DIY: Floral Head Wreaths

So Dong and I went to the Sterling Renaissance Festival on Saturday and while we were there I was instantly charmed by the headpieces they were selling:

They had all types, from dainty and cute to ornate and ostentatious. The prices were from $20 up... and being with my frugal hubby, I went away empty handed. Sigh. But of course, that didn't mean I couldn't take pictures with them... sooooooo....

Although I came home empty handed, my heart was full of passion - to make my own floral wreaths! Muhahaha! So after perusing some other diy's online and gathering the basics at Michael's, I was ready to start on my journey of head-wreathery.

Materials:

• 18 gauge floral wire
• floral tape (i got waterproof kind... but I think the normal kind is better)
• fabric flowers
• assorted greenery
• assorted ribbons
• gold and gold glitter acrylic paint (optional)

Directions:

1. Shape the floral wire into a "headband" shape, like a U. I also twisted the ends into loops, which I planned to put ribbons into. I also felt like the one wire by itself was slightly flimsy so I took another wire and wrapped it around my original wire to make it more sturdy. 

2. Add silk flowers to your liking, securing them to the wire with floral tape. I didn't want it to be overwhelming so I only put a few bunches on.

3. Add greenery, securing with floral tape. I tried to make it look as "natural" as plastic greenery and fabric flowers can be, hehe.

4. At this point, you could be very well finished with the headband and then you can just add ribbon streamers to the loops at either end, and call it a day! However, one of my favorites at the fair was a glittery gold wreath with little rosebuds... so I wanted to imitate that with gold and glitter paint. I'll tell you now though, it's annoying to paint those leaves!!!

UPDATE: I found that it's a lot easier to paint the sprigs of greenery first with gold and glitter, let them dry, and then assemble as above.  Give it a day to fully dry so you don't end up smearing paint all over!

5. Add ribbons in complementing colors to the loops. For each loop, I had an extra long ribbon that would be used for tying, while the others were decorative streamers.

head wreath GLAMOUR SHOT

And then that's it! Wear and enjoy. They're not exactly like the fair ones but I think they turned out okay. I also experimented and made a smaller coronet version:

Can't wait to share them with my ladies and see how they look~!