Creating a Perfect DIY Toddler Ballerina (Sock) Bun

We have a pretty serious ballerina at our house!  She’s been in dance classes (at her request) since she was a year and a half old and continues to move up into classes for older girls.  Now that I’ve had my mommy brag moment, I thought I’d share how I create a perfect ballerina bun for my girl with fine, toddler hair.

Full disclosure, I can’t take full credit for this.  Somehow dance hair came up in conversation and a friend let me in on her little secret.  Really, I knew this all along for my own hair, but hadn’t thought about using this trick on my toddler.  All I use are these simple, drugstore doughnut bun makers (I’ve also seen them randomly at H&M) and a handful of bobby pins.  The trick is using the small ones – I didn’t know about these until I looked – and to get one very close to her hair color.  I much prefer these cheap versions to the fancier ones like hot buns with fine hair because the bumps & ends of hot buns show through.

It’s super simple.  The hardest part is probably getting your toddler to stay still, although mine loves to get her ballerina hair done (and the iPad doesn’t hurt!).  Chloe’s hair was super short when these photos were taken so length isn’t really a factor.

• First, wet her hair.  I prefer using plain ol’ water in a little spray bottle that we have cleverly labeled “hair water”.  Detangler also works well and I’ve even seen alcohol-free kid hair sprays out there.
• Brush/comb her damp hair into a pony & secure with hair elastic.  I prefer these clear ones and go around 4-5 times so it is super tight.
• Pull her ponytail through the hole of the bun maker and slide it down to the base of her pony tail (different from a sock bun here).
• Wrap her hair around the bun maker as evenly as possible and secure with bobby pins that closely match her hair color.  Distribute hair as evenly as possible around the circle/bun.
• Secure any hairs that are too short for the pony tail with bobby pins.  If you pin them in an “X” like those under Chloe’s bun here, it should be more secure.
• Spray with hairspray if desired.  I only used “real” hairspray on Chloe’s hair for her recital.

If you look closely, you can see that the bun maker peeks through, but you really do have to look closely.  The other moms were amazed since Chloe clearly didn’t have enough hair for a proper bun, but no one has noticed how I did it without explaining.

Happy Dancing!