Floral hair wreaths prove spring is in the air

This week’s column is inspired by the multitude of beautiful Frida Kahlo photographs in professor of art history Marilynn Board’s ARTH 300: Major Artists and Issues: Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo class. But never fear, as you need not be brave enough to rock a unibrow to wear a floral wreath.

This is a pretty easy and inexpensive project requiring the following: floral wire, a pair of scissors, green masking tape, some ribbon and silk or paper flowers.

First take a length of the wire and wrap it around your head, keeping it loose so that the flowers have some room to breathe. Once you have a comfortable size for your head, snip the wire and wrap ends of the wire around each other.

Artificial flowers can be found online or in craft stores. The nicest wreaths combine flowers of a variety of sizes and colors. When selecting flowers keep hair color and skin tone in mind and then stay within a color range to complement them. Larger flowers need a greater variety of sizes so that the scale does not overwhelm.

Wrap the stem of each flower around the wire with tape and give each flower half an inch from the wire to allow them to hang nicely. Buy many flowers so that the look is as lush and organic as possible. Fresh flowers can always be mixed in with the artificial ones. Voila: You are now Lana Del Rey!

Wear these with a winter parka or fleece as if to laugh cruelly in the face of Mother Nature’s harsh February temperatures. While wearing your hair down is probably the most appropriate style for these, a cool side braid can really highlight the wreath. If you are too lazy to do this yourself, Etsy.com has plenty of cool ready-made versions and images for inspiration. Or you could do as I did, and cut your wreath from a straw hat from Goodwill.