Altered Head HatStand...

Today I'd like to share with you a project that I've been busily working on over the last few weeks.  Since retiring my Dad has been taking the time to visit some of the places in the world he's always dreamed of going to; the one thing that he takes on all his travels is his Kangaroo Leather Hat, which folds away nicely for packing, but he wanted something to keep it on when he is home.

We found a polystyrene head online which would make a perfect stand for his hat, but it was plain white and a little delicate.  So I said I'd paint and varnish it for him.  Of course that was far to simple an idea for me, so I decided to do a spot of decoupage first....

I had some Craft Consortium 'World Map' Tissue Paper in my stash that I decided was perfect for the job.  So I added that to the polystyrene head with some Aleene's collage pauge - glossy.  Once dry I decided it was too shiny, and new looking, so I set about distressing it.

Stage 1 - Watered down Grey Acrylic Paint

Stage 2 - Tim Holtz Distress Paints - Bundled Sage, Scattered Straw, Tattered Rose, Antique Linen and Picket Fence.

I also added some Washi Tape - Flags of the World, Vintage Stamps and AirMail.

Stage 3 - Tim Holtz Distress Paint - Black Soot. Then I sanded back a lot of the paint, to reveal more of the maps.

I then added some details to the eyes and mouth, using Faber Castell PITT Pens.
Finally I gave the head a couple of layers of Matt Acrylic Varnish.

I also added a felt base.

Here are a couple of close ups;

And finally, the finished hatstand with hat, in it's new home.

Looks pretty good, even if I do say so myself.

I had so much fun working on this, so I plan on getting my hands dirty again soon with a bit more altered art.

I hope you've found this step by step process interesting. If you've any questions, just leave me a comment and i'll get back to you.

Thanks for visiting with me today
Bye for now
Suzi
xxx