Queen For At Least One Day

How do you tell someone how special they are on their birthday? I have started making crowns for the birthday girls in my life. No body can ignore a lady with a crown on her head; it's an obvious and outwardly symbol of how special she is, not only when she wears it, but always!

Here is the one I did recently for my friend Rosann in “her” colors of yellow and green. It had to be extra special because she appreciates the details that go into things that are handmade. I chose the diamond pattern paper because it reminded me of the floor she just designed and painted in her house. The silver do-dads were something we went ga-ga over when she spied them on a shopping trip together. The silver embossed trim is from a huge roll I got at the last Addison Studio sale in Oakland. The crimped cloth is from a vintage lampshade, because she lights up my life!

I get a lot of inspiration from the fabulous book Crowns and Tiaras by Kerri Judd. There are a dozen or so different artists who have contributed to it’s fanciful entries, and I can’t wait to make more with the jumbles and baubles I’ve been collecting. I always add a poem that I wrote on the inside and leave room to note "to & from", the celebration and the date I presented someone with a distinguishable display for the world to see that they are special on this day.

Here's the very first crown I made called "Birthday Queen". I made it for my own sweet Queen Mum's 80th birthday. She loves pink (almost as much as I do) and roses, so there is a heady bunch on it. I made sure the sheet music I tore out of the vintage book and then used was page 80!



Here's one I made for Audrey. She's a sweet little thing, so she got a 3D calorie-free cupcake medallion on her birthday crown, backed by a doily with crystals, and done in her colors. The banner on the side says "Happy Birthday to you" and on the other side "May your wishes come true".

One word of warning if you plan on making your own crowns: a head wrapped up in a glorious array of glint and glitter tends to swell a little bigger! I made mine with a fancy laced-up ribbon so they are all adjustable!