DIY Birthday Crowns

This craft post is sponsored by Lance Snacks and DECA.

We just celebrated my son’s ninth birthday last week. We invited his school-friend over to hang out and celebrate with us, but what he didn’t realize was that his friend was secretly bringing his bike over to ride because my son was getting a new bike for his birthday. (I loooove birthday surprises!)
At first, he was a bit bashful about the crepe paper and balloons decorating our dining room for his birthday (even though he smiled HUGELY when he saw them as he always has), but it was the birthday crowns that truly made it special for him. He liked the neutral colors and loved that they were super hero-ish.

Even though the title of the original tutorial (below) is “DIY Princess Crowns,” as you can see, you can easily make these more boy-ish, as I did, using neutral colors and no glitter. And they were still fun enough for girls to wear, too. See?

DIY Birthday Crowns

You will need:

*12×12 scrapbooking paper or foam
*scissors
*hot glue gun
*crepe paper

Using the template from this post, print and cut out the template and lay it on your scrapbooking paper/foam. You will make two crowns per 12×12 paper/foam. (You can choose to make the curves a bit more pointy to make it more boyish if you’d like.)
Once the crowns are cut out, grab your crepe paper and start folding like an accordion back and forth until about an inch-or-so thick.

Unfold it before you on the table. Using your glue gun, seal them together with two dollops of glue on the last folded piece. Then place a large dollop in the center, and hold the circle together in the center while it dries.

I used the remaining long piece from the scrapbooking paper (instead of a ribbon as was shown in the video) for the back of the crown. I cut the long piece in half lengthwise (for two crowns), and cut a tab on the end, as shown below, to insert into the crown. Cut a corresponding slit into the end of the crown to insert the tab. You may need to adjust the length according to the size of your child’s head.

Using a large dollop of hot glue where you’d like the accordion circle to go, set the circle and hold it in place until it dries (about 30 seconds).

I cut an imperfect star for this project, because it gave it a more homemade, super-heroish look (according to my son). You affix it into place using another spot of hot glue in the center of the circle. (You can cut hearts, a zig-zag lightning bolt, whatever shape you’d like.)

Wa-la! All done in about ten minutes! Wouldn’t these be an awesome addition to your child’s birthday, or even on a rainy day, or maybe the next time you’re playing dress-up? What about adding these to a super hero costume or tutu?

I’ve created this DIY birthday crown without any extra embellishments, but you can add some extra some extra flair by making crepe paper flowers, as is shown below. You take a small square of crepe paper, cut round edges, and twist the corner until it makes a flower, then hot glue into place where you’d like.

My son isn’t the only person celebrating a birthday – Lance Snacks is celebrating their 100th! We enjoy their whole grain crackers with real cheese and peanut butter. They’re easy to pack in lunchboxes and serve as snacks on the sidelines.

To celebrate, Lance Snacks is giving their fans more of what they love this year. Be sure to visit Happy100Lance.com‘s 100 Days to Win; an online program with daily challenges and opportunities to win prizes, including a chance to win a $100,000 dream birthday! (Dude, wow!!)

What do you think? Do you think these DIY birthday crowns will be something easy for you to make for your child?