In Search of a Top Hat

The Quest Continues!
In this exciting next installment in the Top Hat Search Series our Heroine battles the weirdness that is "The Flea Market" in defiance of all odds to find a top hat!

... if only it were so amazing...

Aparently Top Hats, Skeleton Keys, and Old Broken Chime Clocks are nearly impossble to find. I'm going to stalk eBay and see if I can't find a How-to-make-a-top-hat page on the internet. Well... maybe that's not it... it's actually more like any of the above mentioned items are impossible with my budget. I have all of $70 USD that I can spend on everything (not including door prizes).

In the Spirit of not giving up (It's the part of me I've been working on lately; you know the side that goes "Oh look an obstacle let's find an alternate route!") I'm going to pick up a pack of pretty Art Nuevou style Tarot cards.
You see I have this vision for my hat. An old clock face, the hands removed and pointing up and away from the side between 3 Tarot Cards; Past, Present, and Future. Then from the colors on the cards I'm going to make a band and fix everything to the hat with a few shiny cog patterns (I might get a stamp and some fabric paint instead of actually fixing little cogs to the band like I REALLY want to). In the end it should be wonderful. I'm also trying to figure out if I can't make a double breasted waist coat with tails to match.

Why am I doing all this Awesome, you ask? My sister's Hen Party (Bachelorette, whatever. Hen is easier to spell) is an Alice in Wonderland Steampunk theme.
For the door prizes I'm ordering a replica of the Master's pocket watch from Dr.Who, a white rabit shaped japanese lunch box, and some mustache cookie cutters. I was thinking of maybe getting a really off the wall tea cup for another prize but have yet to be impressed by anything I've come across.

But that is neither here nor there.
I've got a Top Hat to find... or create.
Till next time just remember; The light heart lives long.