Alternating Pull-Throughs

This is a style I used to do on Little Miss' hair when it was long, so it can definitely be done on longer hair, as can most of these short hairstyles.  I first saw the style on a little girl at my daughter's school last spring.  It's very cute and super quick.

Start by parting out a large rectangle on your hair model's head.  (I apologize that this picture is so blurry; I accidentally deleted the clear one!)  At this point, I probably wouldn't put in the hair band as shown, since I'm just going to be parting out a section, but wanted to show what the rectangle I used looked like.

Next, you're going to be parting the rectangle into five horizontal sections (or however many you want to do).  As you part off a section (I always use the pointy end of a rat-tail comb, but do whatever works for you!), tie it off with a small elastic, off to one side.  Try not to tie them off right next to your daughter's scalp, or you'll have trouble pulling them through later.  Here is that done to the first section as I hold the second section off to the side it will be elastic-ed on...

Continue with all five sections, tying them off on alternate sides, until you end up with this...

A couple of notes here... these sections look a little like I parted them with diagonal parts, but I didn't.  That would probably look cute, though!  I'll have to try that sometime...  Second, Little Miss' hair is often a bit wonky when she wakes up in the morning, with sections sticking up at funny angles, and now with short hair, it's worse.  I don't use any product for smoothing those out; I just keep a small bowl nearby with about an inch of water in it, and dip my fingers in it to smooth out her hair.  (Spray bottles work better, but mine seemed to get to smelling funny quickly, so it's easier for me to just re-use my little plastic bowl.  Okay, TMI.)

Finally, use a Topsy Tail (if you have one) to pull each section down through itself.  (I bought mine online; I've recently seen them in a Claire's, and I'm sure they are probably at other stores that I didn't check.  I think I paid around $8 for two of them in different sizes and shipping.)  I like to angle the front section towards the back of her head a little, as you can see below, to keep it out of her face.  Here, the front section is already done, and I am mid-pull with the second section. 

And finally, you end up with all five pulled through...

Happy hairdoing!