Topping it Off

What, you may ask, would I be doing with something like this?:



Making it into a fancy hat for my bridal shower in a few weeks, that's what!

MOH Sister Goodlaff (with cooperation and premises provided by Mama Goodlaff) is throwing me a bridal shower in March, and I've been marginally involved in the preparations. The theme for the shower is an Alice in Wonderland-style vintage tea party (without the acid trip).  Mama and Sister Goodlaff have been busy gathering vintage tea cups from secondhand stores, planning table layouts, getting decor, and designing invitations in hopes of creating the perfect eclectic, classy tea party-themed bridal shower. And everyone knows that a classy tea party would not be a classy tea party without a fancy hat! 

See?  Even Oprah knows it's a fact!

Shower-goers are being given the option of wearing a party hat to celebrate the theme and the festivities; Mama Goodlaff has been picking up some hats at second-hand stores, and is even going to rent a few for unprepared guests.  There's no way I was going to miss out on the fun!  However, the white hat with the gigantic pink flower (a Mama Goodlaff bargain find) was not going to cut it--my hat needed a bridal makeover...

The pink flower was hot-glued to the hat.  A few minutes with a hair dryer took care of that:  after the glue heated up a bit, I was able to pull the offending bloom from the material, and had a relatively blank slate. 

It was go time.  I dug into my craft box and came up with these ingredients:

A previously constructed hair flower, feathers, mini fabric flowers, and some veiling material.  A half hour later, and I had this:

Much better.  I wanted to carry through on the bridal theme, so I used the french netting as a backdrop to my hat fascinator--appropriate as I will actually be wearing a birdcage veil down the aisle on our wedding day.  Every bride needs something blue, so I used one of the first hair flowers I ever made (that won't be making an appearance in my wedding day ensemble) as a centerpiece, and to give it that floaty quality. A few feathers and more flowers glued into place, and Houston, we have a hat!

Mr. Goodlaff thinks the hat is "hot"  (more like "hawt"),  but since he's not used to seeing me as a proper hat-wearing lady, he needed a little time to get used to my new look. 

A jaunty little tip to the side, and my transformation is complete.  Looks like I may have missed my calling as a milliner. From the neck up, I'm totally ready for my bridal shower.

Did you have any special costume requirements for your bridal shower?