DIY Tiana (Princess and the Frog) Tiara Version One

Tiana is a very lucky princess, she gets TWO tiaras! This tutorial will teach you how to make the first tiara that she wears with the blue dress at the beginning of the movie.

This tiara cost <$5 and takes 20-30 minutes to make.

To create this tiara, you'll need:

Pliers
A metal headband
Faceted clear beads (I used plastic diamond shaped ones)
Fishing line
Floral wire
A needle

I purchased all my materials at Michael's, but I am sure you could get them at most craft stores.

Cut three pieces of wire. I cut them a bit short which made it harder to attach to the headband later. I'd suggest you cut two 7 inch pieces and one 8 inch piece.

Bend about 1 inch of one end of each wire and string beads onto each piece of wire and bend the last inch. The number of beads you use will vary depending on the size of the beads you use. I used 30 in the large piece and 20 on each of the smaller pieces.

Now, attach the large piece in the middle of the headband. Bend the wire in the middle of the beads to make a 60 degree angle. Hold the bent wire in front of the headband and twist the excess wire around the back of the headband, This will keep the wire hidden and give your tiara a nice finished look when you're done.

Looking at pictures of the tiara, I noticed that the two smaller pieces meet in the middle of the larger piece. So bend and attach one end of the smaller piece in the middle of the larger piece and one on the outside. Make sure that the smaller piece goes behind the larger piece as the larger piece is central to the design.

The pieces are not very secure on the headband yet, so you'll need to secure the pieces together to stabilize them for the rest of the project.

Use a piece of fishing line and tie each of the small pieces to the large piece. Make sure to make the knot in the back so it won't be visible. I tied mine in between the fifth and sixth beads because it was a natural place where the pieces met..

To start this, get a piece of fishing line about a foot long and tie a bead securely onto one end then thread a needle onto the other. Position the bead on the end of the line in between where the two small pieces meet. Hold the bead in place and loop the fishing line around the back of the headband and back through the bead. This will anchor the line in place so all the beads will stay where you want them to.

Continue to thread beads on and loop around the back of the headband. Go all the way to the end and after securing the last bead, thread the line through the bead three of four times and make a knot inside the headband.

To bead the other half of the tiara, thread the needle onto another foot of fishing line. Thread the needle through the center bead you secured and tie a knot on the inside of the tiara. Bead, loop, and finish like the other side.

Have fun with your Tiana tiara!

If you make a tiara using this tutorial, I'd love to see it!

Stay tuned for Tiana's other and more well known tiara.