Tutorial: Baby Crown Photography Prop

     I asked my sisters, Stephanie and Jamie, to take photos of my family along with my ever growing belly!  They've got some fantastic cameras and a great eye.  They're not professionals, but their photos are super cute.  So, I got on Pinterest and came up with a few photo ideas.
     One that I'd been seeing quite a bit of, was a photo with the mama and a colored crown on her big belly.  I wasn't sure where I could buy a crown, but I figured I could make one!  I went out and bought some sturdy lace ribbon from Michael's.  I also got blue Rit dye, to color the ribbon.  After I got home, my son was asking why I needed the Rit.  I explained it to him and he said "Why don't you just paint it?  You've got tons of paint in the other room!"  DUH!  Why didn't I think of that. 

     I ended up returning the Rit and just used regular craft paint that I had picked up at various stores.  I then cut the ribbon to a length of 9 inches.  I used my finger and painted both sides of the lace ribbon.  I ended up using my finger to make sure that the paint got into all of the little grooves.  Once I had both sides painted, I moved the  lace to a new piece of wax paper.  Then I tapped the lace, because there were several holes that had been filled with the paint.

     I let the ribbon dry overnight.  In the morning I checked on the ribbon and it was much firmer and would stand up without flopping over!  That's a step in the right direction.  I had been thinking about using ModPodge to make the lace firmer, but realized that I was all out!  I decided to use my fabric starch.  Don't get any ideas....I DO NOT starch and iron our clothes (I don't iron anything, if I don't have to)  the starch is for making hair clips! (tutorial here)

     I put the lace in a towel and sprayed the lace.  I folded the towel over and started ironing.  I would then flip the towel over, open it up, spray the opposite side, and re-iron.  I did this about 3-4 times.  I then opened the towel up, realized that the lace was pretty firm, but still not where I wanted it to be.  So, I decided to take my chances and iron it without the protection of the towel.  It worked!  That lace ribbon was firm and I could wrap it in a circle.  I then used a little bit of hot glue (my best friend), overlapped the edges, glued them together and made a cute little crown.

     The crown is only meant for the photos, so if you're wanting to make one for play, this technique probably won't hold.  The crown made it through the photo shoot with three unruly kids!  I'm saving it to take even more photos once the little fella is born. 

AND, we still don't have a name yet!  Only three and a half weeks until my due date.  Eventually we'll have a name.......I hope!