Braids

It's summer, yes.  We've had vacations, yes.  And, well, let's just call a spade a spade, we've been slackers.  But, in all honesty Martha's magazines this summer have been less than inspiring.  Recipe after recipe with no fun crafts or anything else to try (September isn't much better.)  One item thought merited trying--braids.  Not just run of the mill braids but braids called "fishtail" and "rope."  Impossible to try on my own short hair (and in the case of the fishtail impossible to perform on one's own hair anyway) I enlisted the head of my surprisingly willing three-year old.  My guinea pig, uh, model at the ready, I tried the easiest first. 

The Rope
This is pretty cool.  Not really a braid at all, it's just the hair divided into two equal portions and each portion is twisted to the right so there are two twisted sections.  Then the right twist is crossed over the left twist again and again and the hair is secured at the bottom like a normal braid.  Here's my end result.

It looked pretty, but it didn't really stay in place very long.  I sent her to school with this style this morning and my husband said when he picked her up half her hair was hanging down and the rest was in some funky pony tail.  Maybe this one is for times when I'm at the ready to redo it.

The Fishtail
Next I tried the fishtail.  This one looked really amazing.  Here's the picture in the magazine.

Photo Credit: Martha Stewart Living

I struggled with this one.  First I misunderstood the directions.  You're supposed to divide the hair into two sections and take small pieces to cross over and incorporate into the other section.  I thought you had to somehow get the hair to the back of the other section after its crossed over which, it turns out, is really hard to do.  Anyway, after I finally understood the directions and had the idea to try it with her hair still a little wet, I got it.  It's not as nice as Martha's, granted, but not bad either.  This one stays put too.

I noticed when I was looking for the picture of Martha's braid that she has a whole series of useful videos on her website with instructions for all kinds of interesting braids.  For anyone else who has a daughter who likes having her hair done, it's a great resource. 

-Jacqui