Munchkin Headpieces

So, the school play is a day or two away and you have 30+ female munchkins with bright dresses but no hats or headpieces. You're out of time and short on funds. What do you do? At Beauty and the Beast Costumes, Chattanooga, we run to the nearest Dollar Tree, grab a glue gun and get crafty.

These can also be used for Flower Characters in Alice in Wonderland.

Step 1: Materials and Getting Started

A quick trip to the local Dollar Tree yielded two dozen headbands, over a dozen simple straw hats and an arm load of artificial flowers in the colors to match all the Munchkin dresses. All we need to make over 30 headpieces in one day for just over $50.

Artificial Flowers

Headbands

Light weight, narrow lace scraps. Green is best, but any color in your range will work.

Wire cutters

Hot glue gun

Use wire cutters to separate flowers from bunches. Pull the leaves off and save.

Step 2: Sellect and Secure

Choose the flowers that you like and test fit to the side of a band. Use wire cutters to trim stems to desired length. Use spots of hot glue at the base of each flower head to secure them to the stems so they don't pop off unexpectedly. Holding one stem to the front and one to the back, glue to the headband.

Step 3: Wrap Ends

Cut lace into sections about 1.5 to 2 inches long. Ad a little more hot glue to the ends of the stems and wrap with lace to help hold the stems in place and to keep them from catching in the hair. Glue down the end. Lick your fingers and squeeze to press the glue through the layers of the lace. Be careful! It is HOT!

Step 4: Garnish With Leaves

Pull the plastic holder out of the center of set of leaves. Fold the shiny sides of the leaves up and use a spot of glue to hold in place. Glue set over the lace to give a finished look. Gently bend flowers to face the front. You're Done!

Step 5: Fancier Set

If you want some of the headpieces to be a little fancier with more flowers, start closer to the top of the arch of the head band to attach flowers with lace to secure. Move back down the side to ad more. If you want to get really fancy, you can hold three flower stems and glue them together before attaching to the head band. The more you play with the process, the more creative you will get.

Step 6: Plain or Fancy

You can choose how many flowers or combinations of colors to suit your needs. As the headbands came in packs of 4 assorted colors and I bought 3-4 of each pack, I made matching sets of headbands in various colors to match the bright floral patterns, checks and stripes on groups of Munchkin dresses. It's always a good idea to make more than you will need, just in case some have accidents.

Step 7: Hats to Match

Since the Dollar Tree just happened to have light colored straw hats for $1 each, I picked up some of those as well. These are super fast and easy to decorate by just popping the flowers off the stems and hot gluing them on. You'll normally have to trim the plastic numb on the back down a bit. Cutting the leaves apart and adding them to the edges of the groups of flowers makes them look more finished. Left over ribbons can also add a dainty look.

Step 8: