"Presto" Fairy Princess Wand & Headband Crown

I call this the "Presto" Fairy Princess Wand and Crown because Little Miss J has been carrying around her hair brush waving it through the air saying "Presto", just like Princess Presto from Super Why! on  PBS.

I decided my little princess needed a real wand of her own and thought she may as well have a matching crown too!

This really isn't as difficult as it looks.  I was also thrilled to come up with an idea for a wand that Little Miss J can't wack someone with; she likes to her brother with things like this when he's not paying attention to her.

So far she love's it; although she's been telling me that it doesn't spell correctly!  Ha Ha!

Materials You'll Need:
-about 20" x 60" nylon taffeta or tulle
-1 sheet 9" x 11" felt
-headband {I made sure to find one that won't break easily}
-about 20" strong string or twine {the color doesn't matter, you won't see it in the finished product}
-about 6" x 12" cardboard
-two circles to trace (one about 5 inches {I used a CD- 4 3/4 inches}, one about 2 inches {just find something about this size, and the circles don't need to be prefect either})
-ribbon of coordinating colors
-hot glue gun and extra glue sticks {Little Miss J knew I was making this, so I knew I wouldn't want to let it sit and dry for several hours} OR other strong glue
-4 bamboo reeds {I used some extra unused reeds from a reed defuser} OR 4 bamboo skewers OR a short dowel (about 10 inches)
-pen OR pencil
-Exacto blade cutter
-1 sheet of scrap paper
-masking tape OR other tape
-sewing pins (optional)
-pinking shears
-sharp scissors

Process for Making the "Presto" Wand:
1. Use the tape to tape the reeds together.

I taped them together so that the top of the reeds formed a flat line on the top {I wasn't completely sure if I was going to top it with a puff or a star; I thought the flat top would make it easier to top it with a star}.

 2. Heat up your hot glue gun and begin gluing the ribbon at an angle (to make sure it smoothly wraps up the reeds) to the bottom end of the prepared reeds {be very careful not to burn your fingers, the glue can go right through the ribbon}.

 3. Trace 2 circles on the cardboard {I used a CD and I traced the center hole too to make sure I could find the center}.  Cut out circles.

 4. Then, trace the 2 inch circle centered over the middle of the larger circle.

 5. Cut out the center circles of the cardboard.

 6. Cut the string/twine.  

Yes, I just noticed that it looks
like a smiley face!

 7. Place the string on one of the cardboard circles like this:

 8. Top with the other cardboard circle without moving the string.

 9. Use the pinking sheers to cut 4 strips about 4-5 inches each. (You should have some left for using on the crown.) {I didn't measure or try to make the straight, you won't see if they are all the same or if they are straight.}

 10. Begin wrapping the taffeta around the cardboard and through the middle of the circle. Just hang on to the end and keep wrapping. {Be careful not to wrap the string in the taffeta.}

 11. Keep wrapping just let the ends of the taffeta strips hang loose and over lap them as you add another strip.

 12. Keep wrapping until you've wrapped all 4 pieces of taffeta around the cardboard, leaving the string free.

 13. Find the space between the two pieces of cardboard {I found this easiest right next to where the string comes out}.

 14. Carefully squeeze your sharp scissors between the layers of cardboard and cut very carefully cut the taffeta all the way around the circle {be very careful not to cut the string}.

This is what it will look like once you've cut all the way around.

 15. Tie a double or triple knot in the string.

 16. I pulled the string too tight and it actually broke, so I just slipped another string in there and tied it before the first know let loose.

 17. Put a bead of hot glue on the knot to secure it, so it doesn't come loose. {Don't let the glue stick to the cardboard, hold them apart and blow on the glue to help it cool quicker.}

 18. Very carefully pull one side of the cardboard off, holding the opposite side of the taffeta firmly, so it doesn't slip out of the string.

This is what my 'presto' puff looked like when I removed the cardboard...

 19. Use your pinking sheers to trim the puff to a smooth sphere shape. {FYI: One thing that happened that I didn't expect- all the little strings from the taffeta spread and were on my clothes and it felt like I had little hairs all over my clothes; I was very itchy and had to shower after I finished this project.  Oh well!}

 20. Use the hot glue gun and squirt a bit of hot glue randomly all around in the middle of the puff {this will help the taffeta stay in place and not slip out to deform your sphere}; I did this a lot, I didn't want Little Miss J to be able to pull any of the strips out!
21. Use a large squirt of hot glue in the middle of the puff to glue the stick part of the wand into the puff.  Hold in place to let it cool where you want it.

 22. Cut some piece of ribbon (about 12-15 inches each) and tie them around the stick part of the wand and glue in place. {I pushed them up into the puff so they look like they hang out of it.}

 23. Let all glue cool/dry completely before playing with the wand!  I let it cool for about 30 minutes to make sure all the glue in the middle was cooled completely.  {The wait was tough for Little Miss J!}

But it was worth it!

Process for Making the "Presto" Crown:
1. Place the headband on the piece of scrap paper and trace around the shape of the headband.

 2. Free hand draw the shape of the crown that you want.

 3. I knew this wasn't symmetrical, so I folded the paper in half and cut out the side that I liked the most.

 This is what it looked like after I cut it out...

 4. Unfold the paper and make sure you like the shape.

 5. Fold the felt and pin the template to the felt (The fold is  so you can cut out two pieces at one time).  

 6. Cut out the crown leaving about 1 inch on the headband side of the crown top; like this...

You'll end up with two pieces like this...

 7. Pin the piece back together with the template and cut a "fringe" in the bottom to the edge of the template {I cut 3 notches to make 4 "fringes"}.

 8. Use the hot glue gun to glue the two pieces of felt together, be sure not to glue the "fringes" together.

 9. Place the headband in the opening of the "fringes" and glue in place by wrapping the "fringes" to the underside of the headband; like this...

 10. Wrap and glue the other side of "fringes" around to the underside of the headband.

 11. At this point the crown was securely attached to the headband but wasn't really stably centered on the top of the headband, so I squeezed some hot glue into the ends and pinch it down to allow it to adhere to the headband.

You can see the glue in the hole before
I pinched the crown piece down to the headband.

 12. This is what the crown looks like once it is glued to the headband. {You could glue on rhinestones at this point and skip the ribbon; I didn't want to take the chance that Little Miss J would pull them off.}

 13. Use the pinking sheers to cut the remaining taffeta into 8 rectangles about the same size.  Then, cut 8 pieces of ribbon {I used two colors of ribbon (so 8 pieces of each ribbon) plus the taffeta} about the same length and pile them on top of each other. {You can see the taffeta isn't cut perfect, but that's okay; you won't see it!}

 14. Tie the piles of taffeta and ribbon into a knot, like this...

You should end up with 8 knotted pieces; 4 for each side of the crown.
15. Begin gluing the ribbon knots to the crown, squirt a bead of hot glue in the center of the headband.

16. Then, add one ribbon knot just off center.

17. Add a second ribbon knot on the other side, just off center.

17. Glue on two more ribbon knots on either side of the first two ribbon knots; 4 on each side.

18. Allow the glue to cool and ENJOY!