Thursday, November 10, 2011

DIY Fascinators


I recently went home to Ottawa, Ontario for my sister's wedding.
And for her bridal shower, we went to "High Tea" at the Chateau Laurier, one of the fanciest hotels in Canada's capitol city. (Like the Grand America in SLC.)

To prepare for the British tradition, I went to Hobby Lobby and bought $100 worth of supplies to make our own fascinators!
(They don't have Hobby Lobby in Canada so I actually bought all the supplies in Utah and shoved them in my suitcase for the trip.

 This is two of my sisters and my sister-in-law the night before the shower making fascinators on my mother's fancy dining room table.
At one point there must have been a dozen of us around that table sharing glue guns, lace and fighting for feathers!

I don't care how good my nephew, Jake, looks in a fascinator, there were no boys allowed!!

Here are all the fascinators sitting on my mom's grand piano.
 
 Like I said. Lots of feathers.

My niece Carolyn and my sister Tracy getting ready right before the Shower.

My sister Sheri and my niece Jennifer getting ready.

And here's me all ready for the ball with my home-made fascinator!
I couldn't resist putting these pictures in because you can see all the decor in my old bedroom is still there!
Spice Girls Poster, Moulin Rouge stuff, and the blond is Hilary Duff.

Think this is a messy room?  You should have seen it when I actually lived there!

My sister Tracy getting snapped by the Paparazzi (me).

Five of my nieces and my sister, Victoria, in the middle.

Now here's the fun part.  Close ups of all the fascinators.
My sister-in-law Andrea wins the prize for looking the most British!
Her fascinator definitely doesn't look home-made!

Jennifer's fascinators was one of my favorites because it was PINK!
And I LOVE the veil.

My sister Sheri wins the tallest fascinator award!

My sister Catherine wins the award for putting the most work into her fascinator.
She crocheted the flowers and beaded it herself.
Sure, it may not be a real "fascinator" by definition, but it's gorgeous!

Full disclosure. We did not make my niece Christina's fascinator.  It was the one I bought for $5 at Claire's to celebrate William and Kate's wedding. (Click here to see that blog post.)
I brought it as an extra fascinator for whomever wanted to wear and as inspiration for our home-made creations.
This is one of my favorite pictures ever of Christina.  She looks like a princess!

My niece Julie wins for most colorful fascinator!

Momma Strang rocks the feathers!

You'd think the blushing bride would make a white fascinator, but not Victoria.  She need BLACK to go with her sexy back dress.

Here's my home-made fascinator!  I wanted something BIG with lots of feathers!

My sister Tracy with her blue fascinator again.  I love this photo because it's one of the few I got of someone actually drinking tea at the tea party!

My niece Anngela made a fascinator that was also in the running for tallest fascinator, but her mom, Sheri, already won that title.
Instead, Anngela wins for BEST FASCINATOR.  Hers was my absolute favorite.  I liked it even better than my own!  I'm just a sucker for the mini top hat and the feathers.  (You can find them at Hobby Lobby in the doll section.)


Here are all the girls in our fascinators at the tea party.  People were starting at us the entire time.  They were so jealous!

Oh man, how did this picture get in there?! These are the shoes I bought especially for the bridal shower.
So hot!

Feel free to any questions about how we made our fascinators in the comments.