DIY: Flower Crowns

By Ashley O’Connor

Celebrate the height of cut-flower season with a fun flower crown activity. With friends, family, or just yourself, it’s an easy way to highlight some seasonal blooms. And with proper supervision kids can join in too!

Gathering the flowers is the best part. Flower crowns offer lots of flexibility. Use whatever flowers you have access to in your home garden or from your local florist or cut-flower farm. 

Materials:

·         Floral wire

·         Floral tape

·     Pruners

·         Wire cutters

·         Greenery/Vines

·         Flowers!

Instructions:

Step 1- Measure floral wire around your head to estimate the right length, then cut it with wire cutters -- leaving a bit extra. (Complete steps and 1 and 2 for children)

Step 2- Bend the wire in a rough circular shape and twist the ends together or wrap with floral tape.

Step 3- Wrap the wire with a strong vine such as a Morning Glory (Ipomoea purpurea) or long-stemmed greens like Dill or Fennel. Keep in mind the more vine you use, the more natural the crown looks and the easier it is to attach flowers.

Step 4- Leaving at least 3-4 inches of stem; weave the flower stems into the wrapped vine OR create small arrangements of flowers, wrapping the stems together in floral tape or floral wire. Then attach these arrangements to the base of your crown with more floral tape or floral wire.
   You can place as many flowers around the crown as you like for a full look or just have one small bunch gathered on either side of your head for a more "Roman" look. 

Step 5-Take pictures of your beautiful creations! Be sure to use #gardenDC if you post it on social media so we can re-share them.

TIP: These floral crown creations are ephemeral -- perhaps lasting a day at most. If you want a permanent crown, you can use good quality, realistic silk flowers or paper flowers.

Four-legged friends love them too! Editor and publisher of Washington Gardener Kathy Jentz
and Santino, on of her cats, spend an afternoon making this pretty accessory.

About the Author:
Ashley O’Connor, a senior multi-platform journalist at the University of Maryland. This autumn, she is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener.

This is a monthly blog series on DIY projects for the beginning home gardener. Look for the other installments in this DIY blog series by putting "DIY" in the search box here at washingtongardener.blogspot.com.