13 Jun 2012
by Tamsinin Bedraggled Mum Tags: Exercise, Fat, Hair, School, Squidge
Yes, it has been VERY quiet here on the site. I’m sorry. Half term is always a juggle a minute and I have been trying to keep work and gorgeous child happy. Sort of successfully.
This past two weeks, 12 days to be exact, I have also been fighting two of my personal demons – my weight and my smoking. I have always been a thin person and eaten whatever I liked, but pregnancy and a bad diet and stress soon helped me recover from that and I’ve been getting steadily bigger over the past two years.
So, what I decided to do was a Challenge. I entered a competition, along with a bunch of other equally insane people, to completely change my diet and exercise and achieve the best body I can. It lasts for 98 days and asks that I walk away from every single ounce of refined sugar on the planet. That means saying goodbye to cakes, chocolates, pizza, hamburgers and and and…
I’m not going to lie, it has been incredibly tough. Right now I am sitting here and gagging for something sweet, but instead I am probably going to drink a glass of water and do some exercise. This is the first time I have ever been so determined and I really don’t want to give up.
When it comes to smoking this is also a first. I have gone cold turkey. There is not a patch or a pipe in sight. And today, day 12, sees me grappling with those urges and taking it all one day at a time.
So, these two things have kept me pretty occupied for the last while. But the new term has started, new hairdos have been made, and I shall start popping these beauties up on the site. WISH ME LUCK!
14 May 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Child, Cute Girl's Hair, Easy hairstyle, French braid, Hair, Plait, School, Twists
This cute girls hairstyle name had us giggling away like mad this morning. Well, I was giggling but when I played the song, Twist and Shout, to Squidge she soon got the joke. This is a very easy and cute hairstyle that’s perfect for manic Monday mornings. You don’t need longer than five minutes from start to finish and, yes, that includes the brushing out of tangles and swearing under your breath.
This particular girls hairdo was invented by us and is really just a bunch of cool hairstyles smashed together into one.
You’re going to need a rat tail comb, spray/water, a brush and a hairband.
Brush the hair out using a spray (or a spray-in conditioner or detangler) and then, using the rat tail comb, part the hair from the middle of the ear to about 1/4 up the head. If you look in the pic below, you can see how the hair is pulled up and away from the ear in two directions.
Do this on both sides of the head and brush the rest of the hair into a loose pony at the bottom. This just keeps it out of the way while you twist. Clip away the left side and start on the right. How tightly you want your twist, or how soon, is up to you. If you separate the strands close to the front, then your twist will start really early on. I preferred to create the illusion of pulled back hair here, so I just twisted the entire hank of hair into itself. Like this:
Ask your little one to hold the right strand and then twist the left. When they reach the middle, twist them around each other until you get down to your loose pony. Again, ask your little one to hold this while you separate the hair from the loose pony into three and start a French braid.
As you can see in the image the twisted hair disappears under the braid. To do this, just braid the hair to the neckline, ask your daughter to hold it, then take the twisted hair and slip it under the hair at the top of the French braid. Pull it down until you reach the three strands of your braid, blend it into one of the three strands, and complete the braid.
Ta da! Done. Easy as pie and lots of fun. Although there are points when you wish you had more arms…
11 May 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Cute Girl's Hair, Hair, Hair Bows, School, Squidge
This hairdo totally captivated both Squidge and I when we saw it on the Adopt a Do site yesterday. It looks amazing! So we both thought it would be the perfect choice for Crazy Hair Friday at school today.
I did end up practising it a bit yesterday afternoon and sadly didn’t have the required hairpin that Mindy recommends so it was a little bit harder than it should have been.
For those of you who have girls with curly, fine hair, this do is best created with damp hair (not wet!) and then by twisting the strands before looping them through the hairpin to make them easier to manage. It is actually quite easy once you’ve got the hang of it (and if you have a proper hairpin – note to self: get some) and really, really would be brilliant for weddings, parties and general fun.
It isn’t the most robust style, though. In spite of using a very tight French braid, one of the bows kept falling out. In the end it stayed looped on one side while popping out on the other, a little frustrating. And I don’t expect her hair to come back from school looking anything like this. In fact, I imagine it has already started coming loose even though I used hairspray.
I am not sure if this is because I used the wrong hairpin and stretched the braid too much though, I think it might be. Anyway, this hairstyle looks really complex but is rather easy to achieve. It is, however, time consuming and your little one will have to sit completely still as you thread. I recommend a book/TV/something to keep them occupied while you make it.
I am particularly proud of this one, I really love it.
04 May 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Child, Cute Girl's Hair, Elastic Band Art, Hair, School, Squidge
It’s Crazy Hair Friday again and so Squidge opted for this funky heart-shaped hairdo made with judicious use of hairbands and the rat tail comb. I saw this on another site called The Story of a Princess and Her Hair, which has some astonishing hairstyles. What that woman can do with ribbon and braids is nothing short of amazing. I recently tried to do her four-stranded plait but I am still failing miserably.
This particular hairstyle looks really complex. Many of the mums at school this morning asked me if I had to get up at 5am for it! Actually, it is beyond easy and can be done in about ten minutes once you have your head around the general idea.
You’ll need your hairbrush, rat tail comb, as many braiding hair bands as possible – I found these on Amazon – and lots of spray. As usual, I use the Vosene detangler and conditioning spray. Hate the smell, LOVE the result, and the fact that we remain lice-free in this house.
You’ll need to part the hair down the middle up until you are level with the ears, and then part the hair again down the sides to the ears. Take the left side and clip it or tie it away, and do the same with the hair falling down the back. On the right side, part the hair again at the diagonal and then clip the other chunk of hair away.
Starting at the back on the right-hand part, scoop up a little pony tail of hair, tie it up and then go to the next one and repeat. The trick here is to kind of twist the hair of the pony so it forms a neat end and then twist the second strand into it. This just makes sure you don’t have fly away bits and keeps the hair tidy for when you tie it. You can use as many hair bands as you like – the website I copied uses loads but I only used a few.
You move forward towards the brow, turn, grab the chunk you tied away, and then follow the shape of a heart to the back. Repeat this on the 
left and then bring them together in the middle. I added in some extra bands just for looks on the rear long strands. Then brush her hair at the back and you’re done! The crazy elastic band heart is all yours.
We used black braiding bands as we did this for school, but you can really get some great effects by using coloured bands.
24 Apr 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Child, Crazy Hair, Cute Girl's Hair, Mohawk, School, Squidge, Twists
This hairstyle is entirely the genius of Mindy over at Adopt a Do. There is no way I could ever be that creative with hair. It also comes with a great story so be prepared to read some when you get there.
I bet you’re staring at it in a combination of amazement and concern. Who could send their child to school like THAT I hear you ask. Well. I did. And The Husband DID ask. And halfway to school, Squidge took the entire thing out and ended up wearing an awful, terrible Daddy Pony Tail of Doom.
Apparently, said The Husband, people kept staring at her and it freaked her out. I felt awful!
However, this is, to me, still an awesome hairdo and it is so easy to make. Possibly save it for a special occasion that warrants such insanity though. I’m not going to tell you how to make it, Adopt a Do does it far better and with video.
16 Apr 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Cute Girl's Hair, Mommy, School, Squidge, Twists
The cute girls hairstyle to launch the term was both simple and pretty and inspired by Mindy’s designs on Adopt a Do. This one is really easy to make and is a good way to start the term and get back into the habit of sitting still (Squidge and her Extremely Wriggly Bottom) and not screaming SIT STILL (Saffa mom and her mood vs coffee intake).
You’ll need to brush the hair until it is silky soft and knot free. One thing about having a little girl with curly, fine hair is the knots. If your daughter has this hair, then you’ll know exactly what I mean. I recommend the Vosene spray-in conditioner or detangler spray as they are anti lice AND good at helping remove and reduce knots. And no, I am not sponsored by Vosene…
The next thing you need for your cute hairstyle for your little girl is an elastic band and a rat tail comb. Using the rat tail comb, split away a neat sub section of hair on the left of the head – this is going to form your side plait. French braid this for about 1/3rds of the way along the head (you can do it for longer, it depends on how much of a braid rope you want) and then carry on plaiting until the end, close it off with a hairband.
Now scoop up the rest of the hair into a low side pony tail – pulling the braid you just did into this – and split it into three and braid. That’s it. You are basically pulling the side braid you created into a side pony and 
then plaiting this until the end. We ended our cute girls hairstyle with a minimalist black hairband for school but if you do this for fun or on weekends you can just bung in a bow.
And, hopefully, you’ll be better at it than I am. While I’ve been doing these since January, I am still rather crap. This I find hilarious…
16 Apr 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva, Parenthood, Saffa Tags: Child, Cute Girl's Hair, Fascinating, Mommy, School, South Africa, Squidge
School holidays have kept the blog quiet as I’ve juggled work and offspring with differing degrees of success. Squidge established really early on that hairstyles were not on the menu. She explained that these were for school but in the holidays she was doing her own hair, thank you very much.
It was truly adorable to watch her brush her hair and spray it, even if it meant huge chunks of knot growing at the bottom and sopping wet patches where she had put on too much spray-in conditioner. It was worth it to see her get so excited about doing it by herself.
I went to Africa on my own for 12 days as well. It was an exhilarating and inspirational trip. I realised some core truths, I rebuilt my self esteem and I decided that Africa will always be my home. It is time I think about returning to my motherland and building a life out there regardless of the issues and risks. Choosing a country to live in isn’t about finding the perfect place, it’s about finding somewhere that speaks to your soul and that has issues you think you can deal with.
So, without further ado, rambling and boring navel gazing, welcome to the summer issue of Saffa and the plethora of cute girls hairstyles coming your way. I’ll also be posting up a video I took at a watering hole in the Kruger Park. It’s five minutes of peace, silence and nature that will just ease your soul.
Happy Easter and Happy Hairdo!
14 Mar 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Cute Girl's Hair, School, Squidge
So, you know how I am always banging on about how curly Squidge’s hair is? How difficult it is to manage? I thought I would take a photo of her hair and how it looks in the morning so you could see what I start with each time. I apologise for the quality of the shots, it was a rushed morning and I hadn’t had enough coffee…
So, without further ado, this is how Squidge’s hair looks before we start on her cute girls hairstyles every day…
And here is a close-up:
No, she didn’t arm wrestle bears all night. At least, not that I’m aware of…
And this is how she looked after we did our cute girls hairstyle for today…
13 Mar 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Blog, Child, Cute Girl's Hair, French braid, School, Squidge
Still hot with inspiration, I decided to copy some of the ideas from other cute girl’s hairstyle blogs on the net and incorporate them into my own design. As there are so many incredibly talented people doing girls hair out there, this idea is definitely not original, but I am pretty proud of it nonetheless.
For this hairdo you’ll need your rat tail comb, spray (water or detangler), a brush and four hairbands. I use the tiny black ones that you get in a pack of about 50 from Boots. They cost about £1 and are fabulously stretchy.
Brush the hair until it is straight and knot free, then divide the hair across the top from the top of the left ear to the top of the right. Then part the hair again down the middle from the forehead to the base. Clip off each section as you go. You should now have four sections.
Starting at the top of the right section, French braid the hair for about 1/3 of the way until you have run out of hair to slip into the braid and then finish off by plaiting to the end.
Tie it off with an elastic and then take the hair that is clipped apart below and, using the plait as one strand, proceed to braid the hair again until the plait runs to the end. The side should now look like this:
I am willing to bet that my explanation was a bit sketchy so hopefully that pic gives you a better idea. Essentially you are using one plait to make another and creating a double braid look that’s quite funky.
Now, repeat the process on the other side so that it looks like this:
Ta da! You’re done! You have a really cute girls hairstyle that will take you about 10 minutes to complete and that looks really fabby for the school run. It is also really robust as this is the only style that has withstood the drama of the day!
12 Mar 2012
by Tamsinin Little Diva Tags: Cute Girl's Hair, School, Squidge, Twists
This hairdo was my very first invented one. Thanks to the tutorials on Adopt A Do and my practise doing Squidge’s hair every day since January, I was starting to get a little creative myself. This hairdo was also an invented cute girls hairstyle out of necessity – I was running too late to boot up the PC, go online and find a hairdo to make.
It was very easy to do as well. Here’s how you can make the Cute Side Twist Pony in under five minutes for a perfect school look without the stress.
Brush the hair and give it a spray with some water. I use the Vosene Detangler as this eases Squidge’s curly, knotty hair and protects against the dreaded nits. Once it is all long and shiny and ready to go, separate out a chunk on the left-hand side of her head (you can just as easily choose the right, your call!).
Take this chunk and separate it again into two evenly matched lengths and then twist these together. Don’t do them too tightly though, you don’t want them to turn upwards. The final twist should look like this:
Obviously you haven’t done the pony tail yet, unlike the pic, but you get the idea. Now scoop the rest of the hair, along with the length of twisted hair, into a side pony that favours the side you have the twist on – ours is on the left – and seal with the elastic. Then invert your pony and you’re done!
If you have never done an inverted pony before then here’s how.
Create the pony but don’t tie the elastic too tight. Then slip two fingers through the pony between the elastic and the head and pull the loop of the pony tail through the hole made by your fingers. Then tighten the elastic carefully and, if all has gone well and your child has thick hair, you won’t see the elastic and the hair will make a lovely loop.
Previous Older Entries
What you said