January 10, 2015

Ugly Christmas Sweater Top Hat

It's been two months since my last blog post and, while I'd like to say it's because I've been very busy (which is true), it's actually because I've honestly been VERY lazy.  Being busy brings out the laziest of lazy in me.  I've been on "winter vacation" for the last two weeks and instead of doing anything constructive, I've spent my days lounging on the couch with Maggie in my new footie pajamas, watching reruns of Supernatural and Bones.



While I wasn't lounging on the couch, Brad and I had a busy two weeks.  Here are just a few of the things we did:


Met some old friends and sampled craft brews at Brewfest.  Winterfest was a 2 week event in downtown Toledo, where they turned the local AAA baseball park into an ice rink for a few outdoor minor league hockey games.  During this time they held many other events at Fifth Third Field including Brewfest.  Brad and I had a really good time but it was freezing out on the concourse where the event took place.  Also, they ran out of most of the beer before nights end.  Of the beer we did try I'd say my favorite was Chocolate Sombrero from Clown Shoes.




Ice skating at Fifth Third Field.  During Winterfest they also opened up the ice rink for "community skates."  Brad had never been ice skating before and the last time I went, I was probably around the age of 12.  We managed to not fall once during the entire hour of skating we were allotted! I even managed to snap this picture of us on the rink. 


Lights Before Christmas at Toledo Zoo. We've made it a tradition to visit the Lights Before Christmas every year.  This was the first year they had reindeer on display.  We stopped to see the reindeer and wandered around viewing some of the lights but it was cold and overcrowded so we didn't stay too long. 


Charlie Brown Christmas village.  Brad and I started a tradition of making gingerbread houses before we were even married.  They never turn out perfect but we always have fun creating them.  We don't like to create the same thing in back-to-back years, so when I saw the Charlie Brown themed kit I had to have it!  I like the cut-out characters you get with the village but they were sort of hard to cut out.  They also didn't give us quite enough of the white "building" frosting and the red frosting wasn't sticky enough to use for assembly.


Western themed surprise birthday party. Our friend Kevin turned 25 and his mom threw him an awesome surprise party.  She made cool centerpieces for the tables (pictured right) and gave out western themed party props (the bandanas, glasses and badges you see below).

Ugly Christmas sweater party.  Our friend Ryan hosted an ugly Christmas sweater party at a bar downtown.  It was a good time but our "ugly" sweaters looked like dress clothes in comparison to some of the other guests. They must have been planning for months.  Truth be told my outfit was kind of "dress clothes;" I wore a black blazer over my shirt and this cute "ugly" top hat, which I created myself.


Is it me or do I totally have a "Scrooge McDuck" thing going on here?
The top hat was a last minute decision, and when I say "last minute" I mean Brad was sitting on the couch ready to leave while I ran upstairs plugged in my hot glue gun and created it from scratch (literally).

Remember these hats from my "Tutu Adorable" post? I used one of these plastic hats at my base as well as left over tulle from the tutus.


Here's what you'll need:

  • Cheap plastic hat
  • Christmas Ribbon
  • Tulle
  • Glue Gun (and sticks)
  • Scissors







Like I said, this was literally a last minute idea/project, so there aren't any pictures of the steps, but I made it up as I went along and it's supposed to be "ugly" so get creative!

I glued the ribbon around the hat first, then I cut approximately 3 inch squares of the tulle, twisted it in the center and glued down the twist. I glued the tulle down all along the rim and on the top of the plastic hat, inside the ribbon "wrap".

Warning: Hot glue isn't a creative name, it's called that because the glue is HOT. Also the tulle is very thin, you will probably burn yourself and get your fingers stuck to the glue through the fabric - so be careful. Also the hot glue melted the plastic hat a little.

This project would probably work just as well with craft glue (which wouldn't melt the plastic).  Unfortunately my last minute decision didn't leave me with enough time to wait for glue to dry. 

The plastic hats came with chin straps, but I don't much care for those. As a preference I glued felt to the bottom of the hat along with a metal hair clip. Again, this was just a preference, the rubber band chin strap would work just as well.


Comment any questions, as I know the instructions are lacking!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from my family to yours!




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