braid it up buttercup - a round up of braids & other romantic hairstyles

pretty side french braid from lovemaegan.com

i have to admit that i have been a wee bit obsessed by braids and online hair tutorials lately.  i usually have a shorter hair style and have taken the leap to grow it back out for a while and it's finally getting long enough that a few of these may be an option.  also, the hairdresser in me just LOVES this stuff (for those of you who don't know i was hairdresser in my non bloggy life)!

3. Source: hairromance.com via Annie on Pinterest 4. Source: facebook.com via Natalia on Pinterest

i've been drooling over romantic images of lovely girls with even lovelier braids and thought i would share some of my faves from pinterest (you can find my pinterest boards here).  i also have a few pals from knit night that are in need of some snazzy hair styles - one as a bridesmaid (jane) and one as the bride (mandy) and i bombarded them on saturday night with hair tutorial talk instead of knitting chat..lol and they so nicely asked me to post about it.


 all hair tutorials above from one of my fave blogs "a cup of jo"

 whether it's a bun, side braid, milk maiden style, fish braid, french braid, loose braid, messy braid...i love them all!  now i just need to get my hair to grow faster or my 4 year old to let me practice on hers :p


so here ya go ladies...lots of inspiration for you to swoon over.  let's get braiding!

Source: rodeo.net via Emilia on Pinterest




and here's a few wedding ones for you mandy & all you other brides to be out there ;)


chestnut bun from "a cup of jo"

but let's not forget about the how to's!  below are some of my recent faves!

* the lovely blog cupcakes and cashmere has some lovely hair tutorials.  i heart this one!
* cheri from the crafty blog "i am momma hear me roar" had a hair week the other week that was filled with lots of hair goodness!i loved her waterfall braid tutorial.
* you can find a ton, and i mean a ton of romantic hairstyles & braids over on "hair romance".  you can even pick up an e-book filled with them!  check out one of her free hair tutorial videos here!
* i'm absolutely swooning over the new website "the beauty department" featuring the gorgeous lauren conrad (i admit i have a girl crush on her & yes, i was addicted to the hills). check out this pretty pinup girl tutorial.
* the uber stylish "from me to you" has this messy (in a good way) hair tute.
* you can find a ton of romantic and girly hairstyles over on "my yellow sandbox" as well.  she did a 30 days & 30 hairstyles that is awesome!!! i like this one!
* here's a boho holiday hairstyle.
* cute braided hairstyle for long hair.
* just in case you missed it above all the hair tutorials on "a cup of jo" are equally as fabulous as the next and i love all of them.
* and the newest one going around the blogoshpere like hot cakes that i couldn't resist featuring is the "how to get vintage style curls without heat".  i first spotted this on grosgrain.  i'm going to try it out this week (for those of you have seen it doesn't this girl have the best accent ever? she's so lovely).


* and last but not least here's a handy little braid chart i spotted on pinterest as well.


so get creative with your summer hair!  hope you guys had some hairtastic fun!  what's your fave hair tutorial online?  do you have a braid hair pic you love?  what's your fave way to style your hair in the summer that's not your average ponytail?  let's talk hair girls!