EPIC Art Headdress DIY

Recently The Phoenix Fridas were invited to take part in “Arte Vivas” at The Heard Museum. The event was a day-long festival celebrating Latino culture in Phoenix. We were given an hour to work with – to come up with something to entertain the audience. As the leader of the group, I pitched an idea – artful headdresses to represent our distinct personalities. Within the blink of an eye, all the Fridas agreed to join in!

We had our inaugural Phoenix Fridas Fashion Show!

Here we are (some of us!), along with the lovely models who volunteered to walk the show. most of us Fridas had models wear the finished pieces so we could take the mic and talk about the inspiration.

Before I go into the other headdresses, I’ll give you some background on mine!

I feel like headdresses are like a crown on steroids! Instead of the obvious glitz and glam, the sparkle comes from the creativity of putting one together. I love that each Frida incorporated a personal message into each wearable art piece.

I knew mine was going to be heavy duty. I watched this video and picked up some major inspiration!

BUILD THE BASE

Don’t think you have to go all crazy buying supplies. You can probably use items you have already – cardboard, felt or fabric, trims, dollar store flowers. Get creative and use up excess supplies. You’ll also need a lot of hot glue. I suggest using the long glue sticks (as opposed to the minis) so you don’t have to keep adding new ones.

I used my head to size the form and built a cardboard helmet type of thing. NOTE: Make this the size of the person wearing it! I have BIG HAIR, my headdress fell off of anyone who had thin hair! You could also use long hair clips, but just sayin’ – think about your head size before construction.

Use masking tape to hold it together and felt or fabric to line the outside, this will make it easier to glue things and hide the cardboard from showing through.

 

 

I made a nopalito to go on the top as the centerpiece. This was made from cardboard, paper mache, paint, and hot glue. I finished it off with sparkle varnish.

And then I flipped the whole piece around and added tall feathers. Then I filled out the sides with glittery stems.

After the back was full of glittery goodness, I covered it all with black felt to hide the mess you see above. The for the front, I added six large tissue paper flowers in the back row of the base. Then I added a row of giant velvet roses from one end to the other.

Here is Monique modeling it, she is on the right. Annalisa on the left created a similar theme, she added in paintbrushes and a giant corazon to represent her love of being an artist in Phoenix.

My best advice is to make it as sturdy as possible, and consider if it will need a ribbon to tie on, or clips. Also, think about any items that might dig into your skin. For my first pass, I had the ceramic heart lower and it dug into my forehead. I had to take it apart and add a base to lift the heart.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXoDzAnkbU/?taken-by=phoenixfridas

Alrighty, let’s see the others!

Thania made hers about female eempowerment!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXoeFvnFYP/?taken-by=phoenixfridas

Anita made THREE crowns, this is one of them. So stunning!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXop3yH4lF/?taken-by=phoenixfridas

Monica created this one that is inspired by Frida. She even added antlers!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXowR3nOWk/?taken-by=phoenixfridas

Gloria’s headdress was also inspired by Frida.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXppxNnBmm/?taken-by=phoenixfridas

Monique is half Navajo, half Mexican and used that as the spirit of her top hat!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbXpvHKn7aZ/?taken-by=phoenixfridas

Here are some of our models getting revved up before the show…

Thanks for reading!