Easy Fantasy Tiara

Hello, my fellow Fae, fairies, fair folk, mermaids, nyads, dryads, hamadryads, and general fantasy enthusiasts! Today, I will be showing you how to create a simple fantasy tiara without fancy tools, jewelry wire, or wire wrapping skills. This project takes hardly any time (I did this one in under an hour) and is a perfect finishing touch to a LARP or cosplay. Now, let's get to our materials!

Florist wire (mine came in long straight pieces 18 inches long)

Glass or plastic beads (little ones, not big like pony beads, and also you will want to avoid cube shaped ones and ones with facets)

A rhinestone, plastic gem, larger bead, marble, or rock about the size of a finger tip (for the middle of your crown)

Bias tape or ribbon in a color matched either your beads, your gem, or your hair.

Tools:

A hot glue gun

Pliers, if you want to be really careful

Scissors, in case you need to cut your wire.

To start this crown, you need to get a piece of wire around 18 inches long, as straight as possible. Mine was already this length. If you are a younger princess making this, or perhaps a slightly smaller fairy or halfling, then you can adjust the length of the wire. It just needs to be able to go from slightly behind one ear to slightly behind the other. Add an inch or two on, just to make sure.

Find the middle of your wire and bend it in half, and then cross the ends of the wire, making a little loop a bit smaller than your gem you are using for the middle of the crown. Florist wire is easily reshaped, so don't worry if it doesn't do what you want the first time.

Next, gently bend the big ends of the wires into big curves. They should look like the second picture. This gives the front of the crown that arched shape.

To finish this step, fit the crown to your head. Hold the middle loop in the middle of your forehead and bend the ends around your head. Don't worry if it gets misshapen. Florist wire is very forgiving.

To make your crown look fancy, you need to have a big shiny thing in the middle. This is where that big rhinestone or plastic gem comes in. Get out your hot glue gun, and apply glue to the back of your stone. Then carefully stick the loop in the middle of your crown onto it. Make sure you glue it to the correct side! I almost glued mine to the inside of the crown, meaning all you would be able to see was a mess of hot glue on the back. Be careful with this part. Hot glue can burn you, and fairy fingers are very delicate.

To make the rest of the crown fancy, you get to do some good old fashioned beading. Take your little beads and string them onto the wire. This is easier to do it you put the gem on the table face down, and put something heavy on top of it. This makes the wire ends stand up in the air, so the beads don't fall off. Bead to the point where the crown would meet the top of your ear. You can check this against your head, but make sure you hold on right behind the beads so they don't go sliding off. It is important to use round beads, because this will be pressing against your forehead, and square or faceted beads would hurt after a while. It is a burden to rule Elf-land, but your crown should at least be comfortable.

Now to complete the crown! Get your hot glue gun and put a dab of glue behind the beads, so they won't slide off. Now you can be a little more careless with it. Take your bias tape or ribbon and glue an end right behind the beads. Then continue to wrap the bias tape around the wire until you get close to the end. Bend the very ends into a loop before wrapping, so no poky bits bother your elven ears. Leave a lot of extra ribbon. Then fit the crown to your head again, and tie the ends of the ribbon behind your head, under your hair. Have a friend cut off the extra ribbon, leaving enough for you to tie and untie the crown easily.

Your tiara is finished! Go rule the forest, the flowerbed, the bottom of the sea, the Renaissance fair, or the backyard. This tiara is very durable, and is easy to bend back into shape if it gets squished in play or storage. Enjoy your symbol of leadership, and may you live happily ever after!