Braided Hair Tie Headbands – 4 ways!

Learn how to make the viral braided hair tie headbands four different ways! When you’re done, go ahead and craft this ribbon headband too. This post contains affiliate links.

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When I was a kid, I used to take piles of hair ties and loop them together different ways. I made all sorts of things with it – my favorite was actually bracelets. But when I saw braided hair tie headbands all over my social media feeds, I knew it was time to revisit that!

Today I’ll be sharing FOUR fun ways to make these braided hair tie headbands. You’ll see presented in the photos and tutorial and another one in the embedded video tutorial. I just ran out of hair ties so I had to dismantle one to show you the last style!

That’s what’s so cool about theses hair tie headbands. There’s no gluing – it’s just looping. They are addictive and relaxing to make. They are inexpensive and look so cute with the different braids you can assemble. And you can even repurpose the hair ties a limited number of times (they do stretch out eventually).

Trying different methods of making braided hair tie headbands

I played with a few different methods of looping these. I wanted to show you just how much you can do with just two supplies. Yes, that is all you need. Two supplies and you have some really cool headbands with literally nothing else – not even glue!

1. The basic braid – front and top

The basic braid is the one that you may have seen the most. It requires a very basic looping method, where each hair tie is looped through the one next to it. You can make the braid portion (that’s formed by the looping hair ties) face forward or face up. We turned ours upward but I actually think it looks pretty cute facing forward, especially on hair that has more texture or volume.

2. The Cobra Braid – 2 Color

The Cobra braid looks like the classic cobra knot that I showed on these Gimp bracelets. They form the “braid” on both the front on the back, and on top you have a zipper-type look just like a Cobra knot would form. I like doing it with two colors – and specifically two shades of a single color – but you can definitely bring in more colors!

3. The Three Color Layered Braid

This method works best with three colors. You want an odd number so that you can cross over to the other side and get that criss-cross effect. And more than three will need to stretch too far.

Do it by looping each one with the next color, positioned on the opposite side of the headband.

4. The 3 Color ZigZag Braid

This one is pictured in the video only – I didn’t have enough ponies and wanted to try the style above as well so I did dismantle this one.

It’s accomplished by placing the ponies in two directions and looping each one over the next consecutive one on the other side for a zigzag braided effect. I did it with three colors but it can be done with any numer.

The best supplies to use for braided hair tie headbands

While there is some flexibility in the materials you use to make braided hair tie headbands, here are some pointers and key features for success.

Your pony holders

Your ideal pony holder is a no-crease small sized cotton pony holder that’s thick. This gives you good coverage while allowing for a tight “braid”.

While you CAN play with others (especially for the layered braid) you’ll want it to have these qualities.

The base headband

The base headband should be a rigid headband with a bit of width. While you can use metal headbands for this, you’ll need to go for a nice, wide one. My ideal headband for this is a rigid plastic one. You can also use satin covered ones.

I don’t recommend using one with teeth. It’ll be harder to move things around if you need to, and you’re anyway covering the teeth.

How to make braided hair tie headbands step by step tutorials

Supplies needed

• 32-35 hair ties per headband
• Rigid headbands

Watch the video

Watch the full-length video on YouTube if you prefer to learn that way! Or scroll down for written instructions with photos. The video shows four ways, the photos show three.

Process Breakdown

Method 1: Basic Braided hair tie headband

1. Wrap your hair tie around the headband in the spot where you want your braid to start. The headband should not go through the hole – you’re folding the hair tie in half over the headband.

2. Pull one side through the loop formed at the other side.

3. Pull through till it’s tight.

4. Continue adding hair ties this way until you reach the end of where you want the braid to be. All hair ties should be in the same direction for this style.

5. Start “braiding.” Pull your second hair tie through the loop of the first.

6. Grab the third and pull it through the loop of the second.

7. Continue doing this until you pull the last one through the loop of the second to last.

8. Pull that one over the end of the headband to sit next to the rest of that pony. Your “braid” is complete.

9. I find that when I make this style, I naturally make it along the side of the headband. This can look cute – it’ll face front when worn. But you can also turn it to sit on top of the headband.

Your basic braided hair tie headband is complete!

Method 2: two-color Cobra braided headband

1. Start looping ponies onto the headband in the same way. Only this time you’re alternating between two colors and alternating directions.

2. Keep going until you’ve covered the area you want your “braid” to cover.

3. You’ll be connecting the loops the same way you did above, only this time you’ll be doing it one side/one color at a time.

Finish it off the same way too.

Your cobra-style braided hair tie headband is complete!

Method 3: The Three Color Layered Braid

1. On this one, you’re alternating directions again, but alternating between three colors.

2. Work one color at a time and loop only the same colors together, zigzagging across the headband. Keep in mind that the first color you “braid” will show the least, and the last one will show the most, so choose which colors you want to be the most and least dominant.

Your layered braided hair tie headband is complete!

I really hope you enjoyed watching how to make braided hair tie headbands using these three easy methods! It’s such a fun addictive craft – perfect for sleepover parties, birthday parties (no dry time!) and just everyday accessory making.

If you enjoyed this, you can check out this DIY tiara headband tutorial too!