Since this blog is still pretty new, many of you might not know that I am the director of my town's annual renaissance faire. Throughout the year we host fun events to raise money for the faire. This weekend we're hosting a Mardi Gras masquerade ball, with a steampunk theme. So while putting my costume together I figured, what's a steampunk costume without a top hat? What's Mardi Gras without beads??
So for my costume I made a right proper Mardi Gras top hat!
The concept of this hat was actually kinda accidental. I went to our local party supply store in search for a cheap black felt top hat to decorate with a few feathers but they were all out. They did, however, have a fresh supply of these leprechaun hats. I examined it and found that the band and "buckle" can easily be removed thus giving me a blank canvas to work with.
Since I don't believe in spending much money on things I'm probably just going to wear once (I rarely repeat costumes) I figured I'd just decorate it using materials I already have.
Beads!
And lots of them!
What you need:
- A cheap top hat, mine was about $4
- Hot glue gun and sticks
- About 27 necklaces plus a couple more for "filler". Make sure they're all the same size or as close to it as possible. Length doesn't matter... I'm talking the size of the beads themselves.
- Scissors or a sharp knife
- Optional -A mini bottle of wine to help ease the stress being interrupted every five minutes by a four month old and a two year old.
Let's get this party started!!
Cut a necklace at any point to make one long strand.
Glue one end of the necklace to the very center of the hat and start swirling around in a circle - gluing as you go.
When you run out of necklace, grab another, pick up where you left off and keep going!
Keeeep going!
Don't forget to keep gluing or else you're going to have wobbly beads.
When you get all the to the base you might have a gap between the last row of beads and the brim.
No problem. Just cut off a bit from one of you "filler"necklaces and fill in the gap,
Continue gluing necklaces all the way around the brim and under it for a thorough look.
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And there ya go!
Since I'm going to a masquerade but I hate wearing masks, I just tied this $1 mask from Just a Dollar on to it. Cool, huh?!
***UPDATE***
The finished product!
