Wedding, floristry and craft supplies company Country Baskets invited me to take part in their latest bloggers' competition, Accessorize Yourself. They sent me a hamper of eight products and asked me to use at least five of them to make an accessory I could wear to a wedding.
I briefly thought of embellishing a clutch bag, or making jewellery, but there was really one thing at the forefront of my mind: a fascinator. I also thought that using five of the supplied items to make just one piece of jewellery might end up looking a bit OTT!
I was allowed for this project to use any other materials I wanted but I didn't have much time to buy anything and am in the middle of packing to move house, so I had to make do with just a few things. Still, it just goes to show how easy it is to make a fascinator!
Here are the products that I was sent:
A roll of purple organza
A bunch of artificial flowers
A roll of heart-print ribbon
Some heart-shaped wedding place cards
A three-strand wide silver chain
A long silver chain with gems attached
Some short silver stems with purple gems attached
A pack of wide lace ribbon
To make a fascinator you need to start off with a headband. You could also use a crocodile hair grip but a hairband is easier to keep on, and if you use a wide headband, you have a bigger surface area to attach the other accessories to.
I used a wide plain black hairband and wrapped the lace ribbon around it to completely cover the band. Secure at each end with some glue.
You can buy base discs for fascinators from craft suppliers but I didn't time to order one and wanted to show that you can make your own, so I cut out a circle from some thick cardboard. I covered the cardboard in some of the purple organza I had been sent, and secured with glue.
The posy of artificial flowers I was sent was lovely but far too much for a fascinator, so I undid the bunch and chose one flower. I pinned it on to the organza.
As I needed to use five products from the pack I had a look at what else I could use, and thought the silver chain with gems was really pretty. I cut a few short lengths and wound them around the headband.
I also used some of the shorter stems with purple gems; the colour went really well with the purple organza. I wound them around the base of the artificial flower so they would be on the main disc of the fascinator. I also had to decide how to attach the fascinator to the headband. You can glue it with superglue, or make two holes in the cardboard (making sure you go through the organza as well) and thread some ribbon or, as I did, the stem of one of the purple gem pieces through one hole, around the headband and up through the other hole, to effectively tie it on.
The finished fascinator: the headband covered in white lace, a base covered in purple organza, featuring an artificial flower and some purple gems and some silver gems wound around the band. It looks much better on, as you will see below...
Please excuse the photo - trying to take a #selfie with your phone to get the best angle on the fascinator isn't easy! You can arrange the silver gems so they follow the line of the headband and sit neartly along your hair; if you have curly hair you can weave them into the curls. The flower sits neatly on the other side of your head; you can only just see the purple gems in this photo which is mainly an issue with lighting, but they are there.
I actually really like this and might wear it to a friend's wedding! One of the great things about making your own fascinator is that you can match it exactly to the colour of your dress, and also be sure that nobody else will have the same one! Thanks to Country Baskets for providing me with the items I used, and for inviting me to take part in their competition.
wow!!!! that looks really lovely.
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