DIY Box Braids I Did with Xpression Braiding Hair - Tips Included

Hello gorgeous humans.
This DIYLady is here today with another DIY adventure!!!
Yesss, I completed another "Mission DIY".
I am proud to announce that mission DIY BoxBraids was a Success!

As most of y'all know, I love to try out new things, and really lets face it, I'm kinda cheap and don't really enjoy spending money when I can try to do something about not spending money. lol...
Ever since the car accident I had, I never thought I would ever attempt to do single braids by myself since they require much more finger strength than cornrows. But I realized my hand/finger strength has greatly improved thanks to God, especially after continuous use and I believe physical therapy helped too.
SOOOOOO, I decided I wanted box braids but wasn't willing to pay someone to do it for me, so I decided to start watching youtube videos and getting myself prepared for my next DIY adventure.

My mom gave me two bags of Xpression Braiding Hair she had (yay, more money saved), and then I was ready!!!
I had braiding knowledge and didn't learn everything exactly from YouTube, but I must say watching those videos really helped. I'll post links to some helpful boxbraid Tutorials at the end of this post.

My final result?
Taaaa-Daaaa!!!


I made a YouTube video to document this success, and you can watch below. The video is more in depth with information, but by all means, if you just want to see pictures without info, keep scrolling. lol... 

















And now some during braiding pictures and blabbing....

Taking pictures was really the only way I could see what was going on in the back as I did it. lol.. I had to rely on whatever my hand told me looked alright... Thankfully the lines were decent even though I couldn't see what I was doing.


This is the part I disliked most about the whole thing.. Lol.. Pulling out/stretching/feathering the extensions before use!
I had to do this because I didn't want the BLUNT ends on my braids, so doing this pull out method allowed for the flowing ends. This process is not the most fun, but you'll be glad if you do it.

So, right when I had done the whole back of my head and some parts in front, the 2 big bags of xpression braiding hair I had finished! I had to take a mandatory break and my dad generously bought me two small bags of hair that helped me finish. 
This gave me the opportunity to get a different color of braiding hair to add highlights of some sorts, and I am so glad! 


This picture below shows that not all of my braids were the same size, so I obviously have more to learn. But not bad for first time doing a full head of single braids right?


Anyhoo, if you're following me on instagram @thediylady, I'm sure you know my braids are pretty much all I've talked about this past weekend. lol... I have said this over and over again, I am really proud of myself, and I am glad I took a step and went for this.

If there's a DIY project you've been putting aside for a while, I encourage you to get to it now... you never know how something will turn out until you try. :-)

The videos I recommend amongst MANY I watched before doing this can be found HERE. Click on her info bar to watch all parts of her braid series.