How to Make a Woodland Crown

My High School is putting on a production of The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe this April. As being both in the cast and being an intern at our school's Innovative Learning Center, which agreed to make the props, I made Queen Susan's crown.

This project became more than just a project for school; it became a passion project for me. I put in about 15 hours working on this crown, but don't worry, I have ways to make it faster for someone looking to make this crown!

This is fully functional and will be used in our upcoming show performances!

These are the supplies NEEDED:

1. 3 mm gold wire - https://a.co/d/0ajuKHu0
2. 20-gauge gold wire - https://a.co/d/05xRCqgm
3. Needle nose jewelry pliers - https://a.co/d/0eDMMdk1
4. Flat head jewelry pliers - https://a.co/d/0eDMMdk1
5. Small wire cutters - https://a.co/d/0eDMMdk1
6. 1 bottle of clear UV resin - https://a.co/d/07cGMfiB
7. 1 UV light - https://a.co/d/05H2fVkL
8. 1 bottle caramel colored UV resin - https://a.co/d/0d53Bpy
9. 1 bottle of caramel colored resin dye - https://a.co/d/0fuwmYvo
10. Bead resin mold - https://a.co/d/07tvaIoj
11. Tooth picks - https://a.co/d/06lSUaiK
12. Resin mixing cups - https://a.co/d/0gXienoX
13. Deburring Tool - https://a.co/d/01LwKtxQ

IF YOU DO NOT MAKE THE FLOWERS OR DON'T WANT TO MAKE THE BEADS:

1. Brown 1 in beads - https://a.co/d/0ewJxjeF
2. Yellow Flower charms - https://a.co/d/0gRXlect

OPTIONAL supplies:

1. Gold glitter flakes - https://a.co/d/0iIzh5S1
2. 1 bottle of yellow resin dye - https://a.co/d/0fuwmYvo
3. 1 bottle of white resin dye - https://a.co/d/0fuwmYvo
4. Small shiny brown beads - https://www.michaels.com/product/3mm-czech-fire-polish-round-bead-gold-shine-saddle-brown-50-pieces-83496807700332545
5. Resin Tape - https://a.co/d/0fVHEnEd

TIP: Almost all resin-related things can be found from the brand Let's Resin on Amazon (Not a paid promotion, just love their products!)

Using the bead resin mold, add a tiny bit of the precolored caramel resin.

Then, color some resin with about 3 drops of caramel resin dye in a resin mixing cup and use the toothpicks to mix it.

OPTIONAL: add gold flecks to the darker colored resin while mixing the color.

Pour this newly dyed resin to fill the rest of the molds.

To make the other color beads swap, which color takes up the majority of the mold.

Use the UV light to set the resin. (Tips - 60 sec and then flip the mold over for 60 more sec)

Make around 20 beads.

Bend the 3mm wire similarly to the video above. You should bend the wire until the length bent can almost wrap around your head. Use wire cutters to cut off the wire when you are at a good length of bends.

To explain the video in words, you will bend the wire around the needle-nose pliers, then bend it in the opposite direction about an inch down from the first bend.

Wrap 20-gauge gold wire around one of the ends around 4 times. Then start wrapping and adding the beads like the video above, with around 3 wraps of the wire between adding each new bead.

I mixed up my colors, having every other color be the lighter caramel and the same with the darker.

The end should look like the photo above.

Use the same 20-gauge gold wire to add these little extra pieces. I wrapped them after every three beads or so. The pictures may help you visualize how I did this.

Cut around 20, 2-inch pieces of the 20-gauge gold wire. Follow the pictures above to bend the wire into a leaf shape. You will need all 20 to be bent this way.

In words:

Around a quarter inch from the end, bend the wire to an almost 90 degrees. Around 1/8th inch after the first bend, bend the wire the same as the first, almost like making a square. Add more little bends to make it into more of an oval shape, and flatten out the original bends to make them less sharp. Cut off the extra wire to make the shape fully closed and flat.

THEN:

Cut around 15, 1.5-inch pieces of the same wire and use the same process to make smaller leaves.

Color the clear resin using the same process as the first time, but instead of caramel, use 3 drops of yellow dye and 3-4 drops of white dye. This will be the color for the larger leaves. The color for the smaller leaves will be 3 drops of yellow and 1-2 drops of white.

Lay all the larger leaf shapes onto resin tape (taped to a flat surface close enough that you can put the UV light over it) and pour one or two drops of the colored resin into the shapes.

Use a toothpick to spread the resin out to fit the entire shape. It is OK if the resin leaks out of the sides of the metal outline; they will get cleaned up anyway.

Then let the resin set with the UV light (I recommend 120 sec before you take the resin pieces off the tape and flip them to set them for 60 more sec).

Using the same process, do this with the smaller leaves and their color.

Using the deburring tool and wire cutters, clean up the sides of all the leaves. The extra resin that had spilt should detach from the metal frame fairly easily. TIP: To make the leaves look more 3D, use needle-nose pliers to bend the flower carefully (like you are bending it in half horizontally) while it is still newly set - this can be done with all the leaves, no matter the size.

Once all the leaves are cleaned up, assemble 5 sets of four big leaves with their points towards each other on top of the resin tape. Use a drop of clear resin in each center and set it with the UV light to secure the base for each flower.

Add the smaller leaves just slightly off the center of the base flower with another drop of resin and let it set with the UV light.

Using one last drop of resin, add a little shiny brown bead to the center and set it with resin.

You should have 5 flowers made now.

Now you will either use the flowers you just made or the bought flower charms to decorate the crown.

Use small drops of resin to secure 4 flowers evenly around the crown, either to the wire or to some of the beads. You will have to hold the flower together to the base as it sets, so it stays in place.

I used a previous hairpiece to make the back and attached a flower to it to make it cohesive. I secured it to the crown just like I secured the flowers. You can either buy a hairpiece like the one linked in the supplies section, or you can just finish the crown end by bending the wire to make loops that bobby pins can go into, like the image above that is not mine.

I added little leaves that I stole from a cheap Greek jewelry set, but you can add any other decorations, or also find similar leaves if you want.

I personally think that the crown does not need these leaves, so that's why I only added around four.

I, of course, had to try on this beauty, and can't wait to see it on our Queen Susan.

You should show off your creation, too! If you make this, then you need to show it off to show people how creative someone can be!

And if you have any questions along the way, don't hesitate to comment and ask! I would love to answer!