Mum makes an incredible fascinator for the Melbourne Cup using two unlikely products from Kmart

How to make a fascinator from a PLACE MAT: Stylish mum transforms a $1.50 Kmart buy into the ultimate trackside accessory

  • Aussie mum Jazz was eager to take part in her work Melbourne Cup celebrations
  • But she forgot to prepare a fascinator the day before and rushed to Kmart
  • She picked up a woven placemat and headband to make a fascinator for $5.50
  • She twisted the placemat and stuck the two buys together using a hot glue gun  
  • The unbelievable result looked fantastic as if it had been bought from a store


A mum-of-four who forgot about her work Melbourne Cup celebrations has shared how she made a fascinator using two unlikely products from Kmart. 

Darwin mum Jazz, 34, was eager to participate in the social office event but completely forgot about it until a coworker reminder her the day before. 

Incredibly she managed to make her own fascinator using two bargain buys – a $1.50 round woven placemat and $4 headband. 

‘I didn’t have anything prepared so the night before I dragged my husband to Kmart 30 minutes before closing time and quickly grabbed a head band and a placemat,’ Jazz told Daily Mail Australia. 

The unbelievable finished result looked as if it had been bought from a store. 

Darwin mum Jazz was eager to participate in the social office event but completely forgot about it until a coworker reminder her the day before. Incredibly she managed to make her own fascinator using two bargain buys – a round woven placemat and headband from Kmart

To her surprise, the next day Jazz won the 'best dressed' prize and received a box of chocolates

To her surprise, the next day Jazz won the ‘best dressed’ prize and received a box of chocolates

‘I have four kids so we have some crafty stuff at home like a hot glue gun which really played an important role holding the shape of the placemat,’ she said. 

With help from her husband, she bent the placemat into the desired shape then stuck it together using the hot glue gun. 

The blue placemat was carefully attached onto the head band to wear as a fascinator.  

‘My goal really was to make a twist that would sit well on the headband and viola that happened,’ she said.   

For a ‘cute touch’, she glued on a decorative flower at the front found in one of the kids’ craft collections. 

To her surprise, the next day Jazz won the ‘best dressed’ prize and received a box of chocolates.

The blue placemat was carefully attached onto the head band to wear as a fascinator

The blue placemat was carefully attached onto the head band to wear as a fascinator

After sharing before and after images of her creation to a popular Facebook group, close to 10,000 people ‘liked’ the post and praised Jazz’s creativity. 

‘This is amazing Jazz! If you hadn’t said it was a place mat I would have thought it was from a dress shop,’ one person admitted. 

‘You lady have outdone yourself!!! This is amazing and looks great!’ another wrote. 

A third joked: ‘I will never look at my placemat the same!’   

‘Amazing I did this a few years ago with a Kmart placemat and won best fascinator – not bad for the whole $1 I spent,’ another said.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk