Make a Fresh Flower Crown

Floral crowns are sure having their moment of glory these days. The trend pops into fashion every now and again, but some of the most inspiring versions are those from the Pre-Raphaelites.

I spotted Spring by Lawrence Alma-Tadema (look closely!) last year while at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles, and ever since I’ve been wanting to make my own version. I finally sat down and experimented with some lovely flowers and wish I had an excuse to wear it around town. The beauty of working with real flowers is that you don’t need any materials other than the flowers.

So, let’s go!

You will need:
Flowers of your choice and clippers. The pliable flowers are best to work with for the base of the crown. Try bending the stem first to make sure it doesn’t crack. If it does, consider trying something else. For this floral crown, I used black dahlias, tidsel (the greenery for the base), astilbe (the pink), craspedia (the yellow balls), and virburnum berries (the turquoise and purple).

Cut and line up the first round of flowers for the base of your crown. Ideally, the stems should be 5-9″ long each. You can cut them down but it’s harder to work with shorter stems. I suggest using greenery first and then adding the colors into it.

Lay one stem perpendicular on top of another.

Bend the stem under.

Bring the stem up to the top and then press it down so it lies next to the first.

While holding the two stems in place with your left hand, place another stem on top and bend it under.

Bring the stem up again and then place it parallel with the others.

Repeat the process until it’s the size of the circumference of the head. I added some different greenery into the middle to create more of a focal point when it’s worn.

When you get to the end, wrap the last stem tightly around the others to secure them in place, making sure that it doesn’t break.

To finish off the circle, weave the last stems into the beginning of the crown by tucking them in.

Now you can start adding in other flowers. I added longer pieces first so that the shorter flowers can be seen at the end.

Place your show-stopper flowers evenly around the crown. I used black dahlias as my main piece.

Finishing touches: Continue adding in your flowers evenly around the crown. I added in berries at the end for some exclamation marks.

There are several different versions to a floral crown. You can switch off flowers for the base of the crown instead of adding the flowers in at the end, or you can keep it simple and just use one variety. After completing one, you’ll want to turn every flower you see into a crown. Good luck!

Photography by Brittany Watson Jepsen and Amanda Thomsen.