Senior crowns are a Leesville tradition for homecoming every year. I’ve waited three years, and finally my time has come. (Photo courtesy of Natalie Gore)
Every year, Leesville seniors receive cardboard crowns from Burger King. The diadems start out looking cheap and worthless, but to the seniors, they are much more. On homecoming day, seniors wear their crowns to school. The week leading up to this day, seniors spend hours decorating and designing their individual tiaras. October 18 this year was Leesville’s homecoming, and for my senior year I knew I had to go all out for my crown. I also decided that I wanted to document the experience and the process of designing.
- Gather the materials. This might be the step that took me the most work, as I had to use creativity and planning to buy all of the things I needed. Finally, I ended up with spray paint, Mod Podge, sticker letters, craft boas, and sticker letters.
- Paint. Spray painting a piece of cardboard sounds really simple, yet there were more challenges I faced than I initially thought. I had to find plastic bags to put behind my crown so that I didn’t cover my garage floor with paint. Then, I thought to spray outside to eliminate the lingering scent of paint. However, it was extremely windy. I ended up on my garage floor.
Glitter. I’ll be honest here, I had no clue how to apply glitter to a piece of cardboard before this process. My technique was simply trial and error. First, I put glitter straight onto the crown: it fell off. Second, I repainted and then immediately put glitter on. That stayed better, but I wanted more sparkle. Finally, I put Mod Podge on, then two more layers of glitter. Finally, I ended up with a glitter bomb.
- Fluffies. After the glitter had finally dried, I knew it was time to add the finishing touches. I had to run BACK to the store to buy some super glue, and then it was time to apply the boa. I circled the string of feathers around the bottom of my crown, and let them dry.
- Stickers! After everything else on the crown had settled, it was finally time for the final final touches. It took me again a trial-and-error process to figure out what I wanted to spell on my crown. I ultimately picked my last name, “Gore”, and to put my graduating class number on the side. Here is the final product!
Decorating my senior crown was a time I’ll never forget. Growing up is hitting me too hard right now, I still can’t believe I’m a senior and I’m about to graduate. Appreciate the time you have and the good old days while you’re in them before it’s too late.
