I'm YOUR Venus
Pink face paint? A toga? A full wedding dress? There are so many ways to accessorize this look.
It’s been too long!
But we are back and ready to craft. Since Halloween is on the horizon, I thought I would do a craft that can double up as a costume because I refuse to believe that Halloween is fully canceled this year. I will sit in full costume inside my house with my cat and boyfriend who will also be in full costume.
So today we are making, “goddess crowns.” I have seen these a lot online. They are popular with cosplayers and you can buy them on Etsy for anywhere between $20-50. People seem to wear them mostly to weddings and photoshoots, but for about $8 you can make one at home for a really easy Halloween vibe.
You will need a headband, a pack of zip ties, glue (I used hot glue for ease, but you can use almost any glue that will work on plastic), and spray paint, I used gold but black and silver are also popular to use.
To start you want to attach zip ties to your headband. Take the small nub side of the zip tie and hold it to what will become the backside of the headband. Then bring the pointed side through the nub and pull tight. You want to make sure that you are attaching them all the same way (ie in the same direction) so the backside of your crown has all the nubs of your zip ties and the front of your crown looks uniform.
I started by adding one to the direct middle and then attaching a zip tie to each side an equal distance from the first. Once I had my first three, I added a fourth at the midpoint between the middle zip tie and the low down zip tie. I did it again on the other side.
I kept bisecting the space between two of the zip ties until my crown started to feel full. When it started to feel like it was coming together, I tried it on and decided it needed another set of zip ties further down. I would advise putting it on your head once or twice through this process to see how it looks on.
I then decided to add a layer of shorter ties. I cut the remainder of my ties to a shorter length and then started to add them in between the longer zip ties.
In all, I used about 24 zip ties and was happy with it, but you can add more for a thicker halo effect. I cut my shorter zip ties before putting them on the crown, however, you can also add all your zip ties and then cut them to shape the crown as well. This way works especially well if you are trying to do more of a crown shape and not a halo shape. For reference, here is one my friend Eric made by shaping after attaching them all. Important note, you want to cut your shape (however you do it) before you spray paint.
Once you are happy with your shape. You should glue down your ties. They stay pretty well attached without this step, but tacking them down, will make your crown so much stronger. I added two lines of hot glue, you really only need one, but I wanted to make mine extra strong. If you are only doing one line of glue, I would do it on the back.
I did one line of glue in the back and one under the headband in the front and then connected them by the ears to make sure everything stayed tight. When your glue has dried, it is time to spray paint.
Follow the directions on the spray paint can because they do tend to vary a little based on brand, but make sure you don’t spray too close as it can get messy and the paint can get tacky.
You should end up with something that looks like this. I haven’t done it yet, but you can also add fake flowers or spray-painted stars, etc to give it more drama.
Wait for your spray paint to dry (it should be really quick) and then you have at least one half of a costume.
Let me know, if you make one, what the final costume was or if you just want to wear it around (no shame in that).
For my NYC readers, early voting is happening now as well as in other states. If you want to know more about it, there is a ton of info here. If you want to get more involved, it’s a great time to phone bank. There are a ton of ways to do it, but here is a link to how my friends have been doing it. If phone banking seems too much, reach out to your family or friends and talk to them about why it’s important to you that they vote. And I am not above shaming them to vote blue. Make sure as the election approaches that you have a plan on how to vote and that you have done your research.
As always, stay safe and stay crafting.