DIY Greenery Crown

We had our maternity photos done 2 weeks ago and I am beyond thrilled with how they turned out! Of course, they were shot by my good friend, Janine, of Janine Soltman Photography, and we shot them at Kruger’s Farm on Sauvie Island. I will do a full post of all the gorgeous photos soon, but this post is all about the eucalyptus crown that I made and wore for some of the photos.

I tend to see things on Pinterest and get these ideas in my head of what I want. I ended up not wearing the crown for most of the shoot but I did love how it turned out. Using eucalyptus made the crown pretty big and full, if you wanted a thinner and not so “drapey” look (drapey…is that a thing?) you could easily substitute different greenery and you can add in flowers as well. The possibilities are endless!

Supplies
greenery or flowers of your choice
green floral tape
24 gauge floral wire
scissors
ribbon of your choice

Step 1: Use the wire to create a circular crown, measuring it to the head of whoever is going to wear it. Don’t measure it too tight as it will get a bit tighter after adding greens, flowers and tape. Layer the wire 3 times, cut the wire and twist loose end around the crown to secure the wire in place. Then use floral tape to secure this area of the crown to maintain the correct size. Note: If you haven’t used floral tape, it is not a normal sticky tape. This is a paper tape that sticks to itself when it is stretched and pressed together.

Step 2: Begin to build the crown. Cut small pieces of greenery or flowers, with the stem being about 1 1/2″ long. Use one piece of greenery or flower along the wire crown, hold stem with one hand and attach with floral tape with the other hand. Wrap the floral tape until the length of the stem is covered. Choose your next stem, lay it in place to that the bloom or leaves sit where you want it to and repeat wrapping the stem to the wire until it is covered. I alternated a stem of leaves and stem of buds to get the mixed and layered look.

Continue adding greens or florals until the entire crown is covered. When you get towards the end, you will have to be a bit careful to attach the tape in between some of the first stems you attached. Go slowly so you don’t break any stems and weave the tape in between.

Step 3: If you’d like, you can finish the look by adding ribbons to the back of the crown. Depending on what greens or florals used, this could look too busy but I simply tied them in one spot so it is easy to change your mind and remove the ribbons if you end up not liking it.

I used a basic ivory lace ribbon and an ivory sheer chiffon ribbon and cut 2 long strips of each. I very simply, tied them in a single knot on the back side (or what would become the back side) of the crown. Once all pieces of ribbon are attached, cut the ribbon at different lengths to give it some texture.