DIY Rapunzel Tiara

I wanted to be Rapunzel for Halloween and looked high and low for a tutorial but wasn't able to find one, so I decided to make one myself and share it with you all.

This tiara will cost about $30 and take 1-2 hours to make.

I got all the materials at Michael's, and you can probably find them at any local craft shop. The crystals are the hardest thing to find and they are pricey at $5.99 each so you may want to shop around online for a better deal.

Edit: You can find them online in various sizes here http://www.chandelierparts.com/valueprismsandchandelierparts.aspx. They are chandelier replacement parts!

You will need:
A glue gun
A plastic tiara
Silver rhinestones
3 large teardrop crystals
Pliers
Gold spray paint
Floral wire
Lavender pearls
Fishing line
A needle

For the fancier crown I'll show you you'll also need large pink, teal, and white pearls.

This step is photo heavy because I want to be very clear on how I prepared the tiara to transform it. If you have a different type of tiara, your prep may be slightly different.

First, hold the crystal up to the tiara to see where you should cut the tiara. In the second photo you can see the empty space where I cut the tiara.

You'll have a piece of the tiara left. Use that to guide how you cut the other side of the tiara to ensure that it's even. Take off as much of the top of the tiara as you'd like. The more you take off, the lower the center stone will sit. The last photo shows a high set one that I made previously and improved upon, which is why there are rhinestones on it already.

If there are any rhinestones already on the tiara, either pry them off or cover them with painter's tape. My tiara swivels up into a headband, so I hot glued the pieces together to make sure it will stay put.

Shape pieces of wire that are the same size and shape of the crystals and firmly attach them to the tiara. Again, the way you do this depends on the type of tiara you have.

The crystals I bought came as a pendant, so I removed the top part that would attach to a chain.

Take a piece of wire about the length of the perimeter of the crystal and thread 37 beads onto it. Remember that your count will be different if you don't use the exact materials I did so play with it a little.

When you're done, twist the wires together nice and tight and trim the excess. Careful not to trim too close or the whole thing will come apart.

Bend the wire so that the twisted part is at the bottom and shape it like the crystal. I'm pointing to it with the tweezers. Then, secure the crystal to the top of the beaded wire with a double knotted fishing string. The crystal will swing back and forth, so secure it at the bottom with some hot glue. The beaded wire is just a bit smaller than the crystal, so put the glue where the crystal protrudes.

Directions here are a bit vague because it's hard to explain, but the second to last photo will really give you an idea of what to do.

Make sure to get it all over the tiara. Even though there won't be much of the plastic exposed, you still want it to look like the one in the movie.

Remove the painters tape or reattach the rhinestones to the tiara. They really pop against the gold.

The first couple of photos show a low set center stone of the tiara that I made for this tutorial. Give you another look at the high set one too.

You'll need about  1.5 feet of fishing line per crystal. Thread the fishing line through the crystal and tie it to the wire frame on the tiara.You'll want one short end and the majority of the wire on the other end, as shown in the second photo.

Attach a needle to the long end of the fishing line and loop it around through the beaded wire and the wire frame. You want to use a loop stitch that will go in between the space of every bead.This is sometimes called a blanket stitch, but this should not have the lines of stitches in between. Basically just loop around, and around, and around. You can see what it looks like in the second to last photo.

Your tiara is really starting to take shape now! Remember, this is the low set center stone.

When looking at the real crown, I noticed these little pearl flowers. These are not on the thumbnail photo, but it will bling your crown out a little bit and they are easy.

String five white pearls onto fishing wire and tie it securely. Thread a teal pearl onto another piece of fishing wire and make a single loose knot, like the beginning of tying shoes. Put that over the top of your circle of white pearls and double knot it as seen in the second to last photo.

There were some big gaps in my tiara, so I took three pink beads and tied them together in a tight knot. They will automatically make the triangle formation seen.

Now the fun part. Glue the rhinestones all over the tiara. There were some empty spaces I wasn't fond of, so I filled them with the embellishments and some other pearls. You can get the pearls in many colors and sizes at Michael's if you decide to go this route.

Here's my previously made and improved upon. It's more simple, but I think it looks more like the real tiara even without the added embellishments.

Go ye forth and channel your inner princess. Please feel free to ask for any needed clarification. If you make a tiara yourself using this tutorial, I'd love to see it and please remember to link back for credit.