Fashion Feather Headbands for Girls and Teens - Fushia and Purple - Blue and Green

• feathers from your local craft store
• floral wire
• hot glue
• material scraps to match your feathers
• needle
• thread
• bead to match your material
• headband
• scissors
• lighter or candle
• small piece of bendable foam (or you may also use a piece of cardboard from the back of a notebook. Basically, anything that is bendable and can be cut with scissors).
• patience and creativity!

I began by cutting a piece of foam I had lying around in my craft/art studio. I cut it in a tear drop shape, 3-4 inches long and 2-3 inches wide. (Sorry, I'm terrible about measuring and measurements. I usually just "eyeball" everything I make.)

Next, I glued the foam piece to a purple scrap of material. I use hot glue in many of my craft projects. It's easy and dries quickly. Then, I cut the material exactly around the foam in a tear drop shape.

Next, I glued the other side of my foam and laid it onto my purple material. This time, when I cut the material, I left about half an inch gap around the edges so that I could glue the edges around the whole piece of foam. That left me with a tear drop base to work with and completely covered my hot pink foam with purple material.

Now, we're gettin' to the fun part...

Next, I laid out all of the feathers I planned to use.  With my tear drop positioned upside down--with the point nearest to me, I first positioned my feathers on top of my teardrop to see how many I would need and also to get a feel for how they would look.  I highly recommend this step before you ever begin gluing!  

Next, I placed my feathers on my craft table in the same pattern and then began gluing each feather on, one-by-one, starting with the top and working my way to the bottom.

I decided my feather headband needed a flower to finish it off.  To give it a special hand-made flare, I decided to make a flower similar to how I made my flowers in my article: >>>>>.  Only this time, I wanted it a little different.  

I cut several different sized pieces from my purple material and then took my lighter and lightly singed the edges.  I love how each material wrinkles differently when heat is applied.  I kept positioning different flower petals together until I had 3 that worked well together.  

As usual, I hand sewed them together and added one, purple bead in the center.  Perfect.

Next up, I had to decide how to put all the pieces together: feathers, flower, and headband.

For strength and sturdiness, I took my needle and thread and added my flower directly to my feather piece, sewing all the way through the foam. That flower is never coming off! I even added some hot glue just to make sure.

Then, I hot glued a long piece of floral wire to the back of my foam foundation. Once the glue was dry, it was time to secure my creation on to a headband. (I buy my plastic headbands from Wal-mart, in a package of 4 or 5. I also buy the ones with teeth.) I wrap my wire around my headband, securing the wire in between the headband's teeth and I'm finished!