The lace princess crowns we made for Grace’s princess party continue to receive much wear around here. When the girls put on their leotards or princess gowns for their nightly performances, they now bring crowns and bobby pins to complete their look.
The little girls enjoyed helping when the crowns were made and we thought we’d share how we did it so that you and your little princesses can make some crowns, too. I got the original how-to on Jessica’s blog, Joyfolie, which you can check out, here.
We used a variety of vintage and newer crocheted lace pieces (we made a total of 10 crowns) cut to about 15″ long. Pour a good amount of fabric stiffener into a wide cup and place the lace pieces inside. Wearing gloves, work the fabric stiffener into the lace until they are completely saturated. Spread the lace pieces out onto washable mats or wax paper and allow to dry. While the lace is still very wet, flip the pieces every now and then and make sure that the liquid does not form “windows” in the lace holes. We left the lace to dry overnight and it became very stiff. Then we painted with acrylic paint in several colors of gold, silver, bronze, pearl, and pink. (Actually, for the silver, I used spray paint which was MUCH faster!)
After the paint was dry, we spread mod podge on the lace and sprinkled on glitter, obviously an optional step. This was definitely the girls’ favorite part! Shake the excess glitter off and leave the lace pieces flat to dry completely. Once they were fully dry, I gave them a couple coats of clear spray laquer to try to keep the glitter under control. Then, form the lace into a circle and hot glue the overlapped ends (match the pattern). Done!
And here’s the birthday girl in her crown!
I’ve created an updated post with LOTS of TIPS to make your crowns even better! Click here for more tips!
If you’re planning a princess party, you might also like these tutorials, click on the picture to go to the post:
Comments & Reviews
Golnoush Cookson says
i’m trying this today wish me luck!
Noel says
Awesome! Would you happen to know if the fabric stiffener worked on yarn? Thinking of crocheting crowns and working them he same way. Thx!
girlinspired says
I haven’t had a lot of luck with fabric stiffener and yarn, but I only tried it once on single strands (not crocheted) that I was trying to turn into a spider web. hee hee! It worked ok, but looked flaky.
DavidMiller says
How gorgeous!
Betsy says
Wow, so pretty and so clever! Can’t wait to make these for my nieces at our next tea party.
Sue - SchoolLabels.com says
What a fabulous idea for tiaras. My little girl will love them. The more glitter the better, she loves the sparkly stuff. Thanks
lorelei says
Quick question…..which modge podge do you use…..went to michaels, and didnt’ realize there were like 50 different types, I personally have never used it before.
girlinspired says
There ARE a lot of Mod Podge types! I just use the regular matte Mod Podge – I think it comes with a yellow label. There might be one for fabric that you could try, too!
Tram says
This is so pretty, I cant wait to have a daughter so I can dress her up xx =)
barbara macaskill says
You can also place the lace on cooling racks to dry. That way the air gets to all sides at the same time. LOVELOVELOVE these gorgeous crowns and will be making some for my little niece and granddaughter!! TFS!
Amy N says
Hi!
Love this idea and made one today! I have one question for you. How did you pin in your daughter’s hair. Did you just use a few bobby pins or did you glue the crown on some felt and attach to an alligator clip? Thanks for your help!
girlinspired says
Hi Amy – I just used bobby pins, but it would be cool to try hot gluing to some combs or something. Some of the laces have larger holes that are easier to bobby pin to. Let me know how it works if you attach it to some other sort of clip!
Latia says
Love these! Will be doing them for my daughters birthday party. I just need to know where I can buy the lace?
Dani says
I bet GirleGlue would hold these on their little heads to great! Thanks for the beautiful idea.
traci hughes says
Hello – I have a silly question… Did you use colored glitter to coordinate with each crown or the clear type of glitter? I am going to make these for my 4 & 6 year olds and they requested different colored crowns (if course =). I have clear glitter but not silver and gold. Do you think it would make a difference??
Thanks for your help!
Traci =)
girlinspired says
Hi Traci! That’s a good question. I recently did a follow-up post where I talked a little more about the glitter – it’s here: https://thegirlinspired.com/2013/07/princess-crowns-tutorial/ I did try to match the glitter to the paint color, but more importantly, the size of the glitter flecks really make a big difference on the crowns – the really super fine glitter looks a lot better, in my opinion. That said, your little girls are going to love those crowns no matter what size or color glitter you have, so if you’re not inclined to go shopping, know that they are going to turn out great anyway!!
traci hughes says
THANK YOU!!!