Feather Hairpiece

Earlier this week I decided it was time to get work on my feather headpiece. I pictured something with feathers and rhinestones; nothing too big or flashy. I was thinking of a smaller version of this feather headpiece I found here on etsy.com:

...or something like this headpiece found here :

So I gathered up my supplies and got to work.

I purchased a pack of white feathers from Wal-Mart for $1.48 (You can also find similar packs at Joann's Fabrics or Michael's Craft Store.)

I found these small crystals at Joann's Fabrics for just over $2.

This wire hair comb was also found at Joann's Fabrics for around $1.50.

The last thing I needed to work on this project was a little bit of white felt. I got one sheet of felt for just $0.25 at Wal-Mart.

The first step was to cut out a circle out of the felt. I used the bottle cap from a jug of juice to trace a circle on the felt.

Next I cut out the circle. This was used as the base of the hairpiece.

The bag of feathers I bought was green on the outside so I couldn't tell the size of the feathers until I opened the bag. The feathers ended up being longer than I needed, so I cut each one in half.

After the feathers were cut in half, I started glueing them to the circle of felt. I slightly overlapped each new feather over the last one I had glued down. Once a full circle had been made, I began cutting the feathers shorter and started another circle.

After all of the feathers were in place, I noticed that the hairpiece was a little too flat. To fix the problem, I used a needle and thread to sinch the felt circle together in the middle. This pinched together the piece and made it look a little more full.

The next step was the attach the wire hair comb. I used the needle and thread once more to sew the comb to the felt. After making sure the the comb was attached firmly, I glued a few more small feathers to the back of the hairpiece. This was just to make sure that the felt circle was covered and couldn't bee seen once the clip was put in place in my hair.

The last step was to attach the crystals to the center of the piece using a few drops of hot glue.

I LOVE the way the feather hairpiece came out. It was the perfect size; it made a statement without being too big. I was really happy with my finished project....

...unfortunately, I made a little crafty mistake. I got so eager to complete my project that I neglected to compare the color of the feathers to the color of my dress. The colors are a little off. It's not a huge difference, but it is noticeable. It's a little disappointing but it was such an inexpensive project that it's really no big deal. I'm going to check at Joann's to see if they carry feathers in a different shade. As for this feather hairpiece, it was a good practice project. Perhaps one of the girls in my Bridey group will like it and want to use it. If not perhaps one of my lovely readers will want to use it at their wedding.