DIY Tiara Headband - Wire Wrapped Crystal Crown * Moms and Crafters

This summer, I went to Sweet Suite’s Sweet 16 celebration and decided to make this DIY tiara headband for the event! Follow along for the tutorial, and then try making these clay bead necklace ideas too. This post contains affiliate links.

I had a very good reason to make a fresh DIY Tiara Headband this summer. I went to Sweet Suite, a toy show for content creators and influencers, and this year was their Sweet 16. That felt like a perfect excuse to go all in on sparkle.

I decided to make a crystal beaded tiara headband for myself, which I can then pass on to my daughter A. She is a full-on diva and never turns down a chance to dress up, so she was all over this project the second she saw the crystals.

Where you’ll want to wear your DIY tiara headband

This tiara isn’t just for pretend! It’s gorgeous and can be worn at an actual Sweet Sixteen party. Use it as a princess accessory for a costume or as a “birthday crown”.

This is elegant enough to craft for a flower girl to wear at a wedding. And while I wouldn’t quite put it on a bride, you can definitely adapt my tutorial to create a more mature design than the simple crown shape to make it for a bride.

Tips for making a DIY tiara headband

Wire gauge – striking the right balance

This DIY tiara headband uses wire as its structure, and to form the base. Wire comes in different sizes called gauge – the higher the gauge the thicker the wire.

I used two sizes.

18 gauge wire – I used this for the structure of the DIY tiara headband. It has good solid structure while still being quite pliable for beginners. It also fits nicely in the beads. Go too big and it’ll actually break the beads and be too hard to work with.
20 gauge wire – this still has good structure, but is a bit more pliable. I used this to wrap and add structure and strength to my tiara.

Choosing your beads

You can absolutely make a DIY tiara headband with just about any beads. I chose crystals because of their sparkle factor – and yes, there’s just something so compelling to it.

While you don’t need to stick to crystals, keep in mind hole size when choosing. While this would look fabulous with pearls, natural pearls are usually drilled much smaller. You can get special large-hole pearls for this, or use glass pearls (again, check the hole size.)

Really, this can be made with any glass bead, however, keep in mind that the gorgeous cut of the Swarovski crystal is what makes it so sparkly. I even used their AB coated ones that have an extra iridescent finish for bonus sparkle. FYI they are no longer available to the public, so if you don’t already have a stash, just pick up another brand crystal.

Getting the “magic” look

One cool trick I used here was to put it on a black headband. Since both A and I have very dark hair, this makes the headband disappear and it looks like the flat crown is perched right on our heads and magically staying in place!

The look is really easy to achieve on darker hair. For lighter hair tones, try for bronze or gold toned headbands – whatever blends best with the hair color.

How to make a DIY tiara headband – step by step process

What you’ll need

18 and 20 gauge copper wire
Wire nippers
Jewelry pliers – I used a mix of chain nose pliers and nylon jaw pliers
A metal base headband close to the wearer’s hair color
Crystal beads – I used a mix of 8mm and 6mm Swarovski crystal round beads. Note: Swarovski is no longer available to the public, so if you don’t already have a stash, get good quality crystals.

Watch the video

Watch the full-length video on YouTube if you prefer to learn that way! Or scroll down for written instructions with photos.

Tutorial

1. Choose the beads you plan to use. I stuck with soft beige, blush, and light blue (almost silvery) beads.

2. String them onto the 18 gauge wire as follows: 5 6-mm beads, 1 8-mm (peak) bead, 6 6-mm beads, 1 8-mm (peak) bead, 6 6-mm beads, 1 8-mm (peak) bead, 5 6-mm beads. Don’t cut the wire from the spool just yet.

3. Take the tip of the wire Wrap it around the headband a few times. It should be a few inches off center (you’ll be able to reposition it a bit).

4. Snip off any excess from the open end that you wrapped if needed.

5. We’re going to start shaping our crown! The first five 6-mm beads form the left side of the crown. Pull that down so that the bottom one sits against the headband, and the next form a line going up.

6. Bend your wire back a bit right above those beads.

7. Bring your 8 mm bead down. Curve the wire down around it.

8. You should now have your first point with a bead inside it. Squish it with pliers right under the 8mm bead if you need to refine the shape. Now bring three of your 6mm beads up to form a triangle.

9. Bend the wire up right below those three beads to form the valley between the spokes of the crown. The next three 6-mm beads will form the other half of that V.

10. Keep on going with the rest of the beads, allowing the 8mm beads to be the spokes of the crown, the second set of six split in half to form another V, and the last set of five forming the right side of the crown.

11. Trim your wire off the spool to a few inches from the end of the beads. Wind it around the headband a few times to secure it in place.

You now have a basic crown shape formed on your headband. You can tweak it a bit if you’d like at this point to refine it. We’re now going to stabilize the whole thing.

12. Take the 20 gauge wire and cut about a 6-inch segment. Center it on the wire below the larger spoke bead.

13. Wind it around a few times in that space below the bead (and over it a bit if you need to). Wind one side at a time. When you’re happy with it, trim it.

14. Do this for all three spokes. Position your crown where you like it on the headband and use your pliers to squash the wire wrap down in those spots to secure the crown.

15. We’re now going to form a base for our crown. String about 6 6-mm beads (depending on the final width of your crown – it should fill that space at the base.) I used 20 gauge wire here because it’s anyway sitting on the headband.

16. Hold that bit of wire up against the headband at the base of that crown. Wrap it a few times around the headband on each side, so that it sits flush on the headband. Repeat with the other side.