“I fell into the hats. My sister and I were in a Mardi Gras organization for 20 years. I made hats each year to go with the theme of the float. The first hat was a top hat I spray painted white and added layers so it looked like a birthday cake with LED lights for candles for our Happy Birthday float  I tried to top it each year and learned to make hats lighter with my own bases. I can’t draw or sew but started working with hot glue and feathers. I never dreamed it would grow into a business making hats that other people would want to buy. My friends told me I should do this and my first show was last October.  I thought it wasn’t going to work because this isn’t New Orleans. But witches rides, tacky Christmas, Mardi Gras, St. Patrick’s Day, Kentucky Derby and weddings filled the first year. I will be at the Bone and Barrel with hats before and after the Fairhope Witches Ride on Tuesday.

My mother swears the first word I said was hat and that I would throw a temper tantrum if I left the house without wearing one.  Hats are like putting on a superhero cape or magical powers. When you wear a hat you stand taller, you feel more secure. People look at you and you feel empowered like you are special. I love giving that to someone else. If I could make these and give them away, I would. But I would be broke and divorced. 

If I have a bad day, I go to my workroom. I turn on the hot glue gun and start to feel better. I didn’t know this part of me was there and how much I needed to create. I have a vision board with things I like from Hobby Lobby. I will wake up at 2 in the morning and start working on an idea. Sometimes it starts with a picture and turns out nothing like it. Promotion and putting my work on a table for everyone to see is hard. It feels naked and vulnerable. I get crushes on these hats and emotionally attached. I name them and I am sad to see them go.  Some of the names are Sybil, Downton Abbey, and A Little Horny.

I am a social worker for a home health agency. I am trying to organize a lending closet for low-income seniors and people with disabilities who have needs their insurance doesn’t cover. A lot of people need medical equipment for a short time and never use it again. Or someone dies and the family is left with supplies that someone else could use. People need diapers, wheelchairs, walkers, hospital beds, or Ensure, but can’t afford them. My son and I are starting a Facebook page to make donating and distributing easier. The whole community gets involved to help. A lady who needed a lift chair a few weeks ago and the Robertsdale Fire Dept. picked it up and delivered it to her. We are getting this up and running by November 1. I am trying to find someone to donate or rent us a discounted storage unit for a few months. Everything is in our garage and we are turning equipment donations away because we don’t have room for anything else. 

Making hats and helping people in home health provides help and happiness. Making people feel better. It all goes together.”