Check out my heart braid!

[LittleOrca]

So I didn't do it myself. I have been fighting with this style for a long time now and I just can't get it right. I have a hard time gathering hair when I French/Dutch braid and I need to get that down better before I do this on myself.

However, I have a Braiding Goddess of a mother and she, after watching a video I have from around 1989, managed to follow the fuzzy instructions and I got a beautiful heart braid. I turned the tail into a braided bun so that it was not in the way, made the bottom of the heart look better, and most importantly I am starting my own personal challenge again of wearing my hair up the whole term in school then letting it down on the last day. I might even keep my hair up at school until the last day of school for the year! I am not sure yet.

Either way, here is my heart! I should have it up for the next 3 to 4 days. :) Thanks to a satin sleep cap, it will stay in place for a while.

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/Little_Orca/Long%20Hair%20Gallery/Braids/HeartBraid-1.jpg

Thank you mom! :flower:


ETA:

http://i239.photobucket.com/albums/ff176/Little_Orca/Long%20Hair%20Gallery/Braids/IMG_5365-1.jpg
not the best picture, but it was the best I could get since I kept getting whited out by the flash.

[Shellby]

WOW! That is amazing. Can I borrow your mom?

[Gumball]

Heh who cares who did it as long as it looks awesome, right? :D Yours definitely does, so give your mom a high five from me. Giving credit where it's due. She did a fantastic job! Good luck maintaining it for as long as possible!

[eyesofsummer]

How cool! I've never seen anything like it

[Othala]

That is lovely, really lovely.

[yellowchariot]

LittleOrca, that looks very creative, and elegant on you! Your mother is a Jedi! :thumbsup::thumbsup:

[little_acorn]

WOW Orca (and Orca's mom) :thumbsup:, thats a beautiful braid :)

[Blueneko]

That is just PRECIOUS! Your mom is talented. And your hair rocks! I love the red hue of the ends.

[DarkChocolate]

That is too cute:)

[daaisychains]

Me? Jealous? Just a bit...
:D it is stunning.

[Miasen]

Oh wow, that just looks stunning, I absolutely love it! :D

[3azza]

i really like it, very creative.

[Henrietta]

Awww.... It's so sweet! And your mum is talented braider! Look at those perfect adds! So even and smooth! :)

[NiAosSi]

That's so cute!

[Intransigentia]

That is fabulous. Your mom is talented.

Would it be possible to get a side shot as well? I think I see what's going on with the bumps of the heart, but I'm less clear about the sides. Plus just more pretty hair pictures please!

[pepperminttea]

That is beautiful; wish my braiding skills (or my mother's) would extend to that! :)

[swivelhop]

I've never seen anyone do that before. It really loves lovely, and I am trying to find you mom now 'cause I want an awesome braid too!

[camara]

Your mom did really well! That is such a lovely hairstyle.

[mali]

This is so cool! :D

[tinti]

That looks absolutely stunning! And your mom is a very talented braider.

[sibiryachka]

I swear, that looks like something out of a fairy tale illustration. Princess hair FTW! And to the Braid Queen... :applause

[mommyowl]

Awwwwwww that is so cute. So so cute.

[Rennire]

That is so cool! Bravo to your mom!

[Alvrodul]

That looks lovely! Your mom certainly has clever fingers - I am certain a number of LHCers are just about ready to expire from pure jealousy right about now...:p

[Dragon]

That looks realy cool.

[AstrayStar]

Love it!!!!!

[spidermom]

Awesome! I hope you let your mom know how much we all appreciate her skills.

[LeeLee337]

OMG this is the coolest braid ever!!! Super cute!

[enfys]

Wow!

I think you should hire your mum out to the rest of us; don't keep her to yourself!

Also, it was easier for her to have a pretty head of hair to braid :flower:

[Carolyn]

That's beautiful! I'd never heard of a heart braid before. Your mom is so talented.

[myrrhmaiden]

That's adorable! I love it.

[Luckysock]

Thats so cool! I'm gonna see if my sister can do this for me :D

[PrincessBob]

I love it so much, that it makes me want to watch Care Bears!

[little_cherry]

Very pretty! :)

[paperwhite]

It looks great, you're mom did such a wonderful job!

[Siava]

This is sooo pretty! :heartbeat

[x0h_bother]

:thudpile::thud:

[moominhapa]

Wow! Braiding Goddess, indeed. It looks lovely on you.

[Quixii]

That is so cool! I love it. I wonder if I could get my mom to do something like that for my hair for Valentine's day? Wouldn't that be cool?
Do you have directions?

[supermanok03]

wow that's so neat!! i've never seen that before lol. i'm so jealous, i wish that i knew someone else that could dutch braid! my mom and none of my family/friends can dutch/french braid so i can never get anybody to try things on my hair! and i'm no way coordinated enough to do that myself lol.

[LittleOrca]

That is so cool! I love it. I wonder if I could get my mom to do something like that for my hair for Valentine's day? Wouldn't that be cool?
Do you have directions?

The only directions I have are on an ooooold tape from the 80's. There is another version online on youtube, but the instructor does not speak English. You can find her video here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcpHF7h9cr0). She was the one I was trying to learn from. The one my mother did had you part the hair in the shape of half a heart, then braid, do the other side, then you were left with a middle part that was unbraided that you could ponytail or, like my mom did, braid it and I turned it into a bun. There is also a simpler version which is cute, but just not as nice to me. You can see that one here (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIuACR3ogwo).

[Fairlight63]

That is so pretty! You are so lucky to have such a talented Mom to do your hair for you!

[cindy58]

Your heart braid is lovely! Mom did a good job!

[akuamoonmaui]

Awww! Anyone getting married soon? This would be so pretty with flowers or a veil!

[redneckprincess]

That is awesome!!

[mwedzi]

That is really pretty.

[eezepeeze]

Hey, that's really cute!

Check out cutegirlshairstyles on youtube and check out their valentine's day styles. They have a similar style that I know you'll be able to do yourself. I can't imagine being able to french braid in any other shape than a straight

[christine1989]

It looks fantastic! Your mom is so talented :).

[Loreley]

It looks amazing!

[Gumball]

That is so cool! I love it. I wonder if I could get my mom to do something like that for my hair for Valentine's day? Wouldn't that be cool?
Do you have directions?

Part your hair down the center. From the back portion of the part, at the crown, take a very small section of hair and begin to lace braid it, only adding sections from along the part. French or dutch style (under or over) or what have you, it's all up to you. Make it move slowly along the part toward the front of your head.

As you get closer to the front you can begin taking sections from along your hairline and eventually the sides. That causes the braid to begin to curve,which creates the rounded tops of each half of the heart. When it's curved enough that it starts going back down again, you can then start adding sections to the side you've been ignoring in the lace braid, making it into a full french or dutch braid (adding sections to both sides). Then braid each side down toward the nape, and combine the two braids into one.

If you don't want a full headed heart, then when you're done curving the lace braid around, instead of transitioning into a french or dutch braid, just braid it like a normal 3-strand and either combine the two halves into one braid or tie the two braids together in the back. Then you have a half-up heart instead. That helps for those that want the style, but also want to show their length.

( I've done my fair share of hearts on others. :p )

ETA: Parting a section of hair, like LittleOrca suggested, does help maintain evenness of the shape. :D

ETA2: From seeing the side view it looks like a full lace one.

[Aerith]

This is really adorable! Thanks for sharing. It made me smile. :) It seems pretty difficult to do!

[LittleOrca]

That is fabulous. Your mom is talented.

Would it be possible to get a side shot as well? I think I see what's going on with the bumps of the heart, but I'm less clear about the sides. Plus just more pretty hair pictures please!

I posted a side view for you. :) It's not the best, but it's the best one that came out.

[Phexlyn]

That's just plain awesome! Your mom rocks, LittleOrca!! :D

I wish I had a relative with such braiding skills... *sigh*

[Newniepg]

That is really, really pretty. I love it! :) It's so neatly done too! Kudos to your Mum!

[Joliebaby]

Oh wow, never saw this one before! It's really pretty!

[Intransigentia]

Thanks for the second picture! That makes it a bit more clear what's happening. thank you again for sharing your lovely hair with us.

[lapushka]

That's amazing! :applause

[Merewen]

Oh, wow, that is neat!

[Chestershire]

wow, it looks absolutely gorgeous!

[Medievalmaniac]

this is beautiful! Extremely cool and unique!! :)

[Sagi1982]

Sooo cute! :crush:

[Tressie]

Just to echo the others.....WOW! That is really lovely! Thanks for sharing your Mom's talent and the beautiful result with all of us! (o:

[ktani]

It is absolutely beautiful! Kudos to you and your mom.

[Octave]

How adorable is that! Must be the perfect updo for Valentine's Day ♥

[TinaDenali]

That is sooo fun!! Jealous!

[Emerald88]

That's amazing. Thank you for sharing the photo.

[PoysinIvy]

I wish my mom lived close enough to braid my hair :-) She and I used to dye/perm each other's hair when I was younger and still lived at home.

[Jessica Trapp]

I *love* that!

jes

[gossamer]

That's really pretty! Do you think that if she does it for you again, you could maybe take a video and share it with us? I'd love to learn how it works!

[ukuleleclaire]

That's beautiful! Your mom gets kudos from me.

[Zarka]

I love this!

[Roscata]

That looks amazing, your mother does magic with hair.

[Airmide]

Ooh pretty! Thanks for the inspiration. I think I have it figured out In the youtube video it looks to me like it starts out with a lace braid that's started at the crown, taking hair only from the top. Then when it gets to the crown she starts into a regular french or dutch braid. I tried it with just a lace braid and it worked pretty well!

[RachieBaby]

:run: WOW! That looks amazing so beautiful! :D

[JCFantasy23]

Looks adorable! I'm sure a hairstyle like this would keep getting comments and compliments. :)

[Angela_Rose]

Oh, gorgeous! Maybe that's another reason to make a 50hour drive...

[Robbin]

Wow! What a masterpiece! I have never seen anything vaguely resembling this. It's so elegant.... this would be a show stopper at RenFaire.... Just Wow. Thanks for all the pics. Thank your mom for us. Wow.

[Alix]

I am so jealous, it looks beautiful!

[Florida Mom]

Wow that is beautiful! Wishing my mom would be able to do that!

[Demetrue]

Wow - that is beautiful! What a talented mom you have!

[tinygirl]

That is incredible! I wish my mum could do something like that! It really look so beautiful, elegant, unusual...I could go on!