Hats Off to Mom
I’ve always credited my creativity to both of my parents, but my mother’s influence over the years has been constant, copious and this project is typical of the kinds of things she made when I was a kid. I found these drawings in a box in her basement. They were tickets to a “Hat Sale” fundraiser at the Y.W.C.A. before I was born, and I’d never seen them. Even my mother had forgotten them. I immediately realized their potential, and I asked her if I could take them home with me.
The tickets are only 5” x 3” and the construction paper they are drawn on is aged and brittle, so I knew that I would need to scan them into my computer to transform them into something new. I imagined these hats in color the moment I laid eyes on them, and my idea was to create a space where a little girl could play dress-up, so painting them was a given. That’s why I printed them on ink-jet canvas cloth after scanning them into my computer. Then, I used acrylic paints mixed with a matte acrylic extender to layer in a transparent glaze of color so the detail of my mother’s drawings would still be visible. Framing them was simple and inexpensive. I used IKEA, white RIBBA frames, and calico washi tape to pull the arrangement together.
Washi tape is easy to apply, and it’s also easily removed, which makes it perfect for transforming these IKEA RIBBA frames. Here’s my only caveat: don’t overhandle it. The adhesive on it is not robust, and it won’t adhere well if you touch it too much. That’s precisely why I use a straight-edge razor to trim it instead of scissors. See the photos at the bottom of this page for more tips.
