid = 30 strands!

Vakantiekapsels IV // Vacation hairstyles IV

Vakantiekapsels IV

Hieronder vind je deel vier van de vakantiekapsels. Bij elke foto staat vermeld waar de foto gemaakt is, dit staat onderstreept. De dik gedrukte tekst legt uit hoe het kapsel gemaakt is. Daarbij staat vaak een link naar een YouTube filmpje met meer uitleg. Wil je nog meer weten over hoe het kapsel gemaakt is (of heb je een andere vraag)? Laat dan even een reactie achter!

Vacation hairstyles IV

Below you'll find part four of the vacation hairstyles. Each photo has listed below where it was taken, this is underlined. The words in italic will explain how the style was done. It often includes a YouTube link to make it easier. If you'd like to know more about the hairstyle (or if you have another question), then feel free to leave a reaction!

Zion National Park

Maak een Gestapelde vlecht zoals in het filmpje, eindig nu alleen met een slordig knotje in plaats van met een staart.

Do a Stacked braid as in the tutorial, only finish off the style with a messy bun instead of with a ponytail.

Las Vegas, hotel The Venetian

Dezelfde Gestapelde vlecht als hierboven!

The same Stacked braid as above!

Las Vegas

Maak eerst een waterval vlecht die rechts begint en links eindigt. Maak dan daaronder een kantvlecht, waarbij je de watervalplukken gebruikt als haar om toe te voegen. Eindig met een slordig knotje.

First do a waterfall braid that starts on the right and ends on the left. Then do a lace braid below the waterfall braid, using the waterfall strands to add in. Finish off with a messy bun.

Death Valley

Maak een Geknoopte armband vlecht, waarbij je aan de voorste en achterste pluk haar toevoegt. Blijf dit herhalen tot je (bijna) al het haar hebt toegevoegd en maak dan een knotje. Eventueel kun je een bloem of strik toevoegen.

Do a Knotted bracelet braid, adding in hair to the front and back strand. Keep repeating this until you've added (almost) all of the hair and then create a bun. If you like, you can add a flower or a bow.

Death Valley

Maak een scheiding links en rechts van het midden. Vlecht het gedeelte tussen deze twee scheidingen een stukje in (Invlechten uitleg) en ga dan door met een gewone vlecht tot je de vlecht aan de staart toe kan voegen. Eindig eventueel met een strik of bloem.

Part the hair on the left and on the right side of the middle. Do a French braid in between these two parts (French braid tutorial) and then continue doing a regular braid until you can add the braid to the ponytail. Finish off with a flower or a bow if you like.

Vacation hairstyles II

Below you can find some more hairstyle photos taken during my last vacation.underlined. Each photo has listed below where it was taken, this is underlined. The words in italic will explain how the style was done. It often includes a YouTube link to make it easier. If you'd like to know more about the hairstyle (or if you have another question), then feel free to leave a reaction!

Montezuma Castle

Take a small section of hair and divide this into 3 strands. Cross the left strand over the middle one and the right strand over the middle one. Now take a small strand on the left side and cross it under the entire braid. Then drop the strand. Then cross the left strand over the middle one. Add hair to the right strand and cross it over the middle strand. Keep repeating this until you've reached the other ear and then continue braiding till the end of the hair. Then take another small section of hair, divide it into 3 strands and do a lace braid with this. The strands you're adding in, are the strands you've brought under the first braid. Add the first braid last of all and then continue braiding until the end of the hair.

Grand Canyon

Part just off centre and start a 5 strand Dutch braid. Add hair until you've reached the ear and then continue braiding without adding in hair. Then take all of the hair and the braid and tie this into a ponytail. If you like, finish off with a bow or a flower.

Page

Part just off centre and do a Dutch fishtail waterfall braid.

Antelope Canyon

Again a Dutch fishtail waterfall braid.

Monument Valley

Start a French braid on the left side of the head. Leave out a strand of hair just above the right ear. Then finish off the French braid. Use the loose strand to create a Slide up flower braid.

Canyon de Chelly

Part down the middle and do a lace braid on both sides, crossing the strands under as a Dutch braid. Bring the two braids together with an elastic. Then do another braid on each side, doing three braid stitches without adding in hair and then adding in hair from the small ponytail. Try to add the same amount of strands on each side (about 6). Continue braiding a little further down and then put an elastic around the braids together.