That floral feeling – A quick five minutes on flower crowns
They say you should never work with children or animals, and, having spent a morning trying to get a picture of Millie with this delicate flower crown on, I can definitely say this is the case!
I love making flower crowns, and I have a tendency to usually go large as I think there’s something so nice about making a statement. However, if you are thinking of making one for a child (or pet), then I recommend going a little more delicate with your flower choice. My advice would be to keep it very simple and go with something like a wax flower, as not only is it resilient (you should expect crowns to be dropped or thrown off), but it lasts well out water. I had to make one recently for my friends three year old, so thought I would share with you how I did it.
Preparation
- The first step is to prepare the wire. I use a combination of paper covered and floristry wire. It will be the paper covered wire that will form the base.
- You then need to cut this to size. I usually go from one top of the ear to the other. Once you have the correct base length, you are then ready to cut your floristry wire and attach it to the paper covered wire.
- Use a long section of floristry wire as you will be using this to tie on the flowers to the base (i.e. the paper covered wire) and hence will be wrapping the wire around two to three times. Bring both ends of the floristry wire and paper covered wire together and form the loop at one end.
- Once you have formed one loop, go to the other end and form the second. However, this time you will just be using the paper covered wired to form the loop.
Build your crown
- This design is very straight forward, as I’m only using one flower. However, if you were using a variety of flowers then it would be important to select a good variety everytime to ensure your design is balanced and has interest throughout.
- With wax flower, I usually use two stems to create a ‘bundle’. When selecting your stems, I always encourage leaving the stems long as this creates something for your second and third bundle to secure onto, to create a strong structure. You can always trim if they are too long.
- I then attach the bundle to the paper covered wire, using the loose floristry wire to secure it by wrapping it around a couple of times.
- You are then ready to add your next bundle, attaching it so it covers the binding point of the previous bundle.
- And you then just repeat until you get to the other end of the wire where you will need to add your last bundle in the opposite direction, so to cover the loop. As a result you will be left with an empty middle section between the two bundles that are going in the opposite direction.
- To bridge this gap I usually add some flowers and secure using a tiny amount of floristy glue. You do need to make sure you allow enough time to dry as you don’t want a crown that becomes a permanent head fixture!
And finally
- Trim off any excess bits. Remember, if this is going on a child’s head then you don’t want it to be too big. If it feels too wide then don’t be afraid to give it a little trim.
- Finish off by attaching ribbon to the loops. These will secure the crown onto the head and my only advice would be to not get too upset if it doesn’t stay on the head!
General care
If you are not making this on the day of wearing it then spray very lightly with water and pop in a plastic bag (freezer bags work well) and place in a cool, dark area until ready to wear.
With love and stay safe, Flowers and Lifestyle by Margot –
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