Flower Girls

It's almost officially midsummer and you know that I love a good cultural celebration, especially when it involves wearing a crown of wildflowers, drinking vodka and dancing around a maypole.  Last year I went to Kanon Vodka's annual Swedish Midsummer Festival and it was sooo fun.  Honestly, if I had a backyard or even a big enough terrace, I would throw my own Midsummer party in one second.  

For those of you unfamiliar with Midsummer, it simply refers to the summer solstice (aka the longest day of summer) and is one of the most important holidays in Sweden.  Swedes decorate a large maypole (basically a very tall stick covered in flowers) and then dance and sing around it.  Apparently this has been happening since the Middle Ages - and silly me, I thought all they did was kill each other back then...  Midsummer is thought to be one of the times of year when magic is the strongest and is considered a good night to perform rituals that help you to look to the future.  If you put flowers under your pillow while having sex, it raised the chance of procreation.  Flowers and greenery placed over barns and houses were supposed to bring good health and good fortune to the people and the livestock. 

On that note, regardless of your midsummer plans or lack of Swedish-ness, it is almost June 22nd which means that, girls, you need a flower crown.  In addition to procreation and healthy livestock, young women wearing crowns of flowers on Midsummer have better luck of snagging their future spouse.   Lucklly, Honestly...WTF provided the absolutely foolproof tutorial below.

What you'll need:

• a variety of fresh flowers trimmed down to 3" stems
• 2 pieces of 16 gauge floral cloth wire
• green floral tape
• floral shears or scissors

To begin, you'll create the base of the flower crown out of two pieces of floral wire.  Mold and gently bend each piece into a half circle.  Face the half circles opposite of each other to create a circle and lay it over the top of your head to check the fit.  It should be quite snug as the addition of flowers will eventually weigh the crown down.  Wrap both overlapping sections tightly with floral tape.

Before adding flowers to the base, you'll create several small clusters of flowers.  This avoids having to attach each flower individually and overloading the crown with tape.  Pick a flower and continue adding 4-5 flowers, each one nestled right below the other.  Tightly wrap the base with floral tape and trim the tips when necessary.

Once you've made 10-15 clusters, start adding them to the base.  Position a cluster of flowers against the outside of the wire base and wrap tightly with floral tape.  Overlap the second cluster over the first and wrap tightly with tape.  Continue layering clusters in the same direction until the entire base is filled.  Spray the crown with water or keep it in a cool place until you are ready to wear it!

Your flower crown is finished!

All images courtesy of Honestly...WTF.