Nymph Or Fairy Costume

I'll be on a float for Fantasyfest in Key West this year and the theme is 'Midsummer's Night Dream'. So, I'm making a Nymph costume. The skirt was made from mostly fabric I bought from Walmart that costed around $2/yard (gold sparkly tulle, brown tulle, green satin, and a random brown fabric). The green velvet fabric was from JoAnn Fabrics and costed around $5/yard (it was 30% off). I started with the backside of the velvet band and measured it out. I used a rotary cutter to cut strips of the green satin and brown fabric. I sewed those on two pieces at a time all the way around the band. Then, I cut up the tulle and sewed the top of each piece at about a '3' on my sewing machine and pulled the back stitch to give it a slight gathered look. I sewed that on top of the 'ribbon' pieces I had previously sewn on. Finally, I cut another piece of the velvet fabric to go on top and finish off the band. I left the final top piece a little longer to give it a 'gathered' feel, as you can see. I sewed it at the top and bottom to cover all the pieces I'd sewn together. Finally, I added the eyelets and ribbon to tie it together.
Total, I maybe spent $20 and 4-5 hours (I'm new at sewing, so I did have to fix some mistakes, which added more time than probably an advanced sewer might need).
The only change I might make to the design is that I probably should've used real ribbon instead of cutting fabric because it frays. :( I like the way it looks frayed and I'm only going to wear it once anyways, so it's not a problem for me.
Because it's fantasyfest and a bit more risque by nature, I'm going to hot glue some flowers and leaves I got from Wal-Mart on to some sticky things that go over my boobs. So, my top will basically just be foliage. I think it'll look great and I'll take some photos of my final costume!