Feather Headbands

Happy New Year!
2010 was a pretty great year and 2011 is looking even more awesome.
I hope your outlook is just as cheerful. :)

You know what makes any day more cheerful?
A great feather headband.

I'll admit, I jumped on the feather headband bandwagon just like everyone else. It may have taken me a little longer, but I'm 100% there now.
My two feather headband inspirations are Kenley Collins, from Project Runway, and Blair Waldorf, from Gossip Girl.

They are both fabulous girls who wear outrageous headbands and hair pieces all the time. I fell in love with Kenley's style on day one of Project Runway back in 2008. It was only recently that I started watching Gossip Girl and became fascinated with Blair's headbands, even though Blair's been rocking the bows since 2007.

To make my own feather headband I spent an afternoon at the craft store searching though feathers until I found the right ones. I am currently obsessed with aqua, and I am always obsessed with polka dots, so when I found these feathers, it was love at first sight.

I sorted through the feathers and picked out my favorites. I narrowed down my options and chose several that were evenly sized and shaped. I saved the rest for a later project.

It doesn't take much to make a feather headband, but when it comes to what goes on it, the sky's the limit. I stuck with feathers and a satin ribbon, but I've seen headbands with tulle and pearls and rhinestones and beads. Never all at once though. That might be too much. But maybe not. Prove me wrong.

Things I needed
-A headband. I bought a little black one from Sally's, but anything would work.
-Feathers. I chose black to go with my blue polka dot feathers. The blue ones are just fun and the black feathers will help anchor the blue ones.
-Two little circles of felt to attach the feathers to. Mine are about an inch across. They need to be big enough to attach the feathers to, but small enough that the feathers will hide them. Any little piece of felt will do, but it might show, so I'd coordinate with the color of your feathers.
-Satin ribbon. Like I said, I'm obsessed with aqua, so any chance to use more aqua is okay with me.
-Mighty Mendit. My mom swears by it and so did Billy Mays. Who am I to say otherwise? A hot glue gun would work too, but since feathers are so delicate, you might end up burning your fingers in the process. I would.

I started laying out my feathers in various arrangements until I found one I liked. I layered the black and blue and then alternated them and then did one color on one half and the other on the other half. I didn't glue anything to the felt circle until I was sure I liked it. I even took a snack break to make sure I still liked the arrangement when I came back.

This is the design I finally settled on. I glued everything onto the felt circle making sure I hid as much of the felt as possible. And then I had to let it dry. Hello episode of Gossip Girl.

And then I glued my aqua bow on.
To make my bow, I made two loops of ribbon, one slightly longer than the other and layered them. Then I cut another length for the part that hangs down and glued it behind both the loops. I wrapped a small piece of ribbon around the three pieces and then messed with the part that hangs down until I liked the way it looked. I pinned it all together with a clothespin until it dried (thanks Mighty Mendit) and then glued the whole bow to the feathers.
There are a million bow-making tutorials on the internet though and I suggest searching until you find the perfect bow for you.

How high or low the feather piece goes on the headband is very subjective. I decided on mine by just holding it up to my head and moving it up and down until I liked the way it looked.
To attach the whole felt/feather/bow piece to the headband, I sandwiched the headband between the felt with the feathers and the other circle of felt. (There were two, remember?) Put glue on both circles of felt and trap the headband in the middle of them. The extra felt circle hold everything together and helps to reinforce the feathers. There's nothing worse than droopy feathers!

Until next time, stay cheerful. :)