What do you do when your four year old niece tells you about how much she wants hair like Rapunzel's? Oh, that's right! You make her some Rapunzel hair out of yarn. This project actually worked out nice because after I made this "wig" my niece Kirrah decided to be Rapunzel for Halloween. I decided to TRY to (try being the keyword there) do a tutorial on the "wig." It's very easy and you can change the hair color how it's braided and even whether you have flowers or not! Enjoy!
Materials Needed!
- one skein of yarn in any color
- scissors
- fake flowers (optional)
- a handful of small rubber bands
- hot glue gun
Step One: You'll need to cut all your yarn. You can use whatever color you'd like. For Kirrah I used pieces that were three yards long. When deciding how long to cut the original pieces please keep in mind that braiding, it being wrapped around the head, and cutting it to a appropriate length will shorten the pieces in the long run. Cut as many pieces as you'd like the "wig" to be thick. (Don't use the whole skein, you'll need some left over)
Take the left over yarn and cut it into a desired length. For this part I only cut the yarn about six inches long. tie a tight knot at one end, braid all the way down and secure with another tight knot. Set this aside for a later step.
Step Two: Once you've gathered all the cuts of yarn, separate them into three sections. Here's where it can get tricky. I made Kirrah's so it was three braids braided together. If you only want it to be one large braid, tie the three sections TOGETHER in a knot at one end. If you want three little braids braided together tie the sections SEPARATE from each other. Make sure your knots are loose so you can undo them in the end.
If you're making one large braid, braid all the way to the end and secure it with a rubber band or loose knot... then go along to the next step!
Once you've braided you're three smaller sections, take a small rubber band and join them together at one end. Go on to braid the three sections and rubber band them at the other end.
Step Three: Take your long braid and and wrap it around the child you're making it for's head. Make sure the ends match up and that you don't make the "wig" too tight or loose. Secure that spot with a small rubber band, or two.
Now, if you are making one large braid undo the remaining braids and separate into three sections to braid your main braid!
If you are doing smaller braids into one large one, undo the two largest braids but, DO NOT UNDO your smaller braids. Sections them off into three sections and braid to the end.
Secure the end with one small rubber band. Take a section, braided or not. and wrap it around the rubber band to cover it. when you've wrapped it all the way around(make sure it's pulled tight), tuck the end of that section into it's beginning and the rubber band. Use a hot glue gun to make sure it'll stay put.
If you did the smaller braids into a larger one undo the smaller braids and trim the yarn to match up in length.
Step Four: Take your smaller braid that was set aside in Step One. Where the headband part and the main braid part meet, hot glue one of the ends to the back. One dry wrap the small braid around to hide the rubber bands. Be sure to do this tight. I wrapped mine around twice. Hot glue the remaining end to the back.
If you do not want to add flowers, congrats! You're done!
Step Five: For your final step, take the fake flowers off their bouquets and place them on the braid to see where you'd like them. Once you're happy with how it looks, simply lift up the flower, put a dot of hot glue where it was placed, and press the flower into the glue. Tie a bow around the braid somewhere if you'd like and you're done!
YAY YOU DID IT!!! (:
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