How to make a Frozen Princess Wand
If the children in my daughters' classes are anything to go by there are going to be a lot of Elsa's this Halloween...I know I am not the only one still singing along to 'Let it Go' in my car!
So, why not finish off your childs Elsa costume with this beautiful Ice Princess wand. Really simply to make and the kids love it as not only can they wave it around to their hearts content, but it also has the faint sounds of sleigh bells as they wave - I am noise averse and so went for the smallest bells as they make the least noise, but if you want more noise just increase the size of the bells you add.
What you will need:
Wooden dowel (3/16 in x 11 7/8 in)
Blue bells (I used 0.39in)
Rhinestone stickers
1/8 in ribbon (I used white and 2 shades of blue)
Silver wired-edge ribbon (I used 3/8in)
Multisurface or acryllic glitter paint- light blue (I used Martha Stewart Turquoise)
White multisurface or acryllic paint
Wooden snowflake ornament (I got this one from Michaels - you will get more choice at this time of year as the Christmas stock is in)
Paintbrush
Sharp scissors
Glue gun
1) Decorating the handle of the wand
First you need to decorate the dowel to create the handle of your wand. Using
the wired-edge ribbon makes this easier as the lightweight wire in the edges of the ribbon grip to the dowel as you wrap them round. First you need to fold over the end of the ribbon just a small amount, to stop any fraying. Then secure to the end of your dowel with a little hot glue. Work your way along the dowel, wrapping the ribbon around, moving up a little at a time to ensure all the wood is covered. When you reach the end cut the ribbon and then repeat the small fold over at the end before securing with hot glue.
2) Painting the snowflake
Next, take the white paint and paint both sides of the wooden snowflake. Allow the white paint to dry before adding a top coat of the glitter paint. You can make the glitter as thick or thin as you like depending on how sparkly you want your wand. Allow each side to dry before doing the other and then you can lay it flat which helps you get an even cover.
3) Adding the ribbons and bells
Once the paint has dried, you can add the ribbons and bells to your wand. If you are using an ornament for your snowflake, then you will have a little hole where the the string is tied - remove this string and then use this hole to tie some ribbons. Ensure that the hole is pointing down as the middle branch of your snowflake (the one which we will later stick onto the handle). Measuring your wand against the handle you can decide how long you would like your ribbons to be - it is nice to have different lengths. For my wand I chose a selection of the white, light blue
and darker blue 1/8in ribbon and cut them to different lengths and then threaded them through the hole together, securing with a knot. You can then repeat this process at the top of the handle and secure by tying the ribbon around the handle - a little hot glue can be used to make sure they stay where they are. If you don't have a hole in your snowflake, you can just add more at the top of the handle. Once you have all your ribbons tied, then you can add your bells. It is nice to have these at different heights so you can tie them at the bottoms of some ribbons, and thread them half way up others. They can be tricky to thread - if you have a needle from a childrens sewing or crochet set then these can be useful to thread them through, or alternatively use a normal needle and push through with the blunt end. Once they are threaded then you can cut off any excess ribbon to tidy them up.
4) Attaching the handle
Line up the decorated dowel with the branch of the snowflake which has the hole with the ribbons. Align the top of the dowel just below the center of the snowflake (or higher if you want a shorter handle). Ensure the knot of the ribbons is facing away from the snowflake, and that none of the ribbons are trapped - they all need to be able to hang loose once the handle is stuck on. When you are happy, take the hot glue gun and glue all the way along the branch of the snowflake to where the handle will reach - make sure there is glue all the way, wherever the handle and snowflake meet. Hold in place until the glue dries.
5) Decorating your snowflake
Now you can embellish your snowflake however you would like. I used
Rhinestone stickers from Michaels which come in a pack of different sizes. I added a large sticker in the center, and surrounded it by 5 smaller stickers - like a flower. Then added 3 small stickers onto each of the branches. The stickers can be a little fiddly - especially the smaller ones, so I used the blunt end of the needle I had out for tying the ribbons to the bells, and used that to help position them - just balance the sticker on the end and drop it off where you want it.
And there you have it - one beautiful, jingly Frozen, Ice Princess Wand.
Visit our Princess Theme Party Page, for some more great princess ideas, princess party supplies and decorations, games, activities and goody bags.
Written by Sarah Boorman - Co-founder of Mad Hatter Party Box, Founder of Mad Hatter Party Food and mother of 7 year old twins - Amelia and Maya. Sarah was born in the UK and moved to California in 2013 with her family.
