Craft Corner: Pipe Cleaner Crowns

Today we begin what (we hope) will be an exciting new, ongoing series: Craft Corner!  With this series, we hope to post monthly tutorials for crafty ideas that you can do with your kids.  Of course we'll have our share of princess projects, but we also plan to do some prince projects (and pirate projects, too -- for all the swashbuckling boys and girls out there). 

For today's tutorial, we have a very kid-friendly (and budget-friendly) craft: Pipe Cleaner Crowns. 

You Will Need:

•        2 pipe cleaners (any color, though metallics look great!)

•        4 bobby pins

•        Five minutes of free time!

1.   First, take one pipe cleaner and make a ring.  Do this by gently bending the pipe cleaner into a circular shape, then wrapping the ends around the ring.

2.   Next, the actual decorative crown part:  You can do this a lot of ways, but my favorite way is three loops.  Make a loop on the center by finding the middle of the second pipe cleaner and twisting around twice. 

3.   Then take one end and make a slightly smaller loop.

4.   Repeat this on the other side.  You should end up with three loops -- the one in the enter being the biggest.

5.   Once you're happy with your shapes, attach it to the first pipe cleaner ring by wrapping both ends around the ring.

For the princes out there, you can use this same method, but maybe instead of the loops, you could do a few points -- Something more reminiscent of a prince's crown.

Once your crown is complete, you can attach it to the top of your child's head using bobby pins on either side (I recommend making an "x" with the bobby pins that way it is locked into place).

These are great for dress-up, but they'd also make wonderful, cost-effective party favors.  You could have a "coronation ceremony" of sorts at your party, giving each boy or girl a crown -- and maybe even a special title!  Duchess Dance-a-lot... Lady Silly-Nilly, Countess Cartwheel... the possibilities are endless!

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