Some of you may have noticed when looking at the rules
that I was specific about clothes being ‘things made out of fabric’ and
wondered why.
Well Jess & Adam’s wedding celebrations is why. I
received the invitation to this do well before I started the challenge. Jess
was really clear on what she wanted. She wanted everyone to wear clothes that
they felt comfortable in – but also to wear a hat & the bigger and louder
the better.
I knew I’d need a hat at some point this year – but very
much plan on it being a knitted beret in a neutral colour which wouldn’t fit with this kind of event. So I
left myself this loophole so I could craft a solution.
Here is a photo of Jess, me & our lovely friend Claire
at the do.
They’ve known each other forever, but I met them when we
were 16 and getting into indie club nights illegally together and generally
being naughty. We all had Saturday jobs at Habitat and spent the money on 70’s
shirts, booze and gig tickets and once they could both drive went to loads of
lovely festivals together. Now that we are proper grown ups and all live in
different places we don’t see each other often – but there is still a lot of
love there –so if I’m asked to wear a
loud hat I’m going to bloody well find a way to wear one.
To give an example of the levels of commitment to the cause
at this wedding here’s the hat Claire’s husband showed up in.
This is the hat I made – it took about 30 minutes
You will need these items:
- -
A children’s paper party hat
-
- Superglue
-
- A bunch of flowers (the kind with soft stems and
light blooms – you’ll break your own neck if you try & wear one of these
covered in peonies)
-
- Sharp scissors
And optionally some hairclips or ribbon for a chin strap.
So to start with your lovey party hat should look like this.
If it is metallic (shiney) you are going to want to turn it
inside out. Superglue will just melt & slide off the metallic spraypaint.
Turning it inside out is easy – these hats close with a kind
of envelope tab. Untuck this.
Lie cardboard side up on a table like this.
And reassemble like this.
From this point on it is really easy.
Simply cut your fresh flowers as close to the top of the
stem as possible – the stems are just going to get in your way you’ll need at
least a couple of millimetres of flat surface where the flower meets the hat.
Have a look at what colours you like next to one another and
lay all the flower heads out flat. Then simply superglue then on one at a time!
Remember gravity isn’t on your side so you’ll need to hold each flower in place
for a couple of seconds to let the glue do it’s work.
In a couple of minutes TA DAH you have a floral hat. (don’t
put it on for 5 mins after all the flowers are in place – you do NOT want to
super glue a hat – even one this pretty – to your head!)
If you’ve been doing pilates , or had Julie Andrews as a
nanny/ grandmother and can therefore walk with books on your head – then you
can just pop it on and go.
The rest of us mere mortals can either replace the elastic
chin strap with some ribbon – or if you are wearing your hair up attach to your
‘do’ with some hair pins and head to the party. Enjoy!
I should have finished this with a photo of the happy couple
but I failed to take one! So here’s a lovely photo of their son looking like a
zombie!
( Saved a bit of cash on a hat for a do? why not donate it to Contact A Family here?)
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