How to make a flower crown

Flowers crowns can be a real show stopper and can vary from using huge blooms to make a real statement or dainty flowers to make a pretty accessory for a wedding. They can be made throughout all the seasons but some flowers are more suitable than others so do select flowers that will last longer out of water or have stems that won't break easily.

How to make a flower crown

Spray roses, freesia, wax flower, strawflower, eryngium, gypsophila, hypericum and lavender are some examples which work well for making flower crowns as they last well out of water and have sturdy stems which are easy to work with.

Foliage is also really important, and again select foliage that wont wilt quickly and can help to give some structure, texture and colour. Evergreens, eucalyptus, rosemary, pittosporum are good examples. Berries, grasses and seed pods in the autumn are wonderful to use and add colour and textures as well as being long lasting well.

Using only flowers that will dry readily would mean your flower crown would last for months rather than days, so this might be something to consider as well. Some examples of flowers that dry well are statice, strawflower, lavender, larkspur, cornflower, calendula, globe amaranth, hydrangea, craspedia, achillea, echinops and scabious.

Take a look at our piece from Bex Partridge for more advice on drying flowers.

What you'll need:

Florist wire (thicker the better)
Florist tape
Scissors/secateurs
A selection of flowers and foliage that will last well out of water

Step-by-step

1 The flowers and foliage will need to be well hydrated before you start using them so make sure they have been placed in cool water out of direct sunlight for at least a couple of hours.

2 The first thing is to make the wire base. It is important to get the size of your wire base correct, otherwise the flower crown can look too perched onto of the head or too big it can slip down, especially if you're using some large flowers such as sunflowers or dahlias. The weight of these flowers can help to pull the flower crown down, so do make sure you have a snug fit for the base.

3 You will need 2-3 pieces of the florist wire. Shape the wires into a circle and place on the head to check it's the correct size. Secure the wires into places by wrapping the florist tape all the way around the circular wires. Alternatively, you can measure the head with a tape measure to get the size needed and then shape the wire base to this size.

4 Next snip stems of flowers and foliage and make little posies with them and then wrap the florist tape around the posy stems to secure them together. (If you want to make a larger more boho style flower crown select flowers with bigger, loud blooms and colours and add longer lengths of foliage to help give volume and a more dramatic effect.)

5 Once you have made enough little posies to go around the wire base use the florist tape again to tape the posies one by one to the wire base. You need to position each posy up tight to the one you have just taped on so that there are no gaps and keep adding in a clockwise direction until you have flowers all the way around the wire base.

6 Don’t forget to try the flower crown on and look in a mirror once you are nearing the end of making it, as it will look very different on then when working on it on a table looking down at it.

7 Once made, store the flowers crown in a cool place out of direct sunlight before wearing.

You can mix it up and add flowers just at the front, or to the side, or asymmetrically, a large statement flower to the front of the flower crown or to the side can be very eye catching. Gypsophila flowers crowns are very popular and dainty, or you could just use foraged greenery. The possibilities are endless!

Flowers used in the photos - grape hyacinths, hellebores, paperwhites narcissi, spray roses and variegated pittosporum.

For workshops, floral arrangements and lots of inspiration head to podandpip.co.uk