Thursday, 16 June 2022

Craft: Making a Flower Crown Just From Flowers

Want to wow everyone at a summer festival or solstice rite? Make yourself a flower crown just from flowers - no wire, no glue, no tape, no ribbon. It's actually quite easy. That picture at the top shows me wearing my first ever attempt. Here's one way to do it.

First pick some flowers. Ideally choose ones with long, reasonably firm stems. I've seen them made with oxe-eye daisies, dandelions and lavender. I made mine mostly from tutsan, which is a type of St John's wort that grows profusely in my garden at this time of year, but I added a bit of honeysuckle and a few other wildflowers. 

If you are foraging, please don't pick anything rare and make sure you leave enough for bees and other wildlife. Also, check there aren't any insects resting on your plants. Give them a shake before taking them indoors to let any little residents find a new home if you didn't spot them earlier.

At your crafting table you will probably need some scissors, but that's all apart from the flowers. Strip off excess leaves and cut the stems to a reasonable length. The first flower you use will need the longest stem. The others should be about 20-25cm (8-10 inches) in my experience. I've seen instructions say they only need to be about 4-5 inches, but I found that was too short for my fingers to keep in place easily. You can always trim ends off later. 

Place your first flower, the one with the longest stem, flat on your table. Place a second flower over that so the stems lie next to each other initially. Then twist the stem of the second flower around the back of the first stem, then up and behind the second flower but in front of the first stem, then back down again so it lies next to the first stem again. You are pretty much tying it in a simple knot. You can see me doing that in the photo to the left.

Carry on doing that until you have flowers connected together in a length that will wrap around your head with some stems overlapping. Twist this into a circle, then wrap another flower stem around the overlapping bit, poking the end of the stem through the middle of the bit where all the stems meet, to join them. You might have to use a few flowers this way to give it extra stability. 

More flowers can be poked through the crown as further adornments. The picture below shows a basic finished crown before extra flowers are added. There are other methods, including braiding plants like ivy. If you've had a go at creating a flower crown, or another favourite summer make, do leave a comment! My links at the bottom of this post are to some other crafty witchy things. 

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/06/june-mandala-summer-solstice-sun-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/06/summer-mandala-sun-wheel-of-leaves.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/07/spells-making-peace-dust-from-foraged.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/07/my-attempt-at-making-easy-corn-dolly.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/05/craft-how-to-make-witchs-wand.html

1 comment:

Julie W said...

Great tips! Definitely a good time to do it when lots of climbers have long new grown stems which are flexible and not woody, as they will be later in the year.