2 Fun Princess Party Crafts – DIY Gem Tiaras & Poke Art!
If you’re throwing a princess party, these super fun princess party crafts are tried-and-tested with preschoolers! They are fun to make and use after. When you’re done, check out this sleep mask decorating craft too for that age group. This post contains affiliate links.
When my daughter’s friend’s mother hired me to run crafts at her daughter’s party, we chose two fun princess party crafts for them. One was spot-on for that age group, and one was a bit challenging, but still fabulous. I’ll give a bit more specific guidance and feedback, but first the two crafts:
Both follow my main rules for party crafts: they need to have zero or almost zero dry time, include a take-home that will double as a party favor (though in this case, she did have full favor boxes available), and it needs to be something functional that they can use.
Decorate your own crowns Princess Party Craft
Our first craft was fabric princess crowns that we decorated with gems and rhinestones. This craft was such a hit, and as you can imagine, the kids wore it for the rest of the party.
This was our main “original” craft. It was the first choice for the party and it was a good one.
Why we chose it
Open-ended decorating with stickers is one of my favorite party craft types. Give kids gems and they can really sit for a long time with them.
We did gem decorating activities at A’s birthday, with the same group of kids, and they sat with it for a long time. They were mesmerized, carefully placing each gem, and feeling so proud of their work. You really can’t go wrong with this one.
We LOVE party crafts that include wearables because the kids take such pride in it, and wear it for the rest of the party. It doubles as a party hat and kids wear it for the rest of the day. When they go home, it goes into their dress-up box for continued use.
The crown base is a fabric one, with an elastic, so it’s a costume-quality craft.
How it went
The kids loved it. It was a similar crowd to A’s party when we also did gem decorating and they really went with this one too. I did add in foam stickers to change things up a bit, and the kids enjoyed both.
The crown pictured on A is the one that she actually made. Adding the foam stickers DID shorten the time that the craft occupied, because the kids felt like their crowns were full earlier.
As with any party craft, some kids will finish earlier than others. It’s good to be prepared with something extra for them to do in that time.
Alternatives and tips
With this kind of open-ended party craft, it really is a good practice to have lots of options for kids to choose from. I personally don’t think I’d put out foam stickers next time, but I might do what I did with our sleep mask craft – that is, provide a big initial or some other focal piece, but allow kids plenty of surrounding space to get detailed with their gems.
You can definitely pull out other decorations for this but I really recommend you stick to self-adhesive no-dry-time ones. Some examples:
- Decorative patches (small ones)
- Flower rhinestones
- Smaller foam embellishments
- Self-adhesive pearls – we had some mixed in with our stones, but I’d definitely provide more as its own decoration next time
- Lace washi tape
Test supplies in advance to make sure they really work (the only ones I really tested are foam).
Princess Poke Art Party Craft
The second one we did was princess poke art. These are printed foam princess figures that have notches in them. Use a stick to poke little bits of fabric into the holes to look like a ruffly dress.
This princess party craft was a bit less successful. It’s still a cool craft, though, or I wouldn’t be sharing it. I WILL share with you what we should have done to make it more of a success.
Why it’s such a cool party craft
The reason we chose this to begin with is for the cool effect factor: kids are fascinated by the fact that they are creating a ruffly dress. They enjoy playing with and displaying the dolls after.
In fact, they even come with little acrylic stands to display the princesses. And since they come with sticker jewelry there is even more crafting value.
How it went
I’ll be honest: most of the kids didn’t finish it. And a few even got a bit frustrated, though they were very determined to finish it. There were a couple of older kids (6-8 years old) there who really spend a very long time on it and finished the whole thing.
The age listed on the craft was 4+ and most of the kids were age 4.5 to 5. I tested it on A, who was the oldest in the group (besides for the two big kids) and she did fabulously. But… she’s a bit of an advanced crafter.
The kids loved it. Some asked to bring home their sticks and some extra fabric and finish it at home. Even the ones that just poked in a few were very proud of their work. It’s a bit harder to learn and a bit more fine-motor-skills focused, which is why we still love it. It’s a real fine motor challenge, and is great for pre-writing skills.
What we’d do different next time
So what would we change to make it more of a success?
The biggest thing is: I’d do it first. The kids need to be fresh, with all their patience intact to really enjoy this. We had chosen this as an extra time-filling project, but it really needs to be a main project. The kids need to have their focus and be shown properly how to do it.
On that note: another thing I’d change is to really walk around the room and one by one show the kids how to poke it by finding the hole and poking it in.
Two Fun Princess Party Crafts to Make
Here’s a quick breakdown of everything I purchased and included in these activities beyond the basic kits, as well as how we ran the workshops (I did have one teenage assistant to help).
For both crafts, we used acrylic bins and containers spread out on the table for the supplies. This way it’s fully contained, but kids can clearly see what’s inside each.
We also brought gallon sized Ziploc bags and a Sharpie, and immediately gave each kid a bag with their name on it to store the craft in.
Craft Number 1: Decorate your own crowns
Supplies Needed
- Base crowns
- Gems
- Foam shapes – only include very small ones
Process
1. Right when you get the crowns, test the elastic. Some were a bit loose. A bit of hot glue or a second in the sewing machine fixes it, but you’re best off doing that in advance rather than finding broken crowns at the party.
2. Stick on gems and foam bits! That is really all. Some kids worked within the frame work of the pattern on the crowns, and others totally ignored it.
Now kids can wear their princess crowns proudly!
Craft Number 2: Princess Poke Art
Supplies needed
- Princess poke art kit: note – we only used the princesses, and not the larger wraparound ones. Consider this when buying your kits.
- Extra sticks. They’re basically scratch art sticks – like a larger, thicker toothpick. The kit came with two – check your kit details.
Tutorial
1. Proper instruction is key with this princess party craft. Point out to kids how the holes have a center.
2. Kids should place the fabric over the hole, roughly centered. Show them this detail. It doesn’t need to be perfect but they should know that it should be over the three-prong shape in the middle of the fabric.
Then they need to poke it in that shape (they can see it through) all the way to the table.
3. They can keep going, playing with different colors until all the holes are filled – or as many as they’d like to fill.
4. They can finish it off with the jewelry and tiara stickers if they want. And then they can display it on one of the stands (or rather, take one home to display it with).
I hope you enjoyed these princess party crafts! Comment if you have any to add to the list.
