Sparkling Faux Beret Fascinator Headpiece...

 

I tell you, making dance costumes is challenging sometimes. I help out with my fourteen year old daughters school troupe costumes and of course, it's nothing like Studio costuming where everyone knows it's going to cost a bomb and takes out a second mortgage on the house to finance it.

 

Everyone wants something that looks a million dollars for under $50 in school dance troupe. Seriously. And it's certainly the case with accessories for dance costumes, that we usually have to make do with very few of those fifty dollars.

 

All the big money is thrown at the actual leotard bits, and headpieces are left to be put together by someone clever like me, who has a bit of imagination. I must admit I do love the challenge.

 

So after a day of research and a brief that said 'French, Cancan, Parisian, Cute, Blingey, Feathery Beret', I came up with this idea. My fabulous and clever blogging friend Flora Fascinata, will be about fainting dead away at this point for she makes far more gorgeous things for people who have more than a dollar to spend. Sorry Flora, Sweetness.

 

This little fascinator would get anyone through a costume party, dance recital or other occasion where a bit of fluff and nonsense on ones head is considered de rigeur. For any more serious event, I suggest visiting Flora.

 

So all you need for this is:

 

Some glittering Eva Foam or poster board coated with spray glitter, craft glitter or that really special German Glitter if you want to go all out.

 

A CD to use as a template.

 

A hot glue gun.

 

A tiny bit of ribbon for the centre.

 

Three ostrich plumes. Now I had an ostrich plume centrepiece for my Christmas table so I was fortunate to have some lovely plumes on hand. However I wasn't about to use them all on my one dollar fascinator, and my research suggested that three or more plumes were necessary to give my fascinator a bit of oomph. Well that wasn't happening from my centrepiece as my lovely plumes were more pricey than that thanks!

 

So I used just one from my centrepiece, and bulked it out with...shhhhh... two plumes pilfered from my feather duster....hahahahaha! They were just the right size and length, and added a bit of light and shade to the plumage on my 'beret'.

 

I simply used the CD as a template to cut out my beret shape, flipped it over and hot glued the plumes and a hairclip to the underside, and then glued my scrap of ribbon in place to give it a little 'French Beret' look.

 

Here it is modelled by my daughters antique bed doll, Evangeline. Evangeline is not life sized though, so this will look smaller and cuter on the humans for which it is intended.

 

 

And there it is. A glittering French beret inspired CanCan fascinator headpiece. Don't tell me it can't be done for under a dollar!

 

Feathers for my centrepiece sourced on sale from Feathers in Australia.

 

Fun!

 

 



Real Dance Moms...#2

 

We do love dance here.   I'm sorry if I gave you the impression otherwise with my post a couple of days ago.   In fact, we loved the dance school where my daughter danced over the last ten years.   They engendered friendships of the type you dream of for your children. Friends who stand by you, who remain your friends for a long time, possibly forever. The Diva has retained friends from her very frantic dance school, and they are gorgeous girls who she is proud to call 'BFF'.   The standard of the costumes and choreography was second to none and the annual concert was a treat indeed. You'd have to travel far to see a more professional show.   And most importantly for a dancer, the grounding she received by training there in her early dance years, is invaluable. It remains obvious now, in her less frantic dance school, that she's been trained well from when she was a tiny tot. There's just those little nuances in her posture, her pointe, her core strength, that some of the other kids lack.   So it's a tough question. Do you send your child to the 'best' dance school when they're young, and wear the expense, including competition, costumes and craziness. Or do you sit tight, and let them find their own way, find their own passion, THEN do the big move to somewhere 'serious'.   I don't know, honestly.   I've seen it work both ways.   I think we've gone about it well, albeit completely unintentionally. Good grounding, move to a less stressful place in order to face the demands of high school, and allowing passion to take over from mere performance.   As Joan commented on my other post, we'd do it over in a heartbeat. I'd probably say 'no' a bit more often, and steal her away for a weekend from time to time. We'd stress less over that missing point or two in her ballet exams, and we'd stand up to the teachers when they were rude. And believe me, they often were.   The times when I should have simply looked them in the eye and said 'EXCUSE ME...what did you just say???'.   Because that's another funny thing about dance.   We let dance teachers say things to our kids that we'd NEVER say ourselves, and in fact if anyone but the dance teacher said them, you'd likely spin your child on their heel, and have them out of their faster than they could say 'pirouette'.   We let dance teachers say abominable things to US and get away with it. In my experience some dance teachers could do with a few lessons in communication to say the very least. They get away with it because of that bubble of untouchable that surrounds them. That mystique that tells us they can do something for our children that we cannot. But it also turns some of them into unpleasant souls, who must lose sleep at night.   I've had a dance teacher scream at me across a packed auditorium at an Eisteddfod. I did exactly what I've mentioned above. I spun my daughter who was dressed and ready to go on stage on her pretty little heel, and walked out of that auditorium with my head held high, and refused to give the teacher the satisfaction of any response whatsoever. I was shaking and my stomach was churning because I knew there'd be no going back. But I'd had enough, and refused to subject my child or myself to any further abuse. My daughter was crying quietly, but my dearest darling girl, held my hand tightly, and walked away proudly beside me and we never looked back...neither figuratively nor literally.   I'll add that this was not our long term dance school. It was one we bounced to due to it's reputation for ballet training. It was closer to home too, and initially appeared small and friendly. Well. The Mums and kids were friendly. That's all I'll say ;-)   It was from this interim studio, that we arrived at our current dance school. And each and every time I collect my girl from dance, and she leaps into the car, smiling, singing, and breathless with news, I know we've done the right thing.   Dance is her passion, her great love, and although she's a straight A student and could possible pursue any career her heart desired, we think dance will remain her passion. I think we've got a Dance teacher on our hands. Perhaps maybe, anyway.   And one thing is for certain. The role models she now has will mean she'll be a darned good one.   Thank the stars.   ...x  

Have just one beautiful thing in each room....

 

I'm trying to replicate this stunning lamp.

 

I can't decide whether to punch holes in the lampshade or paint it on in German Glass Glitter.

 

Either way, I think it will steal the scene in my living room.

 

When you have one breathtaking thing in the room, all else fades into insignificance, allowing you to declutter, streamline, and reclaim space for a calm heart.

 

All you need is one thing.

 

One beautiful thing.

 

...x

The curse of a mind that won't sleep...

 

My brain does not sleep. I sleep. But I'm frequently awakened by a bolt of inspiration for something or other in the middle of the night. I keep a notebook next to my bed for this reason. This has led me to...

 

 

....recreate a childhood favourite, Frangipani Pie, which came to me in the middle of the night for no particular reason...(crushed pineapple and coconut cream, thickened with cornflour, poured into a sweet shortcrust shell, and topped with fluffy meringue)...

 

....make a Peppa Pig cake for my 2year old granddaughter, even when I do not know who Peppa is and have had cause to wonder how a show that runs for five minutes can engender such adulation...(Vanilla buttercake base, Rice Krispie and marshmallow set in a mixing bowl for 'hill', covered in tinted buttercream icing, and decorated with fondant numeral and figures, and bought sugar flowers)...

 



 .

...work out how to make fondant figures for said cake, even though I've never made a fondant figure in my whole entire life..(fondant kneaded with food colour dispensed by toothpick, fashioned into figures, and painted with food colour pens)...

 

 

....make hand dyed muslin roses (although Flora Fascinata may have influenced that particular project...thanks Flora!)...(muslin hand dyed with half strength Petal Pink dye, folded and pleated into a rose)...

  ...and make a girly gift for The Divas BFF just because she needed cheering up...this is customised perfume, body spray and Sweet Dreams spray all in a pretty box...just because...(distilled water infused with essential oils, beeswax melted with more essential oils, packaged with shredded tissue and tagged with luggage tags)..   The curse is of course, that I'm never going to be good enough at any of these things to make a million bucks out of it.   But hey....it's fun :)   ...Mimi...