Construction Details:

CROWN
I used a plain, cheap, black headband that I bought from Wal-mart, as the base so that it is easily removable. I then painted it gold, but added fabric paint so that it is still flexible and does not crack.
I wanted to have a more realistic look to the flowers. I did not like how they translated over as the original picture shows. So I searched for silk flowers that were similar in shape and size, but I could find nothing that I liked. That meant I had to design and build them myself. There are seven large flowers in total, and they are each individually attached to the headband. They are made from three different types of fabric: shiny organza, then lining, and a thicker bridal lining. I used the shiny organza twice so that I could have four layers to make the flowers more full looking. Each petal on the flowers are individually cut and layered over each other to make them look more fluffy. That means there are 20 petal on each flower, which makes 140+ petals that I had to cut for just the flowers on the crown.
The petals are laid into a cup-shaped backing that I made out of fimo clay so that they keep their shape and look like flowers.
The centers are made from large clear crystals which I attached with gold wire, and the styman are made from the same thing but much smaller in scale. I added glitter glue around the center crystal to cover up any mistakes as well as the glue I used to keep it all in place.
The entire thing is then attached to the headband with the center wire I used to run through the main crystal.
The side bows and tassels are made from the same yarn I used on the cage, and I just made a simple bow knots all the way down. The two smaller flowers on the yarn are made from all the same materials as the seven larger ones, but are cut the same way as the three flowers on the other cage, which is one individual piece for each layer instead of a bunch of little petals.
The gold beads gave me a bit of a tough time, as I was actually searching for gold beads. Unfortunately I could not find any that were solid gold or did not have a pattern on them. Then I was walking through JoAnns one day and noticed the wood ball beads they had in their wood section. They had them in any size I would need all I needed to do was paint them, so that's exactly what I did.

–NOTE: I would like to point out that one of the three tassels is not seen in the picture, so I had to take some artistic liberties and design the bead layout at the bottom myself.

Overall I am very happy with the crown, and it is my favorite part of the whole costume, but it was extremely time-consuming and required a lot of patience. I would highly recommend using pre-made silk flowers if you can, they will save you a lot of time and sanity.

SHOES
Well after wearing them the first day at the con, I realized how many mistakes I made with their design and will have to fix them, but I am still keeping the original design. I just need to add some glue to the tips that can catch on stuff.
I decided to leave them white, as I could not decide on a painted desing that pleased me. So I just mixed some gold paint with fabric paint and applied that along the edge at the tops of the shoes.

--NOTE: It is very important to note that if you do something like this, you either need to mix a TON of fabric paint in with the color you want or you cover the heel part of the shoe with something soft and smooth, because it ripped the shit out of my ankle and heel.

As for the flowers, I made them the same exact way as all the others, and when I cut the bow off that was originally on the shoes, I was able to lace the wire through the small hole it made and then I was good to go!

UMBRELLA – WIP
I have decided I want another accessory for this monster cosplay, so I purchased a white paper umbrella for 11 bucks on eBay and will be adding my own touches to it before I attend the next con.
When I have pictures for it, I will update the info on how I made it.

BELLS
Even though I did not make the bells myself, I want to bring this up because it was such an important part of the cosplay, and I know there are some people out there who are as picky as me. XD

The bells were by far the most difficult thing to find for this entire project, as well is the single most expensive purchase for an individual part. I searched for about six months straight for the perfect bells. I did not want to use the typical jingle bells, they just did not look right and the design did not match that of the original picture, they also were never the right size. I eventually came across something called a “tiger head bell” on the Alibaba site, but they want you to buy 1000 at a time. I only needed about 160(at the time... I ended up only using just over 100 in the finished product.) Eventually I got lucky and found the tiger head bells on eBay; with some more difficulty in purchasing, I eventually owned all the bells I could ever need for this outfit!
They are used on the crown as well as the skirt itself and added quite a bit of weight to whatever they are attached to, so it is important to note that these bells will add a significant amount of weight to your cosplay and flatten down any fluff—so if you want a fluffy skirt, you gotta wear a petti-coat underneath.

As for how I put them together.... The strips of fabric gave me a bit of a problem at first, I thought I would actually have to cut them into triangle shapes, but I was worried if I did that, it would lose it's stability, as there would only be a tiny bit of fabric holding the bell and bead in place. Just for the hell of it, I cut a 3 inch rectangular strip and tied the bell on it, and it worked out perfectly!
I used the same gold wire as I had for everything else(I want to say I used the 18 guage for this part) and these amazing black beads I found in the Fashion District, on the wire, and then wrapped it around the bell and the fabric and I was done!

Personal Thoughts:

One of the most difficult and time-consuming cosplays I've ever made. I wanted her to be perfect and as accurate to the image as possible and that took a TON of research time and saving and learning to make it all how I wanted it to be.
I still have to remake her feather cage, which is just another monster so she's kind of on hiatus

Wig Review

Horrible wig, not even sure what I was thinking when I bought it and made it. But this was also my very first wig I ever "made." So I guess I have an excuse? >.>

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