One of my favourite things to watch on YouTube is hair tutorials.  There are so many creative people out there who are willing to share their ideas and skills!  I'll probably blog about them all over time, but today I just finished practicing a tutorial from Cute Girls Hairstyles, a YouTube channel featuring a very stylish mom, Mindy, who demonstrates her amazing braiding skills on her many gorgeous daughters (and on herself, from time to time).  If you're a braiding geek like I am, I highly recommend watching a few of her videos!  She has a variety of tutorials, from beginner to advanced, and her instructions are easy to follow.  Today I was practicing using this tutorial for a Dutch flower braid.  I thought it would be a fun style for a flower girl, or it could be a girly, whimsical look for a bride too!

Poor Angus is still a bit fuzzy from the last updo I gave her.  

I like the way it turned out, though Angus's hair is a bit shorter than the girl in the tutorial, so it became more of a side braid situation.  I might try this on myself today!  We'll see if my hair is long enough yet (I've been growing it out forever, it seems)...

Oh, Angus.  We are going to have some good times together.

I finally ordered myself a hairdressing mannequin so that I can experiment at home without constantly having to bug my friends to be guinea pigs!  It (she?) arrived today and there was a pretty subtle hint on the box as to what I should call it (her?):

"Angus".  It suits her, don't you think?  And of course that name will always remind me of this classic Monty Python sketch (my brother and I were practically raised on Monty Python).  

Anyway.  I figured I might have some fun experimenting and post some of my work on this blog occasionally!  Today, after setting Angus up on my dining room table, I did a bit of braiding and came up with something cute.  

Simple & classic chignon with a fancy lil' Dutch braid on the side.  I do love braiding.  If you specifically ask for braids as part of your wedding updo, you'll definitely win my heart!  :)