Beads... long overdue!

Sorry to those who have been watching for a how-to on beads. Things have been CRAZY lately, but here it is!

Beads are a colorful and fun addition to hairstyles. My daughter absolutely LOVES beads. They can be worn by both boys and girls, too.

Beads are put on the ends of braids. I suggest keeping the braids relatively small, although you will have to do trial and error because all kids' hair thickness is different.

In order to put beads in your childs hair, you need a few things: elastics for securing at the ends, beads (of course) and a beader. I get my elastics (the thin ones) at any dollar store. They usually run about $1 for anywhere from 500-1000 elastics. Not bad, eh? Beads can be purchased many many places. I personally get mine from the craft section at Wal-Mart or any hobby store. I got a bead kit of 2300 rainbow colors for about $12 and there are individual packages of around 300 beads in various colors for about $3. My beader i got from an ethnic hair shoppe for .99 - beading is pretty cheap! Here are our supplies:


First, braid your section that you want beaded. Here i have already braided and beaded the back of Jissella's hair so you can see what it will look like, and ill show on the last one my steps:
The last braid, to the far left, is the one im doing. Sorry its so dark in the pic, it was 6am!


Load whatever color pattern you want in your childs hair onto your beader (example above in first pic). The bead at the bottom of the beader will be the bead at the bottom of the braid. String the braid through the loop at the top of the beader:


Push the beads up and onto the braid:


Pull the braid all the way through beads and hold onto the braid at the bottom once the beader is through:


Now the beads should be on the braid, and the beader should be empty:


Securing the beads is hard to explain, but i'll try. Basically, fold the braid over the bead at the bottom, then secure with an elastic. I wrap the end of the braid around the braid itself and slide the beads over it to cover it up. Hope that wasnt too confusing. lol

And once thats done, this is what it should look like:


Here is what it looked like once i had finished her whole head. We picked the colors to match her dress: