In The Midst Of A Dilemma

So I've got this hat that I made ~ 

I made it for a photographer who wanted to do a Baby New Year photo shoot.  The photo shoot never happened and now I'm stuck with this hat.

There's nothing wrong with the hat.  I've put just as much care and attention into it that I do with all my handmade hats.  The only flaw is that I used one of those pre-formed hard felt doll's hats as my base.



This is how it all came about ~ I answered an ad on Craig's List from a photographer looking for interesting jewellry, clothing, accessories, etc. to use in photo shoots.  Well I thought to myself ~ I make interesting jewellry and interesting little hats.  So I emailed the photographer my info.

Needless to say, she loved my stuff and wanted to meet with me to look at everything in person.  We decided to meet in Ybor City 

which is a very unique area near Tampa about an hour away from where I live.

So I load up my car and take the day off from working in my studio and head out to meet this photographer.  

She was late for the meeting (which was a bit of an irritation) and she also brought a friend with her which was odd and unexpected but she explained it away as the friend was going to be designing some of the background work for the photo shoot so she wanted to get a feel for my work as well. 

We had coffee at a sidewalk cafe and chatted about various different things.  After we'd finished our coffees we went over to where my car was parked so I could show them my hats.


This was mid-November when we met.  Whilst looking at my hats, the photographer explained that she had an idea to do a baby new year shoot and thought that a tiny top hat would work out really well as a prop.  My work would be credited in the photos, featured on her blog and she'd be more than happy to give out my business cards as well.  I said sounds great, let me know when you're going to do it and I'll bring the hats over to your studio or location.  Well, she says that she's not sure of the when and where and would just prefer to take the hats, use them and then return them.

 Bells, whistles and flags go off in my head!  After having gotten burned and lost a large chunk of my inventory to a consignment shop I'm very leery of letting my goods out of my sight unless they've been bought and paid for.


Well, not wanting to miss out because she really did seem genuine, I suggest that I could make her a baby version of one of my hats with a new year's theme that would work well with her photo shoot idea.  Even though my hats are small I said that I thought they might seem large placed upon a baby's head and she agreed.

So we part company and I say I'll let her know as soon as the hat's done and she said great, fantastic, can't wait.


I spent the next couple of days shopping for supplies to make this little hat and it's matching hat box.

I email her the photo in mid-December to let her know it's finished and waiting for her.  I again mention I'd be more than happy to bring it to the shoot in person.  She answers, says she loves the hat but is going out of town at the beginning of January and will contact me when she gets back.  Sounds like a major blow off to me so I just chalk it up to lesson learned and forget about it.

At the end of January she writes me and says she's still interested but needs to find a newborn for the shoot.  I tell her to let me know.

Now it's the end of April and I've been looking at this hat sitting here for four months and feeling more than ever that my good nature and willingness to help people out have once again been taken advantage of.


So, tell me, what am I supposed to do with this hat?

It needs a home other than underfoot in my studio.