The Snow Crown

So this is my boy wearing a crown-in-progress.  The Snow Crown is the only conservatively decorated crown I've made.

In the last post, I showed the various stages of Crown Making.  For this crown, I wrapped the base in cream colored sherpa fleese .

The main differences are:

    I added a row of wire swirls to attach the "peaks and valleys" profile.  There's an additional wire on top of the swirls.

     I completely wrapped exposed electrical wire in 24 gauge wire.

    The only beads are large pearl beads, iridescent clear beads and a string of aqua party beads.

Of course, it wouldn't be finished without dangles, so I bent the peaks in and added them to the inside.  I like it!

The Big Halloween Crown

 

This is the biggest crown I've made so far.  I took a few photos of the process to share with you so let's go!

I use copper electrical wire for crown making because it's easy to bend and forgiving enough to be straightened again.  I grab Hub's three strand roll and measure by loosely wrapping it around my head three times. Then I strip all the plastic coating off the wires and separate them.

Wrap one strand around your head three times once again and use 24 gauge wire to bind it so it doesn't slip.

Next you'll decide the profile. Will it be tall or compact?  Will it be a flourish all in front like a pageant crown, or peaks and valleys like a king's crown?

I went with tall peaks and valleys for this crown.  To make the profile, you'll take another piece of wire and start bending.  Use the whole wire for this, you can cut extra or add more as you need. Keep in mind that the peaks don't have to be the same height, you can have fun with it.

After you decide the height and spacing, use more 24 gauge wire to wrap and secure the profile to the base.  the more you wrap, the sturdier the frame will be.  Because of the size of this crown, I needed an extra piece of wire.  I doubled the number of peaks to twelve.

Use the third wire to make small scrolls and spirals (or any shape you want to fill in with) and wire them together.  Again, the more wrapping you do, the more blah blah blah. 

After all the pieces are together, you can wrap the base to cushion it.  I used black velour cut into strips to wrap it.  I've also used crocheted scarves and Sherpa fleece from old sweaters.  Choose a material that won't unravel.  secure the material with a needle and thread.  I usually sew beads on as well.
TRY THE CROWN ON AS YOU'RE WRAPPING THE BASE, SO IT DOESN'T END UP TOO TIGHT FOR YOUR HEAD

At this point I usually add beads using 24 gauge wire.  I wanted this one to be made with all dangling charms, so added tons of closed loops in the electrical wire.  I made 240+ charms.

The decorating is the fun part! I use all kinds of beads, broken jewelry, knick knacks and doo dads.  It makes any project so personal to use things that have meaning to you.  Here I've used ceramic and polymer clay beads I made and bits from my grandmother's broken jewelry collection.

The harmony Crown

This is one of my favorite crowns!  It's the Harmony Crown.  It took just over 50 hours to complete.  It's filled with bits and pieces of Great Grandma's buttons, Grandma's jewelry, beads given to me from friends.  There are several of my hand made beads - the bird on the front, cookies, skulls, doughnuts,  all my favorite things!  The construction is electrical wire and the base is wrapped with sherpa fleece.

Do you make crowns?  I would love to see!

Creative Me Blog Party

Put a Robot on It

Further crown progress - I put a bird on it AND THEN I put a robot on it!  I'm adding all kinds of details now.  I love color and movement so there will be scads of dangling doodads!

Crowning Progress

I'm working on a new crown for this year.  It's the year of harmony and robots and this crown will reflect that.
The frame of the crown is electrical wire.  I wrap the wire loosely around my head to measure the base.  You need a little extra room for the covering of the base, which in this case is strips of shrepa fleece from an old top. 
Before covering the base. construct the skeleton of shaped wire pieces - curly ques and arches, etc.  They are strung together with 24 gauge wire.  There's a lot of movement at this point.
I wrap the base with stretchy fabric.  This is the first part of the tightening up process.  I usually bead the fabric.
Next I wrap the whole crown with 24 gauge wire.  Now the frame is very sturdy.
Today I'm ready to start adding charms.  I made a singing bird bead from polymer clay.

 Here's the tutorial.

I'm going to make a tiny robot with beads and there are lots of handmade beads that I'm compelled to add because they speak to my warped beingness.  Skulls with jeweled eyes, chocolates and such.  You'll see =0)

In the meantime, hop over to my page at cool2craft.com and see what we're up to!

2012 The Year of (insert your goal here)

 

Click here to watch The Crown Song

The coming year is going to be the year of harmony for Candace the Muse. January's Cool2Craft Creative Play Theme asks you to consider what you want for yourself in 2012.  What do you want to work on, embody, attract or do this coming year?
This is my Harmony Crown.  It's made from a plastic tote, fuzzy yarn, colorful chain pulls, star garland, gems and my own mix of riot beads.  I would so love to see what you can come up with using things you have on hand to create a crown or anything else that represents where you want to be in 2012!  Your submission can be a photo of ANYTHING that shows what you desire!
Don't forget that you earn CoolCash for every theme you participate in!  Four CoolCash points get's you something handmade from my studio.  Last year I gave away some of my favorite projects to fabulous folks who sent me  photos of THEIR favorite projects.  Some of them have earned TWO handmades!  Check out my Creative Play page on our website, cool2craft.com for more details and past theme videos.  On the front page of cool2craft.com you'll find a link to see Creative Play Muse Archives.  This will show you some Creative Play submissions as well as many of my posts.

This is your year to shine online!  Be a Cool2Craft Creative Play Contributor as often as you like and earn my handmade goodies!