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Flower Circlet Headpiece (for flowergirls or brides)
submitted by Yahoudi
Materials needed:
- 18-guage floral wire
- roll of floral tape (green or
white, depending on your preference)
- silk or dried flowers (or
both!)
- ribbon or veiling (optional)
Tools needed:
1. Prepare the flowers. If you're
using silk flowers, you should use wire cutters to clip individual
clusters or stems from the heavy wired stem for individual use. If
you are using dried flowers, I suggest that you make small
clusters by gathering smaller bunches of flowers together and
fastening them together at the base with floral tape. I most often
use a combination of silk flowers and baby's breath, so I end up
doing both of these steps. One additional step for silk flowers:
if you want to feel 100% secure about using silk flowers, you
might want to go one step further and glue each flower onto its
plastic stem. It takes a little more time, but it will keep any
blossoms from droppping off on the Big Day.
(Note: this project would also
probably work with real flowers, but these should be "conditioned"
and wired in the same way that professional florists do, or else
they will wilt very quickly. If you do use real flowers, you
should probaby construct the circlet either the night before or
the morning of the wedding to make sure the flowers are at their
best.)
2. Take the floral wire and make
an oval hoop that fits on the wearer's head just the smallest
fraction of an inch farther down than you really want it to sit.
Wrap the entire hoop with floral tape, making sure the ends of the
wire are well-covered (the wrapping will make the circle fit a bit
more snug, which is why you want it slightly larger than
the wearer's actual head size). I have found that floral tape is
stickiest when it has been stretched slightly before use, which
really is what you want to do. That slight stickiness is what
helps keep everything together, and it also helps the flower
circlet stay secure on the head (it doesn't make the hair sticky
at all, so don't worry).
(For an adjustable wreath, don't
make a hoop. Take the length of wire and tape it, forming loops at
the end, then bend into a round shape.)
3. Start taping the flower
clusters to the wreath. Lay one flower (or cluster of flowers) on
the wire, keeping all flowers towards the outside of the hoop.
Using a long length of floral tape, begin to tape the flowers to
the wreath by wrapping the tape around both the wire and the
flower. Keep adding flowers and taping until the wreath is
completely covered with flowers.
(I usually alternate one small
bunch of colored flowers with one cluster of baby's breath. I also
alternate small bunches of silk flowers with larger individual
silk flowers. You can use flowers of one color, or any number of
complimentary colors. Be creative!)
4. Add ribbons or veil
(optional). The easiest way to add ribbons to the back of the
headpiece is to take a length of ribbon twice as long as desired,
then fold in half. Loop the fold over the wire, then draw the
loose ends through the loop to form a knot (I STRONGLY recommend
using a drop of glue on the knot to keep the ribbons from coming
loose). Ribbons can be any color or width desired, but I recommend
using ribbons no wider than 1/2 inch. (For the adjustable wreaths,
put ribbon "ties" through each loop and tie to fit the wearer's
head.)
If the bride would rather have a
veil instead of ribbons, a length of bridal tulle or organza can
be gathered along one edge and stitched to the wire. For a
"medieval" look (great for a theme wedding), a circular or oval
veil can be draped over the bride's head and held in place by a
wreath placed on top! |
