8 SUPER-CUTE HAIRSTYLES ANY PARENT CAN DO THEMSELVES

I love playing with my girls’ hair! I always have. In fact, when I was a kid I was forever stealing my sister’s Barbie Styling Head so I could play with its hair. (Sorry about that, Deb!) But now, with my girls, it’s like having my own life-size dolls to play with!

Recently, I’ve been searching for some cute, fun braids and other hairstyles I could try out on my girls. (Summer vacation is the perfect time to try out new hairstyles. It’s much easier to play and practice different styles when you’re not rushing around, trying to get everyone ready and off to school on time!) I chose ten styles that I thought looked complicated and intricate, yet promised to be easy to duplicate. Admittedly, I have basic braiding knowledge, but I’m no professional hair stylist! I wanted to see how easy, for an average mom, it would be to recreate these styles. With these easy-to-follow tutorials, you don’t have to be a professional hairstylist to create these amazing looks. After each design, I’ve included a photo of how the style turned out for me, along with how long it took me to complete it so you can see how easy they are for an average mom without tons of hairstyling experience.

(If you don’t know how to braid at all, you’ll need to watch a tutorial on braiding, French braiding, and/or fish tail braiding first. Then just practice, practice, practice.)

1. 3D Split Braid

I thought this 3 dimensional twist on the classic braid was really cool. I just had to try it myself!

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

Here’s Brooklyn with the 3D braid. I think it turned out really well! This braid only took 2 minutes to do. I can even manage this on school days. It was super-easy to do! If you can do a regular braid, you’ll be able to do this with no problems.

2. Pancaked 4-strand Waterfall Braid

Waterfall braids are so popular, but I’ve never tried to do one myself. Now is the time!

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

Here’s Lexi wearing my attempt at the waterfall braid. Considering it was my first try, I think it turned out fairly well. This took me 9 minutes to complete because I had to stop and start again a couple times. I think this is probably a pretty easy braid to do once you get the hang of it. You can see where I goofed up a little. I need more practice.

3. Bohemian Side Braid

This is a take on Astrid’s hairstyle from the film How to Train Your Dragon 2.

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

I tried to duplicate this hairstyle on Savannah. I goofed up a little and forgot to put the headband under the section of hair near her face. Oops. This took me 10 minutes to complete. I think the hardest part was just getting the headband on correctly. I didn’t do so well there. The braid with the knots and the other loose braid were both really easy to do.

4. Woven Fishtail Braid

This braid looks so pretty and different, I just had to give it a shot.

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

Okay, so mine looks nothing like the one in the tutorial. I don’t think it looks bad; it’s kind of cool. But it’s clearly not quite right. This took me 8 minutes to finish. Fishtail braids tend to take longer than other types of braids. Well, the version I managed to do was really easy. Maybe I’ll practice a bit more to get it to look like the one in the tutorial.

5. Double Heart Twists

This hairstyle would be perfect for Valentine’s Day.

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

I love this hairstyle! It’s such a cute hairdo for a little girl. It took me 7 minutes to do this hairstyle. It would’ve been even quicker had I done a straight part instead of the zig-zag one. This is a very easy hairstyle to do. In the tutorial, they used a Topsy Tail which is undoubtedly a bit easier than doing the pigtails by hand like I did.

6. Aurora’s Tie-back Twist with Flowers.

I love this look with the soft waves and the dainty flowers. I think it would be a terrific look for a flower girl.

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

I think this turned out beautifully. It looks pretty cool with Savannah’s ombre hair. It took me 13 minutes to complete this style. The longest part was curling her hair. The little twist only took a few seconds. This is a super-easy hairstyle to copy. I just love the loose-flowing curls and the casual twist with the flowers.

Follow the step-by-step tutorial from Disney Style

7. Starburst Crown Braid

Savannah showed me this style and told me I should try it.

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

Here’s Brooklyn with my attempt at the Starburst Crown Braid. I’ve done a crown braid before, but I like this one with the starburst even better. It took me 8 minutes to do this hairstyle. It looks like it would take longer, but it actually goes pretty quickly. This is very easy to do. The hardest part was getting Brooklyn to sit still and quit whining when her hair was in her face as I was braiding.

Follow the step-by-step tutorial from Cute Girl Hairstyles

8. Rapunzel’s Braid from Tangled

I found this gorgeous hairstyle and couldn’t resist trying it out!

IMAGE SOURCE: DAWN MEEHAN

I’ve done a similar braid in the past, but I called it a zig-zag braid and I went back and forth a few more times. I like this gentle curving braid. This definitely looks more complicated than it is. It only took me 4 minutes to do.