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12 June 2012

Classical Winged Tiaras and other Classical Designs

A tiara made out of wire, acrylic rhinestones, and opalescent blue/pearl paint.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/101992839/ice-blue-wing-tiara
A close-up of the center part of the tiara. It takes a long time to bend the wire to exactly where I want it.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/101992286/blue-wing-mercury-tiara?ref=v1_other_2
Another blue wing tiara, this ones is completely wire, with a coating of gloss blue paint. Very Mercury-esque.


https://www.etsy.com/listing/101993399/queen-of-hearts-crown
Another Red Queen of Hearts Tiara!

Lightweight, with "papier-mached" hearts, which are made from white tissue paper around a wire frame, and then painted red and gold.

A photo of myself wearing the bronze Pinecone Rose Flower tiara! I feel so clever when I can make something from a pinecone, where most people wouldn't think to pick up a pinecone off of the ground.

The wire star tiara is quite large, as is evidenced in this photo. It is rusted and then sealed with a varnish.

08 June 2012

Imperial State Crown...lampshade?

I was originally making this wire crown to sell either on Etsy or Ebay, but then I realized that it wasn't going to be a very comfortable accessory to wear, and it is so large! My boyfriend gave me the brilliant idea of turning this thing into a sort of lampshade! I used white tissue paper, and put it in the inside of the wire crown frame, and I plan on actually hanging it upside down (I know, crazy, right?!) from my ceiling. I also plan to put some colored LED lights into it, which will show through the translucent white tissue paper, giving off a cool rainbow effect. If I can't find a colored strand of LEDs, I'll just use the white ones and paint the white tissue paper in various rainbow shades. The whole thing is about 12 inches high!

I do want to make more crowns, so far I have only made one Queen of Hearts crown that sold last Halloween. Crowns are so much harder to make than tiaras, and to get the arches the same size, and to look symmetrical, it is so much harder than you can imagine! I love this dark-colored wire that I used to make it. It is a gauge that isn't so thick that it's hard to maneuver, but it has a strength that allows me to do pretty much whatever I want with it. It was also ridiculously cheap, where I bought this huge coil of it at my college bookstore! And the tissue paper is rescued from an old gift someone gave me! Basically, most of my tiaras only cost me time to make, I get most of the supplies donated, I find some of them (literally, I pick them off of the pavement), some of it I've had for years. I know a lot of artists, and most artists are like bag ladies, keeping tons of supplies that they never end up using. I've gotten polymer clay, costume jewelry, paint, charms, varnishes, spray paint. The cool thing about polymer clay is that it doesn't matter what color it is, you can always spray paint it (or paint it by hand), and that color is normally gold, or glittery. I absolutely love to make tiaras! Most of them only take me about 2 hours to make.

Butterflies and Darkness

 I love coming up with new tiara designs, and finding new things to make tiaras out of. Melinda from the Etsy shop BeesOnPie did an item exchange with me, and one of the things she sent me were these life-sized feather monarch butterflies. I've also been experimenting with real leaves. I've been making tiaras since I was about 16, and most of the ones I made back then were made with dried ivy leaves and dried roses, which I would coat in varnish, paint a pretty color, and then I'd have an interesting tiara. Back then I think I used mostly dried leaves and flowers because I didn't have many other supplies at my disposal, but now I realize it's a new medium from which to make interesting tiaras.
A top view of the tiara. It fits on the head more like a headband. Because the ivy leaves are coated in a flexible varnish, they are are not crunchy and easily breakable, but they are slightly flexible. From my own experience with real dried leaves, the permanence of this piece is at least 5 years, probably more, as long as it is handled with care.

The ivy leaves and butterfly are coated in a sparkling clear glitter, which is coated again in high-gloss varnish to prevent the glitter from falling off.

I quite like this piece, and it reminds me of morning frost on leaves, or even sugar coated confections.

My "steampunk" style crab claw tiara! These are real crab claws, which I found on a beach in Seattle. They are all from the same crab, too, I found his remains in the sand, where I also found a piece of his shell.

A cool Halloween accessory!

This tiara reminds me of the one Maleficent wears in that Disney movie, was it Snow White or Sleeping Beauty? Well, whatever, it is a Dark Empress tiara nonetheless!

The large sequin charms shine brilliantly in the sunlight.

Barbie Doll Tiaras!!!

I have thought about making Barbie tiaras for a long time. I loved playing with Barbies when I was a kid, and I am sure I would have loved to have had a ton of different tiara/crown accessories for them! I am still considering whether I should sell these on Etsy, or rather, TRY to sell them, as I don't know if there is any market for these things. I guess I could always try Ebay, there might be a larger market for Barbie accessories there.
My Scary Spice doll (these dolls are the exact same size as Barbie Dolls) wearing a homemade gold wire heart tiara.

My Victoria Beckham doll wearing a regal piece. I thought it made her look like the Posh snob that was her Spice Girl character!

A rather nice, solid design, in the middle of which I have stuck an acrylic rhinestone. I think I like the Sporty Spice doll best, since she has the nose piercing and looks the most like me!

Baby Spice wearing a simple gold spike style tiara.

Ginger Spice wearing a gold wire "festoon" style tiara, or scroll type tiara. Something like that. But I think it looks rather nice!

30 April 2012

Horse Hair Tiara!!!

This tiara is made out of horse hair and wire. And some ribbon, that has been painted black with India Ink.

I did an item exchange with fellow Etsy shop owner Melinda of Bees on Pie (check out her blog here: http://beesonpie.blogspot.com/) She has this cool necklace in her shop, which reminds me of a "Dark Empress/Sorceress" Necklace! It was an interesting experience making a tiara out of horse hair. When I had wired all the tufts of hair to the tiara base, I had to trim the hair with scissors to make it even. Well, I was sorta drinking my morning cup of coffee while working on this tiara, and in the process of trimming the hair, I sort of got horsehair in my coffee. Worse still, I didn't want to waste my coffee, as it was an almost-full cup, so I tried to drink it anyways...it was rough going down and I don't recommend it! Lesson learned.

22 April 2012

New Tiaras I made in April!

After a very busy couple of weeks at school, I finally had some time to make some tiaras! I had drawn out some designs that I thought up in my head, and I actually made all of them, which is awesome for me, since I normally draw a lot of tiaras that I never end up making. So here are my 9 new tiara designs:
My Snow Queen Tiara
A very Halloween-y black Spiderweb Tiara, made simply out of black wire and paint.

Gold Lace Tiara. Very lightweight, tall, and elegant.

A beautiful green silk flower tiara, which has literally been dusted with gold pigment powder.

My large and awesome Ice Queen Tiara. I love this one, and I may want to make one for myself come this Halloween.

A simple wire, glitter, and crystal heart Sweetheart Tiara.

A very simple tiara made out of wire, covered with glitter, and there are some faux pearls added. It is a mini tiara, with an attached wire comb.

Russian Spike tiara!!! I love spike tiaras, and I have 4 now in my tiara shop.

This is one of my most original and unique tiaras to date. The green leaves are actually real , dried ivy leaves, and the yellow flower is a silk flower that I painted, and a vintage plastic bead sits in the middle of the flower. The whole piece has been thickly coated in clear glitter, giving it a frosty, ice-covered look, and it sparkles like sugar crystals in the sunlight.

28 March 2012

Black Swan

I finally made another Black Swan tiara! I only made two last Halloween, but they were bought out of my Etsy shop within a week of posting them! I am trying to get ahead on Halloween now, and as I have this week off from school, I am working hard to produce some good quality tiaras!

This tiara is fairly similar to another I made. This one is a sort of wire "leafy skeleton" design, coated in mod podge (my favorite art supply!) and painted in matte black acrylic paint. Six small rhinestone charms adorn either side of the tiara, and an acrylic rhinestone sits in the middle.

My pink Empress/Quail Tuft/Egyptian Pharaoh Tiara! The centerpiece is a  glass pendant, and a thin pink wire decorates the black scrolling designs, as well as the base of the tiara.


26 March 2012

New Black Tiara and more!

 Selling on Etsy is alright, it just is sort of a shame when I do sell anything, because I then have to pay both Etsy and PayPal fees from the sale. And Etsy is supposed to be a site where everything being sold is in one of three categories: Handmade, Vintage (20 years old or older), or a Supply. I know as well as you that quite a lot of stuff on Etsy is not handmade, but sellers often lie and say that they handmade everything. Rest assured, I ACTUALLY do hand make everything I sell, and if you've ever read my descriptions I include with my item listings, you will know that I disclose everything on how I made the tiara and out of what! Just as a heads up,  before purchasing something on Etsy that looks too beautiful and perfect to be handmade for such an inexpensive (or oftentimes, extremely expensive) price, check out www.regretsy.com. This site could help you NOT make a bad purchase on Etsy. Etsy needs better monitoring of their own site and all the stuff that is being sold.
This is a fun child's tiara, made by my sister for a friend's daughter.

Because we hand make the tiara frames and bands  out of wire, they can be easily adjusted to fit any sized-head.

A gothic arch, Black Swan inspired tiara. Clear sea glass is suspended in each arch way, and black seed beads and gray stone beads border the upper and lower arches.

It looks absolutely beautiful when worn!

This was a tiara I previously posted on here, but I was never very happy with the design, so I added  acrylic bead-topped pins in between every crystal heart and pearl, and the piece is extremely elegant now.


10 February 2012

Hearts and Stars

I love stars, they've always been one of my favorite motifs in jewelry. This is my second star tiara. It is made from polymer clay, silver star sequins, sparkly paint, and wire.

I adore Alice in Wonderland and especially the Red Queen, or the Queen of Hearts. This is my third Queen-of-Hearts-inspired tiara. I created this one as a small comb, made from wire, ribbon, polymer clay, and spray paint. 

This petite Queen of Hearts comb fits securely into a high ponytail or bun.

A sparkling halo of small silver stars!

Flowers, Gold, and Vintage

My sister made this tiara. It is composed of a wire mesh "ribbon" adorned with vintage earrings. The whole piece has been thoroughly sprayed in metallic gold spray paint, and then coated in a protective varnish. 

Another piece my sister made. This tiara is made from silvertone vintage items, including keys, old buttons, a watch where the face has been removed, and aurora rhinestone beads have been added in its place, vintage earrings, and an old compass pendant.

A close up of the above tiara. Despite its modern elements, it has a very classical look to it, and is very beautiful when worn.

A sparkling gold silk leaf tiara. As always, I am enamored by elves and fantasy, and this is another of my forays into fantasy costume accessories. 

The tiara is extremely lightweight, and comes complete with a handmade gold comb, to allow it to be secure in your hair.

This is one of my favorite tiaras of all time that I have created. I used high-quality purple silk hydrangea flowers that are sprinkled in glitter. Matching sparkly leaves adorn the base of the tiara. My more ingenious addition is the rhinestone elements I have added to the center of each flower. 

The finished tiara is so beautiful, the composition worked so perfectly. This tiara would be great for fairy, elf, or princess costumes, or for Easter, or even for weddings!

A simple but sweet design, made simply from black wire, aurora rhinestone heart charms, faux pearls, and a metallic silver ribbon that has been wrapped around the base.