creative coifs
Check out these hair-raising centerpieces designed for a fundraising event.
by Kelsey E. Smith
A benefit event in Springfield, Mo., last May did more than raise money for a no-kill animal shelter—it also turned heads with its unconventional centerpieces created by Ron Johnson of The Nest. Mr. Johnson, who along with his wife, Debbie, also owns neighboring businesses The Thicket and Branches, created botanical “hairstyles” for approximately 10 mannequin heads for the Springfield Animal Advocacy Foundation’s SAAFhouse Spay-Neuter Clinic’s Big Hair Ball.
Mr. Johnson drew inspiration for the centerpieces from an image on the event flier, which featured a model sporting a high, poufy hairdo. He got the mannequin heads for less than $10 each from a local wig shop and used a few simple techniques to transform them into works of art.
“We covered them in craft glue and then with sand, then we used Design Master Just for Flowers in Fresh Green to give them a mossy look,” Mr. Johnson explains. “We cut a little bit off the top of each wig head and used an Oasis sphere cut in half on top [for the flowers and foliages].”
Reactions to the botanical heads came even before the event, as customers saw them being made inside The Nest. “People went crazy for them. Everybody was taking pictures of them with their phones, and they were posting the photos on their Facebook pages and calling friends to come in and see them. We got as much exposure from our clients coming into the store as we did at the event.”
Mr. Johnson shares that the innovative designs have even sparked some residual business—a local theater ordered similar creations for its production of Hairspray in September, and a wedding client requested such designs to be used in the ladies’ room of a country club for her reception.
Contact Kelsey Smith at ksmith@floristsreview.com or (800) 367-4708.
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