Y’all.  This fascinator won me second place at the Young Lives Tea Rose Fundraiser this spring.  It was one of the most stretching personal experiences I’ve had in a while, but that may be a story for another day.  This post is all about the hat.  I ordered this simple fascinator from Amazon.  With a little bit of fabric, feathers, and love, it became a unique topping to my Nordstrom party dress. (It’s on sale now!- super flattering and a perfect spring/summer dress to have on hand for occasions such as this)

This fascinator is a simple base.   It can be tailored to compliment any outfit. I purchased a navy blue one for my oldest to wear to the tea.  You can see a pic of my girls and I here.  

I made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby and purchased some animal print fabric, peacock feathers, and coral feathers to add some interest.  I cut an oval of the animal print fabric and a small slit to pull over all of the fun on the top of the fascinator.  I secured the animal print fabric with hot glue on the bottom of the hat.  I added some black felt to the bottom of the hat for a clean finish so that I could wear it with or without the headband.  Then I wrapped the animal print fabric around some string and hot glued it into a seam on one side.  Really I just created ghetto cording.  If you are a wiz with the sewing machines then you could whip out some clean, beautiful cording.  I found this method to be quick and easy.  I glued the seam side down around the hat base and around one of the upper satin ribbons.  

Next I added the peacock feathers in an upright fashion.  As I told my girlfriends that day- “The taller the feathers, the closer to God”. Lol!  

Here are a couple of progress pics…