So, I'm Looking At Suki's Headdress....

So, cosplayers on my flist, I'm going to be going in search of jeans sans holes tomorrow, and I thought I might start on Suki's headdress. I was thinking of wonderflex, but I have some questions. First, do you actually need a heat gun? I swear I saw a picture of someone working with it over the a stove element, and I REALLY don't want to buy a heat gun for 30 dollars. Second, how expensive IS this stuff? Third, is this a good choice, or is there something simpler that I should be looking at? Forth, would most decent sized craft stories have this, or would I have to go on a quest to find this?