Colombian Headband

Nope.  She's not a Colombian.  But she could pass for one!  That's my daughter.  

This precious chica, though, she's Colombian.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll know my sister and her husband let me be her auntie.  And she is heaven!  My mom and I were fortunate enough to travel to Bogota to meet this little sweetheart, and to help my sister and her oldest daughter Zahria bring her home to the states.  I know Colombia sounds scary--I'll be honest and say I was prepared to be nervous the whole time I was there--but it's amazing.  The people were warm and friendly, and the culture is beautiful.  I'd go back in a heartbeat.

My sister's family lived in Colombia for more than a month while the paperwork was processed for the adoption, and they picked up the most terrific Colombian habits.  Like a morning latte with Bailey's, and afternoon ice cream.  

My sister colored her hair brown, and Zahria had her hair done like many of the other Colombian girls.  (Forgive the cell phone picture....)
  

Among other things I've had on my 'want-to-recreate' list from Colombia, making a "hairband headband" like this on my daughter was one of them.  I'll need some practice to achieve Colombian standards, but our first attempt works pretty good in Iowa.  My steps are below!

Part the hair from just behind one ear to just behind the other, and secure the back into a pony.

 EEK!  Cousin It?

My daughter is patient, but little elbows and necks get tired fast in uncomfortable positions, so we started off laying down on the floor.

Make an 'outie' French braid, but only take hair from the right (face) side.  That is, usually when you do a French braid you take a piece from each side and then braid.  For this one, only gather from the front, then braid, gather from the front, then braid, etc.  Try to use SMALL pieces.  It will end up like this. 

 I stopped French braiding behind her ear, then secured the braid in two spots at the nape.

You'll need a length of ribbon about three times the circumference of the head you're working on, as well as a big needle with a big eye.

Using the needle, thread the ribbon under the braid near the ear where the braid started, and tie to secure.  You want about 1/3 of the ribbon to hang down to the neck (for now), and you'll need to 'weave' with the other 2/3.

The trick is to loop around each section of hair you pulled into the braid.  You want to go over the section, then slide the needle (GENTLY!) back toward the ear.

 Repeat, over and over, so you end up with this.

Once I reached the bottom of the French braid I slid the needle inside the hair that was gathered to hide it.

I'm sure there are other ways to finish this off, but I was trying to work from what I remember of Zahria's....  Tie the loose ends of the ribbon together around the end of the braid, so they form a headband.  Secure with a double-knot, but clip any loops so they don't get stuck in hairbrushes.

 And that's it! 

 You have a Colombian hairband.

Now we'll see how long it lasts!