Busy as a Bee
yeah, the bee puns are just going to keep on coming, so get used to it honey. ;)
After looking at a lot of little kid stretch-pantyhose-over-a-coat-hanger tutorials for wings I finally found what I was looking for - cellophane wings. They're transparent, iridescent and fairly realistic but also light and it turns out SUPER easy to make. I used this tutorial, while her wings are more cartoony that what I was going for the basic info is good and if it's too wordy for you skip down to the bottom where she gives the 10 minute version.
I have a very nice, expensive iron so I used a heat gun on low instead of my iron, added bonus, you could use the heat gun to seal the edges instead of monkeying around with an open flame. Anyway, they were really easy to do. I made a sort of fish fin looking pair to go with my water gown, a tiny doll pair and 1/2 of my pair of bee's wings in just a few hours. I used yellow iridescent cellophane (like you wrap gift baskets with) and clear vinyl.
A few things of note - you don't have to wrap the entire wire with florists tape, you can just do the joins if you like. The fish fin ones have florists wire wrapped along the entire length and the bee ones only have it at the join. It really helps to use the quilt basting spray to make the wings a bit less crinkled looking.
Anyway, I think they look pretty bitchin' and this from someone who's got a bit of an aversion to fairy wings! I can also imagine making crowns or masks using this method.
After looking at a lot of little kid stretch-pantyhose-over-a-coat-hanger tutorials for wings I finally found what I was looking for - cellophane wings. They're transparent, iridescent and fairly realistic but also light and it turns out SUPER easy to make. I used this tutorial, while her wings are more cartoony that what I was going for the basic info is good and if it's too wordy for you skip down to the bottom where she gives the 10 minute version.
I have a very nice, expensive iron so I used a heat gun on low instead of my iron, added bonus, you could use the heat gun to seal the edges instead of monkeying around with an open flame. Anyway, they were really easy to do. I made a sort of fish fin looking pair to go with my water gown, a tiny doll pair and 1/2 of my pair of bee's wings in just a few hours. I used yellow iridescent cellophane (like you wrap gift baskets with) and clear vinyl.
A few things of note - you don't have to wrap the entire wire with florists tape, you can just do the joins if you like. The fish fin ones have florists wire wrapped along the entire length and the bee ones only have it at the join. It really helps to use the quilt basting spray to make the wings a bit less crinkled looking.
Anyway, I think they look pretty bitchin' and this from someone who's got a bit of an aversion to fairy wings! I can also imagine making crowns or masks using this method.
This looks so cool! You say "easy" but I'm sure I'd fight with them. They turned out beautiful Loren!
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