Teresa's Scraps of Joy: Steampunk Top Hat and Accessories for my Halloween Costume

Hey y'all, I just wanted to stop by and share a project that I made for my Halloween costume. So every year my neighborhood has a community Halloween party and I like to try and be creative and come up with my own costume. This year I changed my mind on what I would go as probably 5-6 times (and that was just the day before the party) and then my mom said "you should go as a Steampunk". What a great idea!! I already have the jacket that I could convert along with the pants, boots and cane now all I needed what the top hat and accessories. I didn't take any process photos (I really wasn't sure how it was going to turn out); however, I will list the products that I used and the process I took to make the hat.

Products used (for the Top Hat):

Poster board

Duct tape

1 Toilet paper roll

Metal tape

Misc. metal and computer pieces from my stash

Alcohol ink (mushroom, oregano, terra cotta and butterscotch)

Beading wire in turquoise, copper and burnt orange

Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Sprays (Burnished Brass, Delphinium Turquoise, Incandescent Copper and Tawny Turquoise)

Lindy's Stamp Gang Glitz Spritz in Cactus Gold

Lindy's Stamp Gang Embossing Powder in Midnight Copper

Versamark pen and stamp pad

Black acrylic paint

I am Roses flowers R78, R77 and R3

Acrylic sheet (for goggle lenses)

Rub N Buff in Antique Gold

Tim Holtz light bulbs and grunge board

Art I Cake charm

Ribbon

Products Used (for the Accessories):

Tim Holtz grunge board key

Rub N Buff Antique Gold

Metal coils (created from the beading wire)

I am Roses R77 and R3

LSG sprays and EP listed above

gears

feathers

Heart shaped doily

Process:

I cut the poster board into the proper height for the hat (make it about 2 inches longer than you want so you can cut tabs to attach the top to the brim of the hat) and then sized the paper to fit my head. Make sure that you make the hat a little larger due to the fact when you are adding the various tapes the circumference of the hat will grow smaller. I then cut the desired shape of the brim and cut an oval out of the center to attach the top of the hat. Using duct tape I then attached both pieces and continued to add tape all over the hat to give added stability. Once the tape had been added I then cut pieces of metal tape into various sizes and adhered them to the hat in different positions. Next came the alcohol ink which I "pounced" all over the hat using the applicator tool. After the ink had dried I used a color wash using black acrylic paint and water allowing it to dry slightly and then removing it with a dry paper towel. Finally, I embellished the hat using various products in my stash.

For the goggles, I cut a toilet paper roll down to the appropriate size and applied Rub N Buff on the outside of the roll. Next, I used my embossing pen and used my LSG EP in Midnight copper. I attached the goggles using hot glue.

I hope y'all enjoy this project as much as I have. Have a great day and please check out my YouTube Video for more details and a closer look of the finished project.