My Search for the perfect Wedding Hair accessory

This bride is on the hunt for the perfect wedding hair accessory. Not sure if I want a pretty ivory flower hair pin or a crystal hair pin, but I'm LOVING these awesome designs that I found on Etsy. Check these wedding hair accessories!

Organza and Crystal Flower by Mikiye

Rhinestone Hair comb by Romancing the Bling

Bridal Hair Flower Accessories by Mikiye

Rhinestone Flower with Pearls Comb by JMGJewelDesign

Ivory Feather Flower with Crystal Accessory by Brendas Bridal Veils

etsy wedding giveaway: vintage french lace + floral fascinator from mignonne handmade

{vintage french lace + silk flower clip }

ooh la la! jenn of mignonne handmade is back from a trip to france, scouring for vintage finds to include in her lovely work, and she has graciously agreed to give one of her new creations to you!

here's how she describes it:

it's hand cut, hand pressed pinkish-brown silk flower with vintage details: the stamens are vintage french, found in a flea market in Geneva, Switzerland; the lace accent is a vintage find from Lyon, France; the leaf is a vintage millinery leaf from Japan. It is anchored with felt at the back and has a metal clip that can be fastened to clothes or hair. The flower is around 5" in diameter.

if you're in the phoenix area, jenn also works with real and handmade flowers for weddings, check out joliejourflowers.com. pics of her trip to France are on her blog joliejourflowers.blogspot.com, and joliejour.etsy.com,her other etsy shop, is a mix of flea market vintage finds and hand-crafted lovelies.

TO ENTER: comment on this post with either a favorite reading you're including in your wedding (or wish you could include!), a favorite quote about love, or another favorite from her shop mignonne handmade. no need to include your email address, i will find you!

giveaway ends next friday at midnight PDT. (yeah! daylight savings! woo.)

everyone who enters will receive a 5% discount on anything in her shop. enjoy!





more at mignonnehandmade.etsy.com

Oh Starry Night...

For me the Academy Awards aren't just about the winners, they're more about the gorgeous gowns that get effortlessly paraded by a slick bunch of uber glamorous A-listers. This year I wasn't disappointed! Many stars strayed away from black, opting for romantic midnight blues. The softest of yellows, creams and golds were also popular thanks to Sarah Jessica Parker in Chanel Couture and Best Actress winner Sandra Bullock, who opted for one of my favourite designers Marchesa. Purple seemed to be the hot colour this season so it was no surprise to see it pop up all over the shop. Charlize Theron's custom made Christian Dior gown was a gorgeous shade, although I'm not huge fan of the bust detailing. I was pretty sure that spectacular Givenchy gown I blogged about a few weeks back would get a look in and fair enough Avatar star Zoe Saladina made it her pick. My favourite gown of the night by far! I'm madly in love with Miley Cyrus' Jenny Packham gown. Such a fabulous choice that would make the perfect wedding dress. A special mention has to go to Meryl Streep. Her Chris March gown was perfect. It was sexy, slick and so effortlessly chic. She was one of my favourites!


Zoe Saladina in Givenchy Couture & Kristen Stewart in Monique Lhuillier with H Stern jewels


Sandra Bullock in Marchesa & Sarah Jessica Parker in Chanel Couture


Miley Cyrus in Jenny Packham & Kate Winslet in YSL


Diane Kruger in Chanel & Meryl Streep in Chris March with Fred Leighton jewels and Swarovski clutch


Carey Mulligan in Prada with Fred Leighton jewels & Maggie Gyllenhaal in Dries Van Noten with Fred Leighton jewels


Tina Fey in Michael Kors & Sigourney Weaver in Lanvin


Rachel McAdams & Anna Kendrick both in Elie Saab


Gabourey Sidibe in Marchesa & Queen Latifah


Amanda Seyfried & Jennifer Lopez both in Armani Prive


Charlize Theron in Christinan Dior with Harry Winston jewels & Vera Farmiga in Marchesa with Fred Leighton jewels
Photos courtesy of Vogue.co.uk, Style.com and Film.com

Posted by Emilie Harrison

Reader Question: The Fascinator

Reader Question: My question for you is specifically about your fascinator flower and veil. I love it! I'd seen and saved the image months ago but could never find where it was from. Did you make it/buy it? Do you have any advice about how I could make or buy the same?

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I made my fascinator and intended to do a tutorial ages ago, but after attempts to make fascinators for a few friends I realized I couldn't recreate what I did well enough to feel comfortable sharing my methods. But, with the help of a few other tutorials, I'm going to do a quick write up of what I did here.

To start with, this tutorial seems pretty good, as does this one. If what I'm writing makes no sense, maybe try one of those?

Both are similar to what I did, in that i started with a felt base (mine was two layers glued together). I then glued my first layer of feathers down and waited for them to dry, then my second layer of feathers and let them dry.

For the flower I took apart a fake flower I liked the shape of and used it as a template to cut out new "petals" from raw silk I owned (you could just use a pre-made flower, but I liked the color/texture of the silk I had). I sewed and used a tiny bit of glue to attach the longer feathers to the center of the flower, and then sewed the stones I used (they were actually stone beads) through the center of the petals to stick them all together. I wrapped ribbon around the top of a hair comb and sewed that to the felt on the bottom of the fascinator.

The veil was actually entirely separate. For that I removed a piece of vintage veiling from one of the way too many vintage hats I own. I scrunched up one side of it until I liked the shape, sewed that together with white thread, and then attached it to my hair using bobby pins!

I did base my fascinator design on the ones made by k. autumn, so she'd be a good place to start if all of this looks totally overwhelming. One of my friends had a k. autumn fascinator and loved it. I will say it might be worth trying to do it yourself first if you are on a budget. I spent a total of about $15 making mine, and I know the pre-made ones run at least $100. Hope that helps!

one-of-a-kind hats: behida dolic

{ simply wine hand-draped hat }

i included one of behida dolic's hand-draped hats in a sampler last week and haven't stopped thinking about them since. see her inspiring story in her profile -- fled war-torn bosnia for florence, fell in love with art (and early-20th-century-american hats), then san francisco -- and her glorious handiwork. all are custom-fitted, most are one-of-a-kind.

these would be stunning for a fall or winter wedding.





more at yellowfield7.etsy.com

#675: my hair. and the piece.

i never had a hair trial and so i never knew what my hair was actually going to look like on the day of our wedding. it's probably because i knew i was going to be doing my own hair and makeup and could never be bothered to do a hair trial...for myself. dunno why. maybe, something to do with like laziness or something?

sans a hair trial, i carried a color copy of my inspiration to the bathroom on the morning of and...just wung it.

first, i blow-dried my hair and set in the same curlers i've been using since 10th grade.

then, while the curlers were doing their thing, i did my own makeup. complete with lovely fake eyelashes. they were looooooooooooooong and lovely and made me feel a little crazy and slightly glamorous.

and THEN, when the curlers cooled, i took 'em out and threw a million bobby pins at my sister who then pinned and pinned. whilst she pinned, i stared. at the gigantic fake eyelashes that were glued yay close to my eyes.

and then we all had a joyous hairspraying party to ensure my hairs wouldn't become loose.

and of course. the headpiece. well, you all know the story behind that.

i don't have any professional pictures of myself getting ready but here are some pics of the result. none from the front -- because i'm shy.

there's really no lesson here. just pretty pictures. but if anything, i hope this inspires those of you who are getting your hair and makeup done only because you think you HAVE to as opposed to NEEDING to. to give it a second thought.

for me, DIY was 110% the right decision.






all photos by max wanger.