Queenie Wants a Crown - a tale of costuming wanderings.

Have you ever had a brilliant idea for something that lead to something else entirely?  Well, I had a brilliant idea to make myself a "fairy crown" for the Halloween weekend of Ren Faire.  Only problem is that the crown lead me down a path of making an entirely new costume I didn't intend to make.  Ahh...maybe only problems costumers have.

So this post is about how to make a crown.  An earthy crown for what would eventually turn out to be an elf-queen like costume for Faire.

First I needed vines, I was going to run to the local craft big box store when I realized I had a grape vine in my back yard.  Mother nature was providing, however it was a little late in the season so many of the vines were already a little dry.  I was able to pluck enough of them to work...but I needed a frame:

I always try to keep some wire hangers in the house.  They come in handy -- everything from digging miscellaneous stuff out of drains to creative endeavors.  I  quickly found a white one, and some floral wire I had in the craft box.  I bound a circle first then added on several "L" shaped pieces.  I tied them so they would angle out.

I then sprayed it with some spray paint I had in the garage.  It was a bronze/gold colour left over from another project.

Before I started adding the grape vine I trimmed the vertical pieces so one in the front was taller, and I bought some bronze coloured wire to wrap with.  I cheaped out and the wire was really thin which meant I kept breaking it.  Next time, if there is a next time, I'll spend a little more and buy a slightly thicker wire.

I then took the vine which was still green and pliable on the inside and started bending it around the frame while wrapping it.

At first I was going to overlap the end pieces, which I cut with garden trimmers, but that would have been too bulky.  I realized I could notch the grapevine pretty easily with an xacto knife.  I eyeballed the cuts as this was a "woodsy" crown and perfection wasn't necessary.  Here is another picture:

I then continued adding to the crown and winding the wire until I got a form that made me happy and seemed pretty sturdy.  No rules here.  I kind of created as I went with no firm plan at this point.

I tried really hard not to add any glue at all but ended up using the glue gun a little at the very tops where the thin pieces met to keep them all tightly together.  You couldn't see it once done because it was more inside.  Then I let it dry out.

At this point I took the crown to the craft store and tried to be inspired in regards to how to decorate it.  I wanted natural or natural-ish decorations.  I ordered some butterfly wings from Ebay....yes I do realize for some people that is gross but I had a vision.  In the end they showed up weeks late and crushed to a pulp....maybe karma for buying the things in the first place.

I found these wonderful quartz "beads" that would work...not a unique idea but they did turn out nicely.  They were a bear to find the right bead that would work without glue.  Lots of twisting wire (which should have been thicker) and praying everything would stay.

Loved my earthy crown, but the insidious thing is that because of this accessory I ended up with a whole new Ren Faire costume...love how that works sometimes.

NOTE:  I don't have a picture of this, but once I was done I realized I didn't know how to  attach it to my head.  I did get some thicker galvanized wire from the garage and made a "Y" shape that had three ends that wrapped around the base of the circle so it made a brace to attach hair pins to.  I will try to get a photo and post at some point.  It did work, that sucker wasn't moving but the whole thing hurt like heck when I didn't duck low enough to get in the car while wearing the crown...ack!

Here is a getting dressed photo with the crown on...sadly I didn't realize I pinned it on a little cock-eyed.