Light Beam Tiara

Summary:
On really special evenings, when you need to make a big entrance, this tiara will do it for you.
This tiara has a row of vertical light rays emanating from it. Instead of gold and precious gems, light itself crowns this tiara.

Styling:
From the center front of the tiara, a single green laser beam extends straight up to the sky. Along the sides and back of the tiara, white lights beam upward from focused LED lights. These shorter beams echo the vertical line of the single laser beam, creating a cohesive visual design.

Light Construction:
The laser is a commercially available Class IIIa (<5mw) green laser pointer. Green laser pointer beams are visible in mid-air in low light, whether the air is smoky, dusty, foggy, or clear. The barrel of the laser is silver-toned to go with the silver-tone frame of the tiara.
For safety of the "audience," the laser must always point directly upward, even when the wearer of the tiara nods or leans forward. In order to make sure the laser always points upward, a pivoting axle mounts the laser to the tiara. The handle of the laser hangs down freely from the pivot point. As the user bends forward, the laser pivots relative to the tiara, but stays the same orientation to gravity. An axle that runs horizontally between the two highest points of the tiara, about six inches above the head, attaches the pivot point of the light to the tiara. The tiara is open below the pivot point so the light can pivot unobstructed.
Laser pointers as short as 2.5 inches and 1/2 inch diameter are available.
In addition to the single laser, there are several LED lights along the sides of the tiara. These also point upward. The LED lights are the kind you find in key-ring flashlights, with a built in lens to create a focused beam. They are powered by watch batteries.

Frame Construction:
The base of the tiara is a metal frame with some rows of rhinestone decoration. These extra rows of rhinestones add stability to the frame, and help cover the flashlight bodies. The rhinestones are clustered at the points where the LED beams emerge.

The tiara comes with a coiled braid hairpiece that it rests on, so that the wearer's head is cushioned. The hairpiece also provides a place to nestle any extra wires, batteries, or hardware that is needed.
The back of the hairpiece is weighted to counterbalance the weight of the laser in front.

The base can also be wreathed in ribbon, flowers (for summer) or holly (for winter) to provide extra cover if needed.

Safety Considerations:
The laser on top of the tiara should never be pointed at someone's eyes, even at a distance. Do not point at home or car windows. Do not use within 2 miles of an airport runway.
Just to be extra safe, whoever wears the tiara should walk with a regal bearing, and turn the tiara off (or take it off) when she is doing anything that might jar the tiara. She would behave responsibly, just as someone using a laser pointer should behave responsibly. But the tiara is not to be worn through the evening. It is a showpiece, a costume, a ceremonial garment, an entrance maker.

Don't wear it if you're at all ill, shaky, or allergic. If necessary, use prosthetic devices (walker, neck-brace) for stability.

And people around you must be smart, the same way anyone standing near the laser scanner in a grocery store must be smart.

From Yahoo: "People, even infants, instinctively do not focus on the sun and the same is true of a laser pointer beam. Research done at the Mayo Clinic* shows that even staring at the beam for as long as several minutes does not result in permanent eye damage. Insurance companies are perhaps the best gauges of safety, since their financial well-being depends on identifying dangerous products. The premium for laser pointer insurance is no more than for office chairs."

*. “Laser Pointers and the Human Eye, A Clinicopathologic Study”, Dennis M. Robertson, MD, et al. published in Clinopathologic Report, Dec. 2000.