The Nonpareil Home: DIY Costume

Our last day of DIY Dress-up week! Thanks everybody for reading along, I hope you have gotten a little bit of inspiration from these projects! I've saved the easiest (and prettiest) for last. I'm sure you've seen these lace crowns around Pinterest; usually the instructions tell you to use some sort of starch. I was making a crown for a film and I bought a can of spray starch. I sprayed the heck out of my lace and let it dry. Twice. It was still limp when it dried. They say to use "fabric stiffener"--but I am much too lazy/cheap/stubborn to go buy a big jar of something that I'm only going to use once, so I tried using Mod Podge because it's what I had on hand. Voila! Nice and stiff but still flexible enough to make it a comfy crown.

Note that this crown is still flexible, if you're looking for something to stand up straight for display or make a really stiff crown, Mod Podge might not be your answer. If you're wanting something that will actually be worn, Mod Podge is your ticket! Also, bonus, if you don't have any Mod Podge, you can use white glue mixed with a little water. If you don't have Mod Podge OR white glue... maybe it's time to go to the store. ;)

Mod Podge Lace Crown How-to

What you'll Need:

Lace trim - 2" longer than your child's head measurement.
Mod Podge (or white glue + water)
Sponge brush (optional)
Pot or pan with straight up and down edges
Waxed paper
Tape
Pins
Spray paint (I like Krylon metallics best)

Cover your pot or pan with 2-3 layers wax paper and tape in place. Note that your pot does not need to be the size of your child's head. The crown is wrapped around the pot just to give it a curved shape as it dries so it's easier to make into a full circle.
Coat your fabric with Mod Podge. The first few times I did this I used a sponge brush, but I've found it's a lot easier to just dunk it in the Mod Podge and get your hands really dirty. I just saturate the whole thing with Mod Podge and then run the lace through my fingers to get rid of the excess glue (like paper mache). In this step you'll want to take care that you aren't filling all of the lace's pretty holes with glue--that means too much Mod Podge.
Wrap the lace around the pot and use pins to hold the ends in place.
Let dry. Remove the lace and test the stiffness. You may need to add more Mod Podge at this point. On my crown I did two coats and let dry again around the pot. When you're happy with the stiffness, remove the crown. You may have to peel away some of the wax paper if it stuck to the crown, that's okay!
Overlap the crown 1" on each side (if you have a chance, this is a good time to test the size on your child's head) and secure. I ran over it with a zig-zag stitch on my machine, but you could very well use glue to connect the ends.
Spray paint your beautiful crown and let dry. Done!

It would be fun to add jewels and glitter to these crowns to personalize them for your kids. They really are a cinch, it's something kids can even help to make. Have fun with it!

Now that we have finished our last dress-up costume, I wanted to share a roundup of my favorite costumes and dress-ups across the web!