Inspirations:

I had a very clear inspiration for this project. I got the idea from a cowboy hat I already own, shown below. I love this hat, and I knew I could make my own. I decided this would be a great venture for me to try for this project. I also poked around online and found that other people have made hats out of beer boxes just like me. I saw a lot that I liked and a lot that just looked like a heap of cardboard badly taped together. I wanted to add new flare and style to the hat I was making.

The majority of hats I saw were a lot like this one. I wanted to make mine more of an authentic cowboy hat, and not just random beer boxes put together.

Vision:

My biggest artistic goal in this project was to not make this look like an elementary school craft. I really didn’t want exposed brown cardboard, glue dripping, tape all over, and ripped, torn cardboard. I wanted this to be something I would actually want to wear, and not something a kindergartner brings home to show mom. I wanted a clean hat with crisp colors and new looking cardboard.

The aesthetic I decided to go for was a redneck, country, tailgate, Toby Kieth feel. I wanted to do something that is more lighthearted and fun.

Design Process:

I knew I had to be very careful with my design process. I had one box that was pristine and perfect. I knew it was the box I wanted to use, so I had to be very careful not to cut it or fold it in the wrong spot to where it would become no longer usable. I was overly cautious when creating, and followed the old rule of “Measure twice, cut once.”

I used to love origami, so I knew I would have some familiarity when it came to folding, but I have never folded anything out of cardboard before. It was a new challenge for me. I used the hat I already have and kind of “reverse-engineered” the top part of the hat. I looked at where the cardboard was folded and the way it lined up. I used a box knife to cut away some of the box and make appropriate slits so that I could overlap the cardboard in the right spots.

 

It was hard to take pictures before this point. The way this was made was through one big fold. I was trying to hold it together and take pictures at the same time, but it didn’t really work well. I needed two hands to hold it together and staple it down so that it wouldn’t fall apart. This is the point where it really went from just a piece of cardboard to a hat shape.

One road bump I hit at this point was keeping the hat together. My original plan was to use glue. But as I was holding it all together and waiting for the first joint I had glued together to dry, I realized it wasn’t going to work. I would have had to find a way to glue all the joints and then hold the hat together while it dried. I also found that regular glue does not work well with the glossy finish on the box. I decided to abandon glue and go to staples. I had wanted to use glue because I figured that once it dried it would be invisible, and I was worried that the staples would stick out and be visually distracting. Luckily, it turned out that the staples blend in pretty well. I think it actually made the project better. Now none of the cardboard got soggy from the glue, and the staples will do a better job keeping it together in the long run.

The next step was making a brim. I didn’t have another box of the same brand or color, so I decided I would have to mix designs. Initially, I was worried that colors would clash, but they actually turned out to match about as well as I could hope for. The brim was also a challenge for me. A big concern for me was not having any exposed brown cardboard, and I didn’t know how I could do that with a brim. Then I had an idea to create two identical ovals and put their brown faces together, so that colorful sides of both were exposed.

This was the part where I had my biggest setback. The first box I cut for the brim was nowhere near the right size. Luckily, I had another thirty-rack sized box.

With my next box, I knew I would need to cut it a lot bigger to make a real looking cowboy hat. I’m actually a little glad that I messed up this first box and hat to use another, because I think the color scheme benefited.

I used this box to implement my double-sided brim plan. I cut out two near-identical pieces to match up. On the top one, I had to cut out a whole the size of the hat frame so that I could slide it over. For the bottom one, I left it fully intact and just matched it up with the one on top.

After I had these lined up, I had almost completed the hat. I just had to staple them together, and then cut a whole out of the bottom for a place to put my head.

I also went around the brim and cut off any spots where the two ovals didn’t line up exactly and there was cardboard exposed. I think this was a big component in making it look less like a craft.

Finally, I just stapled everything together to make sure it would stay. This is the final piece.

 

Functional Goals:

I fell short in one aspect of my functional goals. Unfortunately, I made the hat too small and it doesn’t fit my head well. However, this was a design choice I made. When I originally folded it together, the folds were a little loose and sloppy. When I tightened them up to make it look better and stay together more, I unknowingly made it too small for my head. I’m really not too upset about it though. This was my first time making a hat like this, and I knew I would make some mistakes.

I am very pleased that it stays together. I intended this to be more of a display piece than an actual hat I would be wearing often, and it is sturdy enough that I don’t think it will be falling apart anytime soon.

Artistic Goals:

I am very happy that it didn’t come out looking like it was whipped together for a craft fair. There is minimal exposed cardboard, no glue spots, no visible random tape, and no loose cardboard.

I am also very happy with some of the finer points of the aesthetic. Right along the top of the hat it says “Golden, Colorado.” There is also a logo on the brim that says Golden. There is a can right up front, and matching logos on the side of the hat. The way that the designs and colors line up worked out really well. It is a fun, party-themed hat that in an interesting relic. I think I achieved the aesthetic I was going for.

Next Step:

I will probably display this hat somewhere in my house. This was kind of like a practice run for making these. It turned out great, but not perfect. Maybe I can try again and make one that will fit my head and I can wear at parties. One of my roommates saw me making this and mentioned that he wants one. It was fun to make, and I can easily get more materials and make more of these hats if I want to.

Video Link:

References:

[1]. http://www.redneckbeerhats.com/shop/page/3/

[2]. http://www.thegreenhead.com/2007/03/recycled-beer-box-cowboy-hats.php