If you are family, please stop reading now (It's about Christmas! Don't spoil the surprise!)

Here is a fun, easy, and easily-customized Christmas gift idea that Works For Me.

Again, if you are family, please stop reading now.

And don't look at the pictures.

Oh, well. I tried.

~~~~~

I have made this kind of gift in the past, but now that I have a blog I am compelled to document the process. :) I started out with these items:

The unfinished wooden 4x6 inch frame is $1 at Michaels and stands with a wooden peg sticking out from its base in the back. The other materials were also found at Michaels and are around $2 each (package of 12 straw hats, package of multi-colored self-adhesive sequins [not pictured]), with the exception of the Glue Dots ($4, but I used a 40% off coupon, so that made it closer to the $2 mark). I have a variety of acrylic paints and brushes onhand since my husband is a talented artist (really!), but if you keep your color scheme simple, that will keep the cost of paint down. I also have a glue gun that I used in this project.

The little red hats are small straw hats that I painted red and topped with purple ribbon. (I found tiny fuzzy red cowboy hats a few years ago. They apparently no longer exist in this area, but they are easier to work with--both in the way of painting as well as with attaching the ribbon--so use them if you can find them!) I folded the narrow purple ribbon in half at the center portion to fit around the red hats and used Glue Dots to keep the fold in place as well as to attach the ribbon to the hats. I hot glued the hats to the picture frame and decorated with self-adhesive sequins in a very simple pattern. I decorated the frame in such a way that the frame could be standing (with the peg at the bottom to support it) or turned around to hang on the wall (using the peg's hole).

The poem "Warning" by Jenny Joseph goes with the whole Red Hat Society theme and can be replaced with a photograph. I already had the words to this poem but you can find them online here.

I had a fairly simple grape and vine design that I considered using, but I lost my nerve changed my mind because I'm really not that good! ;) But I think it would look good if I got up the nerve to try it. I think I would paint underneath the sequins with a color that matches, and use two shades of green for the leaves and vines.

The finished product:

This was a fun project and would be easy to do even if you only have a little time here and there to devote to it...and that Works For Me. To see other Works For Me Wednesday participants, check out Shannon at Rocks in My Dryer.

Psst! I know a few Red Hat Society ladies in our extended family, so it may not be for you...if you're still reading despite the request of family to avoid reading this post. :)