DIY Floral Crowns

Recently I did flowers for a friend's wedding and made floral crowns for her bridesmaids and flower girls.  They are so easy and can really be done any time with whatever wildflowers are blooming on any given day.  You can make them for a special occasion or just for fun.  Have a tea party and leave one on your guests plates. Make them for your grandchildren and play dress up.  Take one for a birthday gift.  So many options to try them...                                                                                                          
You will have to gather a few supplies to get started.  I use a light guage floral wire and the green florists tape.  Both can be found at local craft stores.  I gathered up a few wildflowers that were blooming and some greenery to fill in and I was ready to put it all together.    

First I wrapped the floral tape around the wire.  You have to pull on the tape to get the tape to stick.  You also don't want it to be bulky so the the tighter you pull it the finer it will be.  I wired 2 10-12 inch wires and then wrapped them together to form a circle, or crown.  You can measure the heads and adjust for adult verses child size or you can wait till you are done and bend it to fit any size.

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Next I cut a bunch of the flowers and greens to have 1 inch stems.  You want them to be long enough to get wrapped in the tape but not too long.  Grab a piece of each and place them on the wire crown and wrap with the floral tape. Once again, the tighter you wrap the tape, the tighter the crown will stay. You also want to make sure the ends of the flower stems are wrapped in the tape.

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  This holds the moisture in the flowers and they will last longer.  Keep grabbing flowers and continue to wrap until the circle is complete.  Bend the crown to fit the head.  Bigger is better if you're not sure of size, you can make it smaller but you can't make it bigger. If you are making them ahead of time, spray them with water and put in a plastic bag in the refrigerator.                                                     

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Be ready to makes someone's day a little brighter-  throw those extra flowers in a vase or pint jar and give them away as well.                                                                                                                                                 


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**Helpful hints**
Pick your garden or wildflowers early in the morning and place in water so they are refreshed.
Practice taping the wire before you actually build the floral crown.
Add a ribbon to the back for length.
If you are making them for an event, make one ahead and see how they last in the fridge and how long they last as a crown so you know how much life they have.  Each flower is different.
Practice makes perfect, if your first one doesn't turn out the best, try it again.  And again...