Blogger Inspired Project: Cameroon Juju Hat

I know my posting has been spotty the last few weeks. Work has been stressful and I just haven't had two brain cells to rub together at the end of my days. So I'm sorry this post is two days late but knowing me, it's probably not the last time I'll do that. Moooving on.

I have always loved Cameroon Juju hats. (I mean really, even the name tickles my funny bone-in highschool, before I even knew Cameroon Juju hats existed, I used to go round saying everyone needed leopard in thier house or the bad juju would get you. So really, this project was like.. kismet.)

Most people I've talked to don't know what a Cameroon Juju Hat is.  So in a nutshell, it's a feather African hat that is worn by royal dancers during ceremonies. You can read a little more about them here. (Note: I do not know anything else about that site or the quality of their work-it was just a page that I quickly Googled to get additional details for you!) 

The problem was that most Cameroon Juju Hats were very costly--typically ranging in the $400-$500 range. The other night I did a quick Google to show my mom what a Juju hat was and the first one that pulled up was $1,250! Yeah, I'm not inspired to spend that much on a decorative object.  

But I continued to see Juju Hats everywhere (ok, not really. But I can be surprisingly single-minded when it comes to an obsession...). I pinned several images on Pinterest of Juju hats and dreamed about dancing in Juju Hats (ok, not really. But if I did would you be surprised?)

Image from Pinterest here

Finally, like any inspired blogger, I wondered if it was possible to make one. I found several sites where bloggers provided tutorials on how they made their Juju Hat, and Vintage Farm Furniture is the the one that convinced me I could do it.  Half of the battle, I figured, was ordering the feathers. (The other half was conquering my allergies to feathers in order to put it together. Oh yeah, I did that.) 

After researching various feather options, I ultimately went with the same site that Vintage Farm Furniture used: The Feather Place.  I ordered 3 quantities (it is sold by the 1/4 lb.) of the 6-8" Shocking Pink Rooster Coque Tails.  I ordered extra because other blogs mentioned using more and I wanted to have a margin of error. For this project I only ended up using 2 of the feather rolls. (Hm, an extra roll of feathers. I spy another project in the future?!) 

Anyhoo, I digress. So I ordered the feathers. I don't know it if was just my experience, but I ordered the feathers and I did not receive an order confirmation e-mail or a shipping confirmation email. Days went by and I kicked myself for not writing down the order confirmation number (I have never not gotten a confirmation e-mail!) and I wondered if anything had gone wrong with my order and if I was going to have to call customer service.... and then I came home from work one day and the feathers were there. Like magic. Ok, not really magic, but just thought I would share that in case anyone else orders and has a similar experience. Learn from me-write the confirmation number down and then don't panic. 

I'm going to skip the tutorial here since it's not really mine and just say if you would like to make one yourself, definitely check out the tutorial on Vintage Farm Furniture. Because I really did follow it step by step.   Here are some progress shots. 

And here is where, excited at my progress, I stopped to text my mom a picture. She, predictably, thought I was ridiculous for attempting such a thing when I am allergic to feathers.  (My text is green and blue; hers is the gray.) 

 Back to the project:

When I was done, I wasn't sure where to hang it, so like the impatient gal that I am, I took a couple of pictures off my gallery wall to hang it front and center. So the disclaimer here is: this is not its final resting place. 

I love the bright pop of color and fluffiness. I also love that it is not $1,250.  The only thing I need to figure out is where it can live. Oh, and if I should do another one in purple. It is that delicious. MmmWAH!