DIY Scarlet Witch Headpiece

 
Hey there bookworms,
today I'm here with a non-bookish post. I've been watching Marvel's Wandavision for the past weeks and despite some initial fears I ended up loving the show. Watching the new episode has been the highlight of my week and I loved discussing all the crazy theories with friends. I'm now completely obsessed with the Scarlet Witch costumes from the show and I decided to make at least the key piece of her outfit: the headpiece. It was a fun little project and here's my tutorial for it!

There are different versions of the headpiece: the Halloween version in the first pic, and the one from the final costume as seen above. I'm a tiny person and decided the bigger one would look too massive on my head, so I went for the more elegant shape of the second one. Of course, it's entirely up to you what shape you want to make your headpiece!

You need:

- Paper, pencil & scissors
- Craft foam (2 or 4 mm)
- Heat gun (hair dryer might work too)
- Hot glue gun
- Plastic headband
- Red acrylic paint & paintbrush

1. Take measurements & sketch

Measure your forehead from one side to the other (this is the inner width of the headpiece) and from the hairline down to the middle of your cheek (where you want the lowest tip of the headpiece to be).

 
Sketch the shape of your headpiece onto a piece of paper. It's enough to draw one side of it since it's symmetrical.

2. Cut it out

Once you've cut out one half, fold it over and use it as a template to sketch the second half. Then cut out the rest. Hold it against your forehead to see if the measurements fit.

I had to redraw and cut it out 3 times before I was happy with how it fit against my head, but practice makes perfect ;)

3. Trace it onto foam

Once you are happy with the size and shape of your headpiece, trace it onto the craft foam and cut it out. I used 2mm craft foam I got from the hobby store, you can also order it online.

4. Heat & shape 

Now the fun begins! Use your heat gun to heat up the foam. You can then bend it into the desired shape. Be careful with the heat gun to not burn yourself! Mine has different heat settings and I used a low to medium one.

You can probably also use a hair dryer for this, but it takes more time to really heat up the foam. 

I actually shaped it by pressing it to my own forehead. The foam cools down relatively quickly after you've turned off the heat gun so it's safe to touch, but once again be careful. 

You can heat it up and shape it as often as you want or need to.

 

Once the foam has cooled down, it stays in the shape and should look vaguely like this.

You can either paint it now (see step 6) or later.

5. Glue it together

Use the hot glue gun to glue the headpiece onto the headband. (I've seen other people use hair clips or attach an elastic band, but this is how it worked best for me.)

I used an old plastic headband I still had lying around, but you can buy cheap ones in store or online.

Remember to glue it on correctly: the headband doesn't go on top of your head like it would normally, but around your forehead!

Once again, be careful with the hot glue.

6. Paint it

Now comes the best part (in my opinion)! Use red acrylic paint to make your headband look like Wanda's!

You can also paint the foam before gluing it onto the headband, but I didn't think it through because I was so excited to make this. It still worked :)

 

 

Apply several layers of paint (I applied 3 layers) and if you want to, you can seal the paint with a transparent permanent spray once the paint has dried to give it a shiny finish.

And that's it! This is a fun an easy project that took me only a few hours.

I can't wait to wear the headpiece and assemble the other parts of Wanda's costume over time!

 

Have you seen Wandavision? What did you think? Happy crafting and until next time,

~ Anni