Whether you collect vintage hats, cowboy hats, or baseball caps, you need a way to store, care for and display your hats. Moreover, you may want a display that is a bit more unusual than a basic hat rack. If you sell hats, your displays are even more important and may need to stand out from the crowd. With a bit of forethought you can find interesting ways to display hats at home, in stores, or at a craft show.
Hat Rack Alternatives
While an attractive hat rack or hall tree will display and store your hats, you may not be able to see them to their best advantage and delicate hats may suffer from this sort of display. One easy option for hat display and storage is open shelving. Hats of any sort can be stuffed with tissue paper for support and placed on shelves. Consider grouping your hats together by color, style or team. You can also create pedestals for your hats. Drill a hole in simple wood bases from the craft store and mount a dowel into that hole. Place a painted or covered styrofoam ball on the other end of the dowel. Several of these in different sizes can help maintain the shape of your hats and display them nicely. Create a primitive-style hat display by bending wire clothes hangers into curves or rounds and slipping the ends through drilled holes in a board.
Creative Displays
If you are looking for more playful or whimsical hat display ideas, visit your local craft store. Artificial fruit, ranging from apples and oranges for baby hats to gourds and pumpkins for adult hats can hold and display hats. This is especially ideal for knit or stretchy hats. Group smaller pieces of fruit in a large basket. If you prefer to scatter your collection, consider placing hats atop antique bottles or canning jars, large vintage spools, or even a pair of vintage cowboy boots. Integrate your hats into other collections by adding baseball caps to sporting memorabilia or cowboy hats to Western style items. Any fairly solid and reasonably tall item can display your hat collection.
Use Your Hats
You can use your hats in your home decor, giving them new purpose. Hang a hat by a large ribbon on a door or window in place of a wreath. Use a beautiful vintage hat as a centerpiece or table decoration. A spring hat can work well with millinery-style birds, especially if flanked by vases of spring flowers. Tip a sturdy hat upside down and fill it with lightweight seasonal decorations, like glass balls or Easter eggs. You can even use a festive hat as a Christmas tree topper. Try a cowboy hat with an embellished band for a Western style tree or a floral hat from the 1950s for a shabby chic look.
Tags: your hats, baseball caps, cowboy hats, craft store, display hats, display your
