Okay, okay I need to start thinking about a Halloween costume. What to be, what to be?  ... Ooh, what about those celebrities who wear outrageous stuff on their heads? 

Wait, Really?

Yeah.  Think about it:

This genre offers a huge range of material from:

Carmen Miranda and Frida Khalo, to Cher and Madonna.

Plus celebrations like Mardi Gras and Carnival.  It’s bright, flamboyant and you’ll be sure to make a statement. There are lots of reasons to pile your head high with fruit, feathers and flowers. Plus, Goodwill is a great source for uncommon hat material. You’ll find fake fruit, flowers, and knickknacks for a fraction of the cost you would pay at a craft store (plus great scarves for head wraps). Now all you’ll need to do is assemble your millinery masterpiece and figure out how to keep it on your head throughout the night.

Easy. Here’s how:

You’ll need:  hot glue, wire, epoxy, foam, fake fruit, dolls, shiny fabrics, flowers, anything-when in doubt, scour Goodwill’s shelves for inspiration.

Start with some kind of base. It could be another hat you’ve found at Goodwill or the top of a straw basket. First use epoxy or hot glue and wires to attach a piece of Styrofoam to your base. Once the foam is secured, begin inserting flowers, leaves, small plastic toys, etc into the foam. I like to experiment with my design before gluing everything down, but once I’ve settled the design, I secure it with hot glue (particularly toys and objects that don’t have stems need a generous amount of glue.)  If you have big or heavy objects like this banana, insert a piece of wire through it, and twist it through the bottom of the base to secure (reinforce with glue).  

Now to secure this masterpiece to your head: my favorite approach is to use an exorbitant number of bobby pins and then cover them up with a fabric wrap. You can also wrap your head with fabric and use an exorbitant number of safety pins to attach your hat to the fabric that you tied tightly to your head.

The scarf method:

	1. Fold scarf into triangle (bigger scarves are better for this).
	2. Place longest edge of the triangle at the base of your neck and bring the 3 points of the triangle to the top of your forehead.
	3. Tie the 2 outside corners together over top of the central corner (this needs to be TIGHT!!).  Flip the inside corner over top of the two tied together.
	4. Tie another knot with the two outside corners.
	5. Twist and tuck the ends under the scarf by your ear.

Now just attach your headpiece to your wrap with safety pins, and add additional fabric to cover up any unattractively pinned areas.

Have Fun this Halloween, and help support your community by shopping for supplies at Goodwill.