I love a good splurge every once in a while, but fortunately for husband, “splurge” doesn’t translate to upwards of $400. That’s the price tag you’ll be looking at if you decide to invest of one of Eugenia Kim’s hats. A New York native (hey girl, hey) whose design headquarters is located right in the midst of her studio apartment, Eugenia Kim sold her debut piece in 1998. Shortly after, her brand was born. Favorited by top fashion publications and celebrities, her unique statement hats have been getting quite the attention lately. The problem for most people is that spending $485 on a hat just isn’t going to happen. My motto has always been, “If it doesn’t satisfy (the price, that is, in this case), DIY” – and so I did.  

 

1. Floppy hat (I’ve linked some additional choices below!)

2. Black sequin ribbon (this was a bit hard to find. Make sure that your ribbon is single-strand)

3. Hot glue gun (I find that a smaller one works best because you will need very thin, delicate lines of glue!)

4. Scissors

5. Tape

6. Tweezers (these are optional but can come in handy incase you need to place a single sequin for the dot of an “i” or adjust the position of a letter)

1. Use a piece of tape to affix your hat to your work surface. This will help keep everything sturdy, eliminating any possibility of your hat shifting while you’re working.

2. Before you start your wording, it’s important to secure your sequins. You will see that if the end of your string isn’t tied, sequins can easily strip off. I remove a few by carefully sliding them off of the string, so I can tie a knot. This is the most foolproof way to secure your sequins. Could you glue them? Sure – but I’m all about spending a little extra time to avoid them coming off down the road. 

Note: You can easily disguise your knot by taking one of the sequins you stripped off and gluing it on top of the knot. This will give you a clean line with no appearance of string. 

3. Once you’ve chosen your saying (I’ve listed some examples at the bottom of this post), I would recommend laying it out on your hat to get the feel for how you want your letters to look. You’ll notice that some letters, like “p” or “o” can be a bit awkward to design. Knowing the direction of your letters and how you want them shaped before the glue is actually on is a big help!

4. Woohoo! You’re ready to start gluing. (See my notes first, then head back here >) I recommend working with about 3 inches of ribbon at a time. Making sure you have your ribbon flipped to the side where the string is visible and using a very light trigger finger, disperse a very thin line of glue across your ribbon. Hot glue can be tricky (and painful) to work with. If you haven’t worked with it before, you might want to practice on a piece of paper first to get the pressure just right. You don’t want your line of glue to be too thick, because it will create an overflow and squeeze out the edges of the ribbon. As you shape your letter, gently press your ribbon down to secure it. What’s great about hot glue is that if you find that something is a little off, you have about 5-10 seconds to fix it.

Note: If you’re nervous about free-handing (which is what I did), you can use a disappearing ink pen to sketch your letters. My advice is to just go with it (which usually, I would never do). However for a project like this, that’s not meant to be perfect, it will save you some time if you ditch the pen and embrace your creativity!  

Another Note: You will need approximately 45 in. of ribbon per 5 letters. This of course varies according to the size of your letters and how far apart you space each character. That being said, don’t cut your ribbon ahead of time. It’s best to work with it on your spool and unroll it as you go. Then, you can simply cut when you’re ready without the possibility of running out or having too much ribbon left over. 

6. Continue to work on your letters until you’ve finished your word. Most floppy hats will have a weave that allows you to perfectly line up your letters. Take advantage of this! In the picture below, you can see that I counted 4 weaves from the bottom and made sure that I positioned my letters right on that fifth line. 

7. If you’re creating a two-word design, you will need to knot & secure your ribbon just as you did when you started your project. I recommend cutting your ribbon before you glue your last letter down. It will give you more to work with when stripping your sequins and tying your knot. 

8. Continue the steps above for your second word, adjusting your hat and tape as needed. 

9. While hot glue dries very quickly, it’s a good idea to give it at least 10 minutes to fully set. This is also a good time to double check your letters to see if you missed any spots that need some extra glue.

10. Pack up your hat, hop on a plane, grab your fave beverage and sit poolside looking fabulous!

Ready to create your own? Shop your supplies below to create your own!

Too lazy to DIY and just want to buy? Shop mine via my Etsy store at 10% off with coupon: PINEAPPLEANDPROSECCO

Some fun sayings:

out of office / beach, please / do not disturb / hello sunshine / always on vacay / sunshine on my mind / rosé all day / paradise found / wish you were here / just beachy / leave a message / slice of paradise