For those of you unfamiliar with my previous work, the Entwife Circlet was originally designed for a Lord of the Rings themed ball. My friend was dressing up as an Entwife (the Ents were tree people, shepherds of the ancient forests of Middle Earth) and I created a custom ensemble of jewelry for her in exchange for a gorgeous medieval dress. You can see the jewelry ensemble here, and additional pictures of her handmade costume here.

Last autumn, I created another one in brighter greens for a bride to wear at her wedding.


The base at the front of the circlet is made out of braided copper wire. On this particular headpiece, I kept the copper raw (no jewelry wax to protect the color) so that it can oxidize and gradually change from bright shiny copper to a deep dark brown.

(Of course, any jewelry made with copper can be cleaned to a shine by gently rubbing it with vinegar, washing in water, and patting dry).

Since copper reacts with the salts in many people's perspiration, I lined the front of the headpiece with a black ribbon.

The necklace and earrings will be up on Etsy soon!

I didn't have any friends handy the day that I finished this circlet, so my sister Rosie helped out by manning the camera.

Rosie has been my apprentice this summer and has learned about everything from how to package and weigh envelopes to how to use a soldering torch to designing Celtic knots to building workbenches with power tools to being the second shooter at both a portrait and a wedding photoshoot. I don't think I ever caught on to things so easily when I was eleven!


(BTW, I'm going to put in a plug for the company I bought my shirt from (I have not been asked or compensated to do so). You may have guessed that I really like fairytales and costumes. Unfortunately, it would be more than a little bit weird if I wore my full medieval getup around a college campus. But what I can do is wear this shirt with the corset-style lacing, the bell sleeves, and the embroidery and pair it with a pair of dark wash jeans and a cool hairstyle. It's the Miranda Gothic shirt from HolyClothing, and Indian company, and is one of my favorite clothing splurges ever. It's probably also the most well-constructed shirt in my entire closet.)






UPDATE: This circlet has sold! I hope that the new Entess loves it! If anyone is interesting in commissioning one just email me at shealynnsfaerieshoppe@gmail.com.

There is something so yummy about warm copper, crisp pewter, and bubbly cream freshwater pearls, isn't there? Or is this just me? It's probably just me, but the flavor is almost as palpable as the colors. I've decided that I don't use copper and bubbly freshwater pearls nearly as much as I should!


This is a custom piece I recently made for a bride who wanted a Grecian-style headband set made out of copper!


It was a rushed order so I used the odds-and-ends from my bead stash for the fascinator part. This always forces me to be extra creative about what kinds of beads go together. The dress is a blush with hints of pewter in it, and I wound up using many more gray and blue tone beads than I normally would in a copper piece. I think it works!

image via

The headbands are designed to be worn separated on the head with a messy bun. To the right is the hairstyle that the headpiece will be worn with!

They are thinner than most of the braided circlets and headbands, as I used 20 gauge copper. It is designed to accent her hairstyle rather than overwhelm it. Copper is stiff enough that the headbands will hold their shape on their own but I imagine that she will use bobby pins or ribbon to make it extra-secure on the day.


After taking these pictures we decided that a patina (basically oxidation that makes the copper look older, less shiny, and more rich) would be the perfect finish!


Aaaand, I randomly stuck the main headband onto my cloche hat. I kind of want to make one of these for me now, so that I can tie it onto my hat with a nice poofy ribbon in the back and be all fancy! :)

Pieces like these are so much fun to work on. ^_^

P.S. I have a cool tutorial coming up in the next few days (hopefully)! There has been so much to do lately that I haven't had a chance to finish up with the pictures, but I promise I'm going to blog about something other than custom orders soon. :)

Image from ABC's Once Upon a Time

With the latest season of Once Upon a Time, we were introduced to an awesome new character: Princess Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty.

I'm watching this show as much for the costumes, props, and sets as for the actual story... it's not unusual for my eye to wander everywhere except the actor's face! Right from the start, Aurora's headpiece caught my eye. ~*~*~ THE SPARKLES ~*~*~

A couple of days later, Elena recommended me to a bride who wanted a replica of Aurora's circlet to match her wedding gown! Eeep! This was my first time ever creating a replica piece, my first time ever working with rhinestones, and the first time making a bridal piece this large. I was a little nervous, but so excited.

Everything went well, though, and I can't wait to hear what the bride thinks when it arrives on her doorstep!

I started by re-watching the first episode and snagging screencaps to analyze. I analyzed it to death. :)


Her circlet is made from rhinestones and ribbon which are plaited together into a band that rests on her hairline. At least two small braids are woven around this band, creating a lovely mix of ribbon, hair, and sparkles.

Additional rhinestones are woven around her hairstyle in a very asymmetric zig-zag. This top part fits much more like a cap than a tiara, as it folds snugly over the crown of her head.


I noticed pretty quickly that Aurora seems to have found plenty of time to do her hair between scenes...  :)

The rhinestone placement is not consistent, especially at the edges, and she wears at least three hairstyles in the first episode.

At first, her braids are woven around the top, zig-zag-y part, so that the rhinestones are barely visible. Later, the braids move down and are intertwined with the bottom band. In the last scene, the circlet rests on top of the braids, above her forehead.

I wanted to make the circlet versatile enough that all these hairstyles (and more) can be worn. The bride didn't want dangling rhinestones, so I simplified the design at the edges where it wasn't consistent.


Aurora always wears the back of her headpiece tucked underneath her hair. I think the actress had her hair teased and curled and then extensions added.

(This is a beautiful crown... I'd love to be a props/costume designer, I really would. It must have been so much fun for the designers to come up with a sparkly, girly headpiece that wasn't your typical tiara. Aurora's whole costume is lovely. I hope she doesn't get put in pants like the rest of the royalty. I feel that we need at least one kick-butt princess who can wield a sword while wearing a frilly skirt!!!)

After I figured how how the circlet was made (and planned a few changes of my own to make it sturdier), it was time to get started!

First, I wove a base from silver-plated copper wire.

The next part-- making the band of braided rhinestones and ribbon-- proved very tricky. If I simply braided the strands, they would move around too much.

I used two different sizes of silver-plated rhinestones and twisted them around each other, using temporary jewelry glue to hold it in place.


After this was done, I wove the ribbon in and laced everything together with wire before removing the glue and polishing everything.

The asymmetric zig-zag design was made from more rhinestone chain twisted onto freeform silver wire.

The circlet can be attached with bobby pins, or tied with ribbon. It's just heavy enough that it won't stay on without being secured in some way.

After I took these pictures, I tweaked things a bit more... I "de-fluffed" the ribbon and adjusted one point of the zig-zag so it isn't so tall and pointy. (The zig zags are slightly adjustable so it will fit any head size or hairstyle like a glove!)


The bride was kind enough to me model the circlet before shipping it!

I usually have friends model for me, but I'm the only one with long and dark enough hair to attempt Aurora's hairstyle. So one cold autumn morning, I put my hair up in braids and taught my lovely mom how to use my camera.








After I completed this circlet, I received two more orders for replicas of the Sleeping Beauty's crown! This one was practically identical to the first:



This next one, however, has several requested modifications that were a joy to work on!

(excuse my workdesk mess). Two full feet of wire and ribbon and beading to wrangle into a circlet!

If you would like to request a custom item like this, don't hesitate to email me at shealynnsfaerieshoppe@gmail.com I can usually accommodate many kinds of budgets on more intensive pieces like these, depending on how much customization you want.


I'm also in the process of using the leftover odds and ends of the rhinestones to create some Aurora-inspired cuff bracelets. There are a couple on my workbench right now which are going to get colorful ribbons!