Growing up, I was lucky to have two younger sisters with gorgeous long hair, who could also tolerate sitting still for loooong moments so I could create intricate hair styles – something I enjoyed due to the quite technical and almost mathematical nature of design.



This was of course WAY before YouTube so ideas had to be dreamed up or interpreted from the pages of the latest Women’s Weekly (and yes….Princess Leia ‘buns’ did feature for a dress-up party once!). Considering I was in my early teens and sporting a spiral perm of my own, hair design has come a long way since then! Facebook and YouTube have endless instructions for amazing styles you can easily follow – the sky really is the limit. 



One of the most common questions I’m asked in my business is how to keep dolls hair frizz and knot free. One of the easiest ways is to up-style the hair, keeping it pretty, yet tucked away to avoid the inevitable snags and brute force only a 4 year old can inflict.



So aside from admitting I’ve had many a perm, this post is to give you an idea of what can be achieved with dolls hair – imagine the look of delight your little one would have if you did an extreme makeover on her favourite doll with this design!



Below you will find a step by step guide to a crown braid for your doll…..don’t be daunted by the word ‘braid’ either….if you can do a basic plait and keep a doll clamped between your knees for 15 mins or so….you’ll be as good as gold.



Step one


Ensure your dolls hair is brushed and knot free – pay attention to the hair around the hairline as this will be the section that gets braided. Don’t worry if you have different lengths of hair, the ends will all get caught up in the braid as you go along.



Step two


Just above the ear, take a small section of hair and plait UPWARDS, towards the top of the head, using each strand once.



Step three


Working around the hairline, continue to plait, taking a new piece of hair to wind into the braid from the hairline side only (not the crown side). 
Note: Keep an eye on the unused hair hanging down from the crown area – make sure it stays fairly flat – it might be easier to keep it tied away from your working section of hair.



Step four 


You will need to adjust the dolls position as you go, so you can easily get a nice even plait around the hairline – finish just past the halfway mark of the nape of the neck. You will still have a fair bit of loose hair hanging down, the trick now is to incorporate this into the final look.

Step five


Split the remaining hair up into three longways sections, and plait these into the existing three sections you have. This will finish the style with one long braid down the same side of the head from which you started the braid. Tie this off with a hair tie. I find this looks slightly messy with lots of short ends starting to poke out. Try bending it in half backwards so it is poked up behind itself. Now you can tie this off with a cute scrunchie, ribbon or hair tie – concealing the original hair tie for a slick overall look.

Amanda Woods is an NICU nurse, busy mum to two daughters, and the owner of Moppet Poppet – an online store dedicated to gorgeous dolls and stylish clothing to fit most popular 18inch dolls.
http://moppetpoppet.com.au