I got my natural hair braided (cornrowed) up into a ponytail and then I wrapped my hair and put it into a bun and I could’ve left it like that, but I wanted my bun to be bigger!! If you’re looking for a way to make your braided bun bigger, you’re in the right place! Sometimes, our natural hair buns just don’t seem big enough, but there’s a simple trick to achieve the bigger, fuller bun you’re lookin for— and it involves using crochet box braids to enhance your natural hair bun. Here’s how I did it!
Step 1: Braid (cornrow) Your Natural Hair into a Ponytail
The first step is to braid (cornrow) your natural hair into a ponytail – you can braid it yourself OR you can have someone else do it. I probably could braid my hair up into a ponytail myself, but it would take wayyyy too long and the parts would be straight, but the sections may not be even, so I let someone else do it!! If I”m bein honest, it’s cheaper to get your natural hair braided without the added braiding hair, so I opted for natural hair braids and I already had the crochet box braids at home from when I used them for a full crochet style – they were still in good shape, so I kept them to reuse them.
Step 2: Create as small of a bun as you can with your natural hair
Once your ponytail is secured, wrap your natural hair into a small bun. If your hair is long like mine, it’s probably gonna be hard to get a small / flat bun. I was strugglin to get this bun small. I tried twisting it all as one (but that usually leaves one side super high – even though I did end up using this method; I just wrapped super tight and pushed the bun down), I tried braiding the pintail and wrapping it, I tried 2 twists and wrapping it in opposite directions… I was for real struggling… and that’s why sometimes you just gotta pay that extra money. While just wearing my natural bun is an option, I wanted a bigger bun.
Step 3: Add Crochet Box Braids to make the bun bigger – I used 2 different methods
•The more crochet braids you add, the heavier your ponytail/bun will be!
Method 1: Using pre-looped crochet box braids that matched the color of my hair as close as possible, I crocheted the box braids directly into my natural hair bun. Now I would suggest you count how many cornrows you have and use that as a guide to how many crochet box braids to add. The ponytail/bun WILL get heavy if you add too many. I would add less, the exact amount for how many cornrows you have or just slightly more (no more than 5 more). I didn’t space mine out on the bun because I didn’t realize it would get so heavy, but you can space them out around your natural hair bun.
Method 2: I looped the crochet box braids directly onto 2 ponytail holders. I tried using the latch hook, but that was more complicated than it needed to be, so I ended up just using my hands to loop the crochet box braids onto the ponytail holders and it was much quicker.
Step 4: Shape and Secure the Bun
Once the crochet box braids are in place, I began to twist or wrap the long correct braids around my natural hair bun. Just try to make it neat. adjust the bun as much as you need to. I secured the bun with probably way to many ponytail holders… just don’t make it too tight or you may get a headache.
Finished Look
This method allows you to create the illusion of a larger bun, even if your natural hair is not quite as thick or long as you want it to be. Crochet box braids are an ideal way to make your bun bigger because they’re easy to install depending on your method (the ponytail holder method is easier). You can find crochet box braids in different sizes and lengths, so you can customize them to the size you need to achieve the perfect bun for you.
