Growing up with a single dad, Chelsea Burrell, of Seymour, said one of the biggest issues between them was her hair.

Like most little girls, she wanted to wear cute pigtails or a braid, but no one had ever shown her dad how to manage more than a lopsided ponytail.

So when Burrell, now an adult, came across a video online of a father demonstrating how to braid hair to other fathers, she thought it was something from which all dads with daughters could benefit.

While brainstorming ideas for her business, Confetti — The Social Venue, Burrell remembered the video and decided she would schedule a class to do for other dads what no one had done for hers — teach them how to fix up a little girl’s hair.

[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]

But more than that, Burrell wanted to give dads an opportunity to spend time bonding with their daughters in a unique way that neither would forget.

So she created the Daddies Do Hair event, bringing in friend and local hairstylist Myka Wetzel from The Buzz Hair Design Studio in Seymour to provide instruction and pointers for styling girls’ hair.

The hour-long class Feb. 10 attracted eight daddy/daughters and one mother/daughter pair.

Providing brushes, combs and other needed styling products, Hays started easy by demonstrating how to brush through hair without pulling. From there, it was on to a simple ponytail and then more advanced styles, including a braid, a French braid and a bun.

Patrick Duley of Flat Rock surprised his 8-year-old daughter, Jada, by bringing her to the event.

“She had no idea this is what we were going to do today,” he said.

He saw the class on Facebook and decided it would be a great way to spend time with Jada, doing something she would like. It also gave him a little more confidence to try fixing her hair at home.

“It can be a struggle,” he said. “We usually just do a ponytail, nothing fancy.”

But Duley said he was more than willing to try something different and more difficult to make Jada happy.

Although it would take more practice to get it perfect, Jada said she was impressed with how quickly her dad picked up braiding.

“He’s doing a good job,” she said. “I like it when he does my hair.”

Brian Bott of Fishers and his daughter, Ava, 10, of Columbus, had heard about the Daddies Do Hair event from family.

“I’m a single dad. I have to know this kind of stuff,” Bott said of why he signed them up for the class. “No one in my family knows (how to style hair). We know how to pull it up in a ponytail, but that’s it.”

Bott said he would never shy away from doing something that makes him a better dad.

“If it helps her, I’m good with it,” he said.

Ava said her dad may never be able to French braid her hair, but he was able to put it up in a pretty good bun after watching Wetzel demonstrate how to do it and then getting to try it on Ava.

Although Greg Ramoni was struggling to get the criss-cross pattern of braiding down pat, it was difficult to tell who was having more fun at the event, him or his 8-year-old daughter, Bellatrix.

The pair traveled from Scottsburg to attend the event after seeing it posted on Facebook.

“I figured it would be a great opportunity for me and her to bond, a daddy-daughter day,” he said. “I tried to find something that’s not the usual go shopping or to the movies.”

Bellatrix said she was “cool” with letting her dad do her hair. And by practicing at home, Greg hoped to be able to take some of the stress away from mom.

“She’s my daughter, too, so I should be learning how to do this,” he said.

But it wasn’t as easy as he thought it would be.

“There’s a reason I’ve been scared to touch it for eight years,” he said.

Seymour dad Jason Harmon said he can’t even get close to his daughter Rylie’s hair without her complaining, so he thought the class would be a good way to learn.

“Any time she asks me to do it, all I hear is ‘Ow, ow,’” he said.

If he doesn’t get the hang of it on his own, Harmon said he would have to try something else, like using a vacuum cleaner to get Rylie’s hair in a ponytail.

“I’ve seen the vacuum technique online,” he said. “I’ve never tried it yet, so depending on how this goes, I might still try it.”