Mermaid Tiara
This is a fun tiara I made for my son's girlfriend's 18th birthday. Her birthday wish was a visit to the sea life centre and she wanted everyone to dress up a sea creatures. As you have probably guessed Rachel went as a mermaid, she looked very pretty.
The stems on this tiara are meant to represent seaweed, they are made out of 4mm fire-polished beads in olivine and teal. I have added some fishes, shells and starfish to give it an underwater look and wrapped the base with 6mm white czech glass pearls.
To make this tiara you will need
- 1 Tiara band (crown style)
- 102 Teal 4mm Fire-Polished Beads
- 72 Olivine 4mm Fire-Polished Beads
- 2 Aquamarine 14mm Fish Beads
- 6 Aquaria 9mm Shells
- 1.5 grams of Rainbow Light Siam Ruby Toho Seed Beads (size 11)
- 60 6mm White Czech Glass Pearls
- 0.6mm thick silver plated wire
- 0.4mm thick silver plated wire
- 0.3mm thick silver plated wire
- Chain nose pliers
- Round nose pliers
If you can't get hold of the beads above then other beads in the same colour can be substituted.
Instructions
Step 1 - Start with the Seaweed Stems
The first step is to make all the Seaweed Stems.
As you make each stem lay it out on the table in the order it will be attached to the base (see Layout Diagram 1 below). This will make it easier to assemble the tiara at the end.
Cut approximately 20cm of 0.4mm wire
Thread on 3 Teal 4mm Fire-polished beads and slide them to the middle of the wire.
Twist the wire together once beneath the three beads to hold them in place.
Thread on 9 more 4mm Teal beads over both strands of wire.
Step 2 - Put the wave in the Seaweed
Place a thick marker pen against the seaweed stem, near the three beads at the top. Bend the stem gently around the marker pen.
Place the marker pen on the other side of the seaweed stem near the bottom. Bend the stem gently around the marker pen again.
Your seaweed stem should now be in the shape of an 'S'.
Make another 4 Seaweed Stems in Teal
Make 6 Seaweed Stems in Olivine
Make 2 Seaweed Stems in Teal using only 8 beads after the three beads at the top (Seaweed Stem A).
Make 2 Seaweed Stems in Teal using only 7 beads after the three beads at the top (Seaweed Stem B).
Layout these stems on the table in front of you as shown below.
Place Seaweed Stem B at the end of the row of stems and Seaweed Stem A next to it. This allows the height of the stems to decrease slightly at each end.
Layout Diagram 1 - layout the Seaweed stems you have made in the order shown below.
Starting in the middle of the tiara band and working outwards, attach the stems to the tiara band by wrapping the wire at the end of each stem around the band.
For details of this technique please see our tutorial page How to Attach Stems to a Tiara Band