When a local school chose to perform "Alice in Wonderland, Jr" they commissioned Beauty and the Beast Costumes, Chattanooga to provide costumes. As we have done this show before, we had most of the costumes, but our old flower hats for Rose, Petunia, Lily, Daisy and Violet were not in good shape. On closer inspection, I decided to make new ones.

Step 1: Materials

The first trick is to find artificial flowers that actually look like a Rose, Petunia, Daisy, Lily and Violet. I thought the Petunia would be the difficult one, but it turned out no one makes African Violets, most likely because the actual flower is so small. I decided to substitute some attractive generic flowers in shades of purple and periwinkle. I also selected two colors or shapes of each of the other flowers. This group came from Dollar Tree's Spring Collection for just $1 per 'bush' of about 5 blossoms each. Some will be saved for another variation of this same project.

The rings are Bridal hat forms from Beauty & the Beast Costumes. These have wires on the top and bottom, joined with a course fabric and seam binding.

Step 2: Disassemble and Arrange Flowers

Gently pull the blossoms and leaves off the wire stems. Arrange the flowers in circles on a table until you are happy with the groupings. While random groupings may appeal to you, sometimes an actual pattern may appear random. The daisies are shown here grouped in triangles and the petunias are overlapping groups of three.

Pro Tip: Odd numbers of items are considered to be more visually interesting than even numbers of the same.

Step 3: Covering the Bands

To help hide any imperfections in the Bridal rings and lend strength to them, cover the inside with lace or cotton bias tape. I am using a sturdy lace with loops along the lower edge of the outside. This will not only help visually fill in between flowers, but it can also be used to secure the headband to the performer's hair with bobby-pins.

Pro Tip: Don't use grosgrain ribbon. It doesn't adhere well with hot glue.

Step 4: Measure, Mark, Cut

Measure the outside circumference of your ring. Divide by the number of flowers you will be attaching. You don't have to be overly precise, you just want to make sure the flowers are fairly evenly spaced. Make small marks around the edge, using different marks to indicate the center front and back or different colored flowers. This illustration shows dots for yellow daisies, lines for white ones.

Using a seam ripper or craft knife, cut small holes all the way through the ring and lace lining at the marks.

Step 5: Test Fit, Glue, Assemble

Please note that when you take the blossoms off the stems, they will have a short plastic piece at the base. You will need to test fit these nubs through the holes you have cut to make sure the slot is large enough and doesn't have any blockages from stray strings.

Put a line of hot glue all the way around the slot then insert a flower. Press the flower firmly into the band and make sure the edges of the band are tight against the flower. Work your way around the band test fitting, gluing and inserting only ONE flower at a time.

Use the leaves between the flowers as desired. You don't have to cut slots for these as you can just glue the leaves directly to the band. Just be sure to press them into the glue firmly and hold until each has cooled and set.

Step 6: Rose, Violet, Daisy, Lily, Petunia

Let the performers decide which way they want to wear the head bands, with accent flowers forward, to the side or even in the back. Bands can be worn directly on top of the head, toward the back surrounding the crown of the head or even tilted to one side. Use hair pins through the loops to secure if needed. Do not press down far enough for the flower nubs to be uncomfortable to the wearer. Enjoy!