Autograph Ear Hat - A Quick Idea

Just a quick idea today that has been a hit in all the Disney groups where I've shared it. Before our first trip to Disney World in 2013, I saw a photo of a white Mickey ear hat with autographs screen printed on it in black. It dawned on me that this was a cool idea for a souvenir of our trip.

 
I bought a white oil-paint Sharpie (oil paint is important) at a craft store before we left for our trip, and when we arrived at the parks, I bought a pair of classic Mickey ears. For the rest of the trip, we had the characters sign the hat, and it became a fun talking point. We did the same thing during our October 2015 trip, and again it was a big hit with the characters, especially when Gaston was one of the first to sign, and took up almost half of the back of the hat with his autograph. Typical Gaston.
 
Toward the end of the trip especially, my hat became a real head-turner when I would wear it, it was so covered with autographs.

Just a couple of suggestions if you do this. First, while I was waiting in line for the characters, I got out the oil paint Sharpie and shook it well. I had drawn a little heart on the inside brim of the ear hat, where no one would see it when worn, and when we got a few people from the front of the line, I would trace the heart with the marker to make sure the ink was flowing well. If I had any trouble, I had bought the Sharpies in a two-pack, and I would try the other one.

The other suggestion is...even with all of that preparation, sometimes the characters' signatures will be a little light. Each night when we returned to the resort, I went over each of the signatures carefully with the Sharpie again, to make sure it was clear and vivid.

We put our autographed ear hats in football display cases, which are almost perfect for displaying Mickey ears (they get just a tiny bit smushed, but not much) along with mementos from each trip.

We would continue doing this for every trip, but we're starting to discover that Disney trips are going to be a very regular thing for us, and we're going to run out of room.  Plus I am so proud of how many good characters signatures I got on our last hat, I think I'm retiring the idea for ourselves, and passing it on to all of you!