As you might imagine, we have a lot of wool felt around here.
So last year, when my son asked me to make him a birthday crown, I pulled out the scrap bag. It was an unusual request as he is not really into headgear, but he wanted everyone to know it was his special day. He picked out a color for the background, we added a golden "4", some leaves (for my expert tree climber), and since it needed a little kick, red wooden berries. I finished it with a piece of elastic in the back for easy on and off. The whole project took about an hour.
Of course, crowns aren't only for birthdays. They can inspire creative play in everyday life. Often a simple accessory is all it takes to send a little girl deep in the sea as a mermaid adventuress:
Or high in the sky as the queen or king of the dawn (first one up gets to wear the crown!):
The addition of lingerie elastic (purchase on etsy in a myriad of colors or find at your local craft store) makes these crowns more versatile as they tie on and then stretch to fit different head sizes. I make my crowns with a layer of fusible interfacing sandwiched between two layers of felt.
This is a great project to get older children involved with, cutting the felt shapes and gluing or hand sewing them on. I love the idea of using a child's whimsical drawing as the template for a crown. Draw a crown shape full size on paper and let them design the details, then cut apart as a pattern for the felt version. When a well-loved crown gets a little dirty, toss it in the washer and then lay flat to dry.
Really, isn't childhood a series of small celebrations?
What sort of crown would most inspire your little one to dream?
