How To

Just Like the Books: DIY Flower Crown

From LITTLE WOMEN to ANNE OF GREEN GABLES, DIY Flower Crowns are perfect for a Spring Picnic and give you plenty of scope for the imagination.

Ann-Marie Cahill

Staff Writer

Ann-Marie Cahill will read anything and everything. From novels to trading cards to the inside of CD covers (they’re still a thing, right?). A good day is when her kids bring notes home from school. A bad day is when she has to pry a book from her kids’ hands. And then realizes where they get it from. The only thing Ann-Marie loves more than reading is travelling. She has expensive hobbies.

View All posts by Ann-Marie Cahill

Mar 20, 2020

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Ever since I read Anne of Green Gables, I have always always wanted to make my own flower crown. I even tried the easier option of weaving into a straw hat (side note: NOT the easier option). Maybe I didn’t have the right flowers or the right climate for it but for some reason, it never worked out. My DIY Flower Crown was always a DNQ: Did Not Quite…Yet another book-related dream to leave behind in my youth. And then the universe offered up a Flower Crown Workshop!! Sign me up and take my money!! Now I know how to make a flower crown AND I can share it with you! Big thanks to Sydney Flower School and Play World Australia for the opportunity.

How to Make a Flower Crown

There are three ways to make a flower crown:

Use floristry wire as your core structure
Use flexible aluminum wire to create a frame
Use a twisted vine or long stems as your foundation

Each of these methods is easy to do; the difference is on your expectations and uses for it. If you’re heading outside to enjoy the fresh new Spring wafting through your garden, then a sweet ‘n simple vine/long-stem design will suit you for the day. However, if you’re planning on using this crown for a special event, you’re going to want more structure with the aluminum frame. I’m going to step you through the middle option: Using floristry wire as your core structure. This will hold its shape for a little longer and allow you to explore your creativity with a greater range of flowers.

What You Will Need for a DIY Flower Crown

Binding wire (available at most local hardware or garden centres)
Ribbon or string
Fresh flowers (see below for our suggestions)
Floral tape – blends in with your flowers and holds the flowers together
Cutters – not your good fabric scissors. Something to cut the flowers and wire.

Flowers Worthy of a Crown

It’s all about the flowers!! However, your choice of flowers will set the tone for the crown you will wear. Are you looking for something full and glorious? Or a lighter, more gentle circlet? If you choose a bold signature flower, it can help to break it up with some greenery and ‘filler flowers’ to round out the look. Here are some of our favourites:

Photo by A Cahill / Suggested flowers for DIY flower crown

Signature Flower

Daisy (Innocence and purity) Asters (patience) Gerberas (cheerfulness) Peony (compassion) Sunflower (adoration) Anemone Carnation

Filler Flowers

Baby’s Breath Snapdragon Feverfew Delphinium Freesia Thistle

Greenery

Myrtle Ivy Eucalyptus Leatherleaf fern Silver Fern Dusty Miller

Method

Measure the wire to about twice your head’s circumference
Create a small loop at each end
Take three flowers with stems about 10cm/4 inches long. Braid/Plait the stems together
Take the wire and wrap it around the flower stems, rolling it around to hold the flowers to the wire
Photo by A Cahill / how to make a DIY flower crown
Continue to add new flowers to the braid/plait, and roll the wire around to secure it the flowers to the structure

Make sure you use plenty of greenery to support the flowers and balance the weight of the crown

Don’t worry too much about loose edges sticking out. A slightly wild look suits the flower crowns and you can always tidy up the really “sticky-out bits” with floral tape

Once you have enough to cover your head, tape of the end of the flower braid to the wire

Weave the ribbon through the loops at the end of the wire, and pull tight to tie at the back of your head.

Wear your crown with pride and wild abandonment!! And there you have it!! Whether you’re channelling Anne of Green Gables or Little Women or any other ‘flower crown–worthy’ book, this simple design will give you plenty of scope for the imagination!

Photo by A Cahill