Carmen Who?

Eric and I had a wonderful time with Gretchen and Norm at the opening night of the Santa Fe Opera (an annual event for the four of us). Every year we attend this event Eric sports a hat created for the occasion. These hats are usually the brainchild of Gretchen who has an inspired muse. This year was no exception; Gretchen’s creative genius led us down a road that turned out to be loads of fun. Her inspiration for this year’s opening night hat was this, you guessed it… Carmen Miranda the samba queen!

Which is only fitting since the opera was Carmen. She began collecting fruit for the creation a year in advance. With everything that she had collected and several trips back and forth to the local Hobby Lobby (craft store) and Dollar Store, a couple gazillion sticks of hot glue, and an upside down wicker basket, we were able to put together a creation that even the real Carmen Miranda would have been proud to wear. This was the result of our creative efforts

Eric took it for a test ride as we put on a few finishing touches….








And then Ta Da…. His opening night debut!

To say the least it was a hit, the minute it hit his head, the photographers were all over him and yes we made the front page of the Albquerque Journal… again!

And last but not least, we can't forget the opera mask craftyness...