Amanda from Elemental Photography and Design created this crystal headband using Worbla’s Crystal Art, and shared the process of creating it below!
Step one was to make a mold – you could skip this step and shape the crystals by hand, but I thought this would be an easier way of getting more uniform sizes through the design in less time. I sculpted some crystal positives from Sculpy, baked them, then used the Amaze Mold putty to create this simple mold.
Next up – heat up your pellets inside a silicone container (I like using a silicone cupcake liner or an egg poacher) and when they’re heated, blend the pellets into a putty until there are no individual pellets to be seen, then press into the mold and let cool.
Always wear gloves when working with Crystal Art! You can speed up the cooling process by dunking the whole mold into cold water, or placing it into a freezer.
Next I made the headband base. The headband I had was just a skinny thing from the dollar store, and I needed enough space on the headband to give me something to glue the crystals onto. I created a sort of half moon shaped base out of card stock, and then hot glued it onto the band for support.
You could make your headband itself from Worbla’s Finest Art for something custom sized. The band with the cardstock glued down
I wrapped the band with some silk scraps, gluing them down along the top of the band so I had a platform to sit the crystals onto. I also decided what flowers I’d be adding, and trimmed some of the Crystal Art shapes into sharper points.
Then you just have to hot glue the Crystal Art onto the headband, then cover the base with some flowers to keep everything neat!
And you’re done! You can also color your crystals using pigments when you’re heating them, but I liked the clear crystal effect this time around.
First step is to sketch out the shape you want on to paper. I’m using painters paper here.
Next, I cut out the shape and pinned it to two layers of pink insulation foam that I glued together.
With a utility knife (snap blade) I cut out and shaped the foam. Once it’s roughly cut, I sanded it down for a smoother shape.
Now to create the horn pattern! I covered the foam in duct tape and used a sharpie to draw the pattern.
And don’t forget to draw registration marks which will help with assembling the horns later on.
With a blade, I cut the tape and flattened out the pattern onto 1/4 inch L200 foam. Make sure to mark registration lines as well.
Cut out foam with a sharpened blade
With contact cement, glue foam pattern back together, using the registration marks as a guide to make sure the pieces line up correctly.
Repeat steps to create the second horn!
Next, I attached the horns to a simple headband with contact cement and used a wood burning tool to burn in the details.
I cut 4 horn-like shaped pieces out of insulation foam and sanded them smooth. I then covered them in black worbla, attached them to the headband and used the wood burning tool again to create texture.
I then sketched the ears/fins. I cut this out and traced it onto L200 twice.
I cut out those pieces along with 2 separate pieces that will be the detail on the top of the ear.
I used contact cement to glue the ridge on top and then used a dremel to smooth out the edges and create the shape I wanted.
Just like the ears/fins, I repeated the same process for this shape that will be glued to the front of the crown. I also marked where the gems and lights will eventually go.
I again used contact cement to attach all pieces to the headband.
Next is sealing! I covered the entire piece in 3 thick layers of Plasti Dip, making sure each layer was dry before spraying the next.
Now we’re onto lights! I bought fairy lights online, these work out perfectly for this kind of project. I punched a hole through the center of the headband and strung the wire through. I also re-punched holes where I previously marked on the front of the crown. I made sure to push an individual bulb through each one of the holes. The rest of the lights were glued down to the headband with hot glue.
Gems! Crystals! I wanted to make super organic looking crystals for the crown and I used Worbla Crystal Art to do this!
Since I wanted rougher and more organic looking crystals, I tested out a few methods and this was the easiest way by far! I laid out the Crystal Art on wax paper, folded it over and used a heat gun to heat up and melt the worbla pieces together. This helps keep all the little worbla pellets in one spot so they aren’t blowing all over the place. I used clay sculpting tools to mush the worbla together until I had a lump in a size I wanted. Next I let the worbla cool for a minute and used scissors to cut down the sides. The result is a crystal shape with as many sides and angles you want. I repeated this 25-30 times, creating crystals that were different shapes and sizes.
This is the final result of what the crystal will look like with a light source!
I used a silicone mold that I bought to make the smaller gems for the front of the crown. I heated up a small amount of Crystal Art, placed it into the mold while still hot and used wax paper to press the worbla into the mold. Let cool in the mold.
Once the worbla is cooled, you can take it out. Now all that’s left for this is to color the gem. I used a pink marker and colored the back of the gem. You can use markers, watered down paint or nail polish to do this with whatever color you need. The last step is to glue these gems and all the crystals we made to the crown.
This was the final result after attaching everything to the crown with hot glue. AND LIGHTS. The only other small detail I added was a thin trim around each gem on the front. I just took small pieces of black worbla, heated it up, rolled it into a thin shape and wrapped it around each gem.
The last thing to do is paint! Sticking with Saragosa’s color palette, this is my final result for the headpiece. I used simple acrylic paint to do this. Laid down base colors and weathering to achieve the desired look.
We asked Methyl Ethyl Cosplay to create a tutorial for us using Black Worbla, and she shared this great writeup for making your own Wonder Woman tiara from the new movie designs.
Step 1: First things first, using paper, a pen, a mirror, and a reference of Gal wearing the WW tiara, I sketched out my base pattern to fit my forehead in as close proportion to my reference as possible. I then cut the pattern out, folding it in half when cutting to achieve symmetry. Next, I sketched out the details onto one side of the base pattern to match my reference. I transferred the pattern to 2mm craft foam. I incorporated slits on either end of the tiara for attaching straps to secure the tiara in place for wear.
Step 2: I tend to make my patterns by way of dissection. For this, I cut the base pattern in half, and cut out pieces from it to make my first detail layer. Once the first layer was cut out, I transferred the detail pattern to foam. Tip: I like to use pins to secure the pattern in place when transferring them to foam.
Step 3: Once my first detail layer was transferred, I then cut the pattern once more to reveal my second detail layer. I transferred this to the foam.
Step 4: I cut all three layers out using an Exacto pen.
Step 5: I wanted the tiara to protrude outward a tad at the centerline so I heated a small piece of Worbla, rolled it into a thin cylinder, and superglued it to the centerline of the base foam piece.
Step 6: I then adhered the second detail layer with super glue.
Step 7: I wanted the edges of the central “V” shape to be thin, so I tapered them some with a Dremel tool.
Step 8: I then adhered the final detail layer with super glue.
Step 9: I tapered the “V” edges once more with my Dremel tool.
Step 10: Now on to the fun part! When working with Worbla, I prefer to use the sandwich method. I traced my tiara outline with about an inch to spare on all sides onto Worbla, twice. I then cut these two pieces out. I heated the Worbla pieces with a heat gun and sandwiched my foam piece between the two Worbla layers with the glue sides (shiny side) of the Worbla each facing the middle (interfacing with the foam). Using my heat gun and sculpting tools, I accentuated all of the foam details beneath and removed the excess Worbla around the edges of the tiara with scissors.
Step 11: I next made additional details with Worbla and added them to the tiara, adhering and and shaping them with heat and sculpting tools.
Step 12: Once the detailing was officially complete, I heated the piece once more and shaped it to my forehead.
SisuSquid (FB, Tumblr, Twitter) shared this tutorial with us on making her crown out of Worbla.
This is a tutorial on how to make a winged crown out of Worbla. The design itself is my unique creation, inspired by Valkyries. 1) Cut out the detail designs for the wing with an exacto blade. This was the most time consuming part of the whole process and my hand was very mad at me after. The details are a single piece of Worbla.
2) All the individual pieces cut out. I went with the “sandwich” method where there’s two layers of Worbla and a piece of 2mm craft foam in between the wings. This gives the Worbla some extra dimension. I also ended up making the band around the head 3 layers, not two as seen here.
3) Using a heat gun, I heated up the Worbla and put a piece of craft foam in between the layers, then with the edge of a pair of scissors, flattened down all the edges so the feathers would be well defined. I had to reheat the Worbla several times through this process to make sure it would stick together properly.
4) Cut off the excess Worbla, and reheat/reseal any seams that the craft foam was showing through. Be very careful not to get Worbla bubbles during this process, and keep flattening it out! If you do get Worbla bubbles, you can carefully pop them with a push pin and squish the air out. Note: there is no such thing as waste when it comes to Worbla. Every single piece of scrap you cut off can be reheated and reformed. You can make whole new sheets of Worbla if you’re patient enough!
5) Heated and added the top detail piece. Worbla sticks to itself beautifully, so detail work like this is no problem! I recommend heating the piece up while on the desired location, because Worbla warps and bends once it’s heated, so it will be hard to transfer correctly once warm.
6) Detail work on the centerpiece. For more detail, I used a pen in the slightly warm Worbla to carve grooves.
7) All the individual pieces ready to be put together. I also added detail work on the band and wings with a pen.
8) Warm up the band and firmly attach the centerpiece. Then re-heat the whole piece and fit it to what you want it’s shape to be. Here, it’s my head so it was really easy to form. Be careful not to burn yourself! Wait till the crown is cool before you take it off, otherwise it might warp.
9) Heat the wings and the crown band where you want to attach them, and stick the whole piece together. I also bent out the wings a little at this time. Once it’s cool, it’s time for a primer! I use wood glue, and put on 2 layers. This helps make the Worbla nice and smooth. If you want the rough texture a base coat isn’t necessary.
10) After the glue is 100% dry, it’s time to base coat! I use acrylics for all my painting needs, and almost always start with a black base coat. One to two layers should do the trick.
11) Painted the gold by rubbing it on with a paper towel. This helped give it a more worn and metallic look. I then re painted the black around the wings so the detail was nice and sharp.
12) Paint the feathers the base colors. Here, I wanted a soft gradient from gray to white. Several layers and lots of patience was used here.
13) Added details with black paint, and many more layers of acrylics.
14) Added the red/gold detailing inside the decorations. Wood glue isn’t that easy to paint on, so more layers than normal was required to get the red a true red here.
15) Make sure to protect your paint with an acrylic top coat! Also, add your preferred attachment method. Here, I used eyelets, ribbon and a cord lock. (You can see them in the last picture.)
And that’s all there is to it! Please post any questions you have below, and I’ll do my best to answer them! Thermoplastics can be very intimidating, but I know you can do it!
Iloon shared this tutorial on how they made the crown for their Princess Peach costume
Materials used:
– Worbla – Resin – Transulent glass paint in pink and blue – Spray-Putty – Brown acrylic paint – Gold decoration spray paint – Matte varnish – Sticker crystals and pearls – Air dry clay – Sandpaper – Brush
For the base I used Worbla, but you can also use wonderflex (or other types of thermo plastic) or foam. I attached the edges on each other and shaped the Worbla by using hot water. The material will stick on each other by heating it up.
With a soldering iron I added the edge on the crown.
– To smooth out the crown I have sprayed spray putty on it, let it dry for a few hours and sanded it slightly.
– I cast the gems on the crown with clear resin. I used a drop of translucent glass paint to color them and a base mold for resin which you can find in craft stores.
– After the resin was fully hardened after a day, I glued mirror foil on the backside and then on the crown with super glue . I used air dry clay for adding/finishing the edges.
– I sealed the resin stones with masking tape and spray painted the crown gold and let it dry for a few hours.
– I used very small sticker crystals and pearls so I didn’t need to use glue to put it on the crown. This is faster and saver to avoid glue being visible.
– For the worn out look I used brown acrylic paint which I thinned out with water. I used a piece of cloth and rubbed it over the crown until the crown was fully covered. I used a clean cloth to rub off the paint, the paint will remain in the edges of all the details which gives the crown a more classic look. You can also use the dry brushing technique for this result.
– For sealing everything I used 2 layers of matte varnish.
Tips:
– For being able to shape Worbla you can also use a heatgun or oven. – Be careful with the soldering iron, you can make holes in the material with it easily. – If there will be some paint on the resin stones, don’t worry you can get rid of it with acetone/ nailpolish remover. – Drill small holes in the crown to be able to sew the crown on a wig.
—– Thanks again to Iloon for sharing this tutorial with us!
