diy kentucky derby hat

Last weekend I was invited to attend a fundraiser for Arkansas Children's Hospital that was Kentucky Derby themed. Being the crazy person I am and not knowing anything about the Kentucky Derby (or horse races for that matter), I of course hit the internet hard learning about the event. In my research I discovered that the hats are one of the biggest deals at the derby. Each year women show up with crazier and crazier hats with the goal of begin the most outrageous but in a still attractive and super bourgeois kind of style. It's all about the hat.

So, I decided to go all in on my hat and set about deciding what kind I would be wearing. I chose to go with a floral theme in hot pink tones and headed for Hobby Lobby. Still not quite sure about how I would be making the hat, I rolled up and down the isles looking for inspiration. I ended up picking the week that the floral stems were not 50% off so that was pretty unfortunate as all the flowers I liked were a bit on the pricey end. My goal was to spend no more than $25 and hopefully less.

I ended up on the wedding aisle and discovered a good bit of it was marked 50% off including some pearl sprays, feather sticks, and fun, hot pink baubles.  I also found the floral sprays that are only $1 - $3 each meant for bouquets. I selected my flowers from these. They were the perfect length and there were plenty of varying types and sizes to give my hat some real pizzazz. 
After leaving the bridal aisle with a much more concrete plan in mind I then grabbed a roll of pink glitter tulle. Still not sure about how to form a base for my hat I hit the craft foam and felt aisle in search of something that might work when I found a blank dolls hat made from the very material that derby hats are made from, sinamay! It would make for a perfect base but, it was a boring tan color. So, I headed to the paint aisle and grabbed a bottle of hot pink acrylic paint. Knowing I already had felt and a pink headband at home I headed to the checkout ready to get started! The best part is I only spent $23!! And, that was without the floral items being on sale! 

When I arrived home, I first painted the hat. It took a matter of minutes and the boring tan became a vibrant pink. After letting it dry, I began to play around with placement of the items on my hat. I also had to snip the flowers off of the stems to be able to do this. I also made some gathered tulle pieces by cutting a strip of tulle and bunching it in the middle and then stapling it in the center. If you look online there's a much nicer (and more time consuming) way of accomplishing this but, it requires sewing and I try to avoid that all costs. This worked just fine. Once I had a good idea of placement, I began to adhere the largest pieces first as a base to work from. I added the details as I went to make it balanced. To add the wired details I simply poked them through the hat and twisted them together underneath to be sure they didn't budge. 

After getting it all glued (I used hot glue) and wired on. I stuffed the hat with pink napkins I happened to already have. You could stuff it with whatever you like. Then I cut a circle of hot pink felt and glued it over the hat base. After that, I glued my headband to the felt circle and cut an identical circle, snipping two slits in it for the headband ends to pass through. Then I slid the second circle over the headband and glued it down as well. 

Overall, I probably spent about an hour on this project but, it was really worth it! At the party, every woman I spoke with said they loved my hat and several said it was their favorite at the event. I had a great time making and wearing it and I encourage you to get crafty and make your own if you ever attend a party where such a hat is encouraged!