When it came to deciding what vintage inspired craft I would do for Easter, I felt a bit tired and uninspired about a lot of this things I came up with. Crochet and knitting ideas were thrown around as were recipes and sewing projects but I decided that this year, I will finally make my vintage inspired Easter bonnet and corsage. In the 1940’s and 50’s, Easter Bonnets were very popular and often quite extravagant. Ladies would create wonderful Easter and spring inspired displays that would sit neatly atop their heads. More often than not, ladies would also wear an Easter corsage to match their bonnet and compliment their outfit. These accessories were proudly displayed throughout Easter festivities and be worn and adored by many in the family.

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There are quite a few amazing examples of Easter bonnets and corsages online and although I’d love to make one of the absolute crazy ones, I’ve decided that for this year at least, I will make a floral one just to get the hang of it. Now this is certainly not a tutorial and it’s more me trying to figure out the basics of corsage and hat construction. I will list my steps down below but as I went about this project, my original ideas certainly changed and evolved to be something quite different to what I had originally planned.

What I used:
12 gauge wire
Hot glue gun with extra hot glue sticks
Wire cutters and pliers
Scissors
Paper plates
Brooch backings
Fake flowers and foliage

How it went:
For the corsage, I cut the lip edge off the paper plate and shaped it to a square topped tear drop shape (yeah … I know that doesn’t make sense but just go with it). From there, I just hot glued and arranged my flowers to what I hope was something aesthetically pleasing. I was inspired by an Easter brooch I had from Daisy Jean and went for a yellow and blue themed arrangement. Once happy with my floral placements, I attached two brooch backing onto the back of the paper plate.

For the bonnet, the first thing I must not is that 12 gauge wire is way too soft for what I wanted and I think a 14 or 16 gauge wire would be better for next time. I used a styrofoam head mannequin as a guide and created a circle hoop that would fit my head. I used a bit of paper plate lip cut off to act as a base to attach my flowers. I them proceeded to attach my flowers with hot glue till I was happy with how it looked. I used some ribbon to wrap the wire and give it a clean and finished look.

I’m really happy with the corsage and think it turned out great. I can definitely see myself making more in the future as I found the process easy, relaxing and fun.
As for the bonnet, well it’s not really a bonnet at this stage and it’s definitely a flower crown. I didn’t want it to turn into a flower crown but I think I spread my flowers across too much with turned it into a crown by accident. I would love to try my hand at making another hat again soon as my original idea was scrapped due to the wire being way too soft and unable to hold the shape I wanted.

When worn together, I think the pieces balance each other out. This year, I have decided to wear my white Vivien of Holloway Lana dress so the yellow and blue tones stand out boldly. I really do love the corsage, it’s my new favourite thing and I’m already wanting to make a couple more (my left over wedding flowers seem mighty tempting …). As for the flower crown pretending to be a bonnet, well, I tired. I might need to do a bit more research when it come to hat construction. This was a fun little afternoon project and it certainly was a nice change of pace. I wish you all a happy and delightful Easter.

Note: This is not a sponsored post. All opinions and thoughts expressed are solely my own and not influenced in any way. There are no affiliate links and I do not benefit from any link clicks or purchases made.