The Ribbon Wrap (Ribbon Pull-Through Style #1)

Lately, I've been loving pull-throughs more and more.  They lie flat, they angle the hair in the direction you want it to go, they're easy, and they've got a little more style to them than a simple step pony.  And they look good on the youngest of little ones, tweens, teens, and adult women!  And almost any length of hair!  All right, enough of my love affair with pull-throughs.  :)  That being said, I wanted to find a way to securely attach ribbon to a pull-through... So I did!  I'm sure many people have done this before and have used variations of it; I was just happy that this works, and looks cute, so I wanted to share it.  I basically used the same method that I discussed in Three Little Ribbon Braids, with a slight variation.  And to celebrate, I've created five posts that use the ribbon pull-through method that I discuss below, and I will be posting them for the next five posts (this one included).  I think they have all turned out beautifully, and I'm excited to share... It's hard not to love anything with ribbon! 

How to Do a Ribbon Pull-Through
-------------
Be forewarned:  This is in excruciating detail, which you may not need!  If you already have a method that works for you, do it!  Feel free to skip to the style at the bottom.  But if you'd like specific instructions, read on...

You'll need:  a rat-tail comb or other parting device :) , a Topsy Tail, 1/4" satin ribbon, scissors to cut the ribbon, and a couple of little elastics.  

Start with slightly damp hair.  Part out the section you'll be pulling through and tie it off LOOSELY with an elastic.  This is the main difference with a ribbon pull-through.  Just leave a little more room between the elastic and the head than you would for a regular pull-through. 

Cut a piece of ribbon (for the style in this post, cut it to about 3-4 times the length of hair you will pull back to the palm tree).  Grab a piece of the elastic and thread the ribbon through it to the halfway point of the ribbon (below).  

Wrap the two ends of the ribbon around the elastic, to hide it, in opposite directions:  around the back, then around the front, and finally tying them together in back (the underside).  When you're finished, it should look like this:

A nice clean look.  :)  You could stop there, or... continue with the pull-through.  Do a regular old pull-through now; just negotiate carefully so as not to snag or pull your daughter's hair.  It's bigger with the ribbon on, so requires a bit more finesse. 

Voila!  A ribbon pull-through!  (The ends of the ribbon are still there, loose and free; apparently they were just hidden behind the hair in the last picture above!)  Use this pull-through alone or read on for way #1 to use it in a hairstyle...

The Ribbon Wrap
-------------
Start with a large box part on top of her head.  Part out a small section on the diagonal, as used in the pictures above, and do a ribbon pull-through.  Gather the rest of the hair from the box part into an elastic at the back corner opposite the ribbon pull-through.  Take the two ends of ribbon and wrap them around the piece of hair in opposite directions, making sure that the X's land on the top of the piece of hair.

Finally, secure the piece of hair, together with the ribbon ends, to the pull-back you created with the rest of the hair.

Wrap the ribbon ends around the elastics to hide them, as you did earlier for the pull-through, and tie a pretty bow.  All done!  Simple & sweet. 

The hair underneath was poofing a little, so I ended up adding a bobby pin to make it lie a little flatter...

Have a great day!  And watch for ribbon pull-through style #2...