There’s something about beautiful flowers that make us happy isn’t there? Even the toughest customer will notice the lush beauty and artistry of a floral arrangement outside a home or business. The natural world, especially floral motifs have been an inspiration for fashion designers since the beginning of time. Both decorative and feminine, floral blooms are responsible for one of the single most prevalent design aesthetics in history! 

So, this week we’re going to focus on a couple simple ways to make your own floral-themed accessories, just like the ones I’ve seen in fashion throughout the years. I took my inspiration from a vintage 1945 copy of Woman’s Home Companion magazine that I own. I loved the cover shot of the pretty gal with an oversized floral head piece. I already had this magazine for a few years when I attended the Desigual runway show at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week in NYC, where they featured similar headgear on all their lovely models! I loved the look, but what really hit me was just how joyful I felt seeing these ladies laughing and smiling as they made their way down the catwalk (see more of these photos in the complete slideshow below). It inspired me to recreate these looks Goodwill DIY style! I came up with ideas that any gal could achieve using simple items you may already have on hand, or could be purchased inexpensively.

You will need to collect a variety of silk flowers in different sizes to give your creativity a workout. I bought quite a few (my flowers came to around $7 total) while keeping in mind that they would be combined in one way or another to emulate both the runway look and the magazine cover. I chose tertiary tones, not primary, for the simple fact that they would be a little more subtle and easier to layer in multiples on the headpieces. There’s nothing wrong with using primary, but for something that’s already a little over- the-top, it could be a bit much! You will also need some thin cloth covered headbands (I got mine at the drugstore and they were approximately $5.50 for five headbands), a hair comb or hair clip, and a hot glue gun.

First, lay out all your flowers and remove the stem portion from each. Make sure to keep the leaves for use as well. Start grouping them until you come up with combinations that please the eye. Next, heat up the glue gun and start gluing! I added some leaves first and then built out from there. Hold flowers where you think they should go before gluing, eyeballing the proportions and coloration. Affix flowers using small amounts of glue. It’s always better to add more glue than use too much. I went for a kind of vintage theme because the flowers I bought at Goodwill just seemed to lean that way. A good rule of thumb is to not make them too symmetrical. Because they’re a natural botanical (even though they’re silk), your finished result will look more realistic if they’re balanced, but not perfect. I used some smaller roses that were made of fabric to add texture and a bit more color to some of the headpieces that I created. This was so much fun to do, and I may be using some of these for our upcoming fashion photo shoot! I really loved the way they ALL turned out (see more examples in the slideshow below)!

Making these head pieces would be a fun craft to share with friends, because being creative is one of the joys in life, and with materials from Goodwill you too can nurture your inner designer, and in doing so, provide support for those we serve.