HAPPINESS IS A STATE OF MIND : WEAR YOUR HAPPINESS™
Healing Headbands Project is a nonprofit organization based in New York. Their purpose is to inspire others to develop a healing mindset by integrating laughter with art that can be worn on your head.
Their core program helps healing communities realize their full potential through laughter exercises that awaken the creative mind. They then encourage those participating to express themselves and capture the moment through painting. The artwork is custom printed on special soft UV protected fabric, made into headbands and then delivered with 100% love.
First2print: What is Healing Headbands?
Healing Headbands in a nonprofit organization that helps those with illness feel better using a carefully designed workshop that incorporates playful laughter exercises and a painting project. The artwork is sent to First 2 Print and printed onto specially selected super soft UV protected fabric. The fabric is then cut and sewn into headbands and delivered to children in hospitals around the US. We like to say you can “Wear you Happiness”.
First2print: Do you have a background in art? If yes, describe it.
I have always been interested in art and creating fun environments. When I was ten years old, I built a dollhouse structure out of glue and the lint I collected from our clothes dryer. My parents didn’t know what to do with me. Creating worlds and playful games kept me busy most of the time I was steampunk on the inside. I studied Visual Merchandising and Store planning at the Fashion Institute of Technology where I learned from some of the greatest prop and set designers in NY; Hugh Christie and Gibbs Murray. This is definitely where it all began for me. NYC was a playground, full of concepts and creativity, which fueled every cell. I was a Walter Mitty meets Willy Wonka. A bit of a nonconformist, I bend the rules, just a little. I went on to receive a Bachelors of Fine Arts in Interior Design and eventually started my own workshop in 1992.
First2print: What inspired you to focus on bringing out creativity?
So many times I hear from different people, usually older people, they say, “I’m not creative”, or “I can’t draw or paint’. This is something you would never hear from a child and it perplexes me. What happens when we “grow up”? I think the act of making something new can be intimidating. There’s this thing called creativity and it gets weakened like a muscle as we age. You have to work twice as hard and fear replaces all the good stuff we built up as kids. Fear. Fear takes away our creativity. If I had the antidote for fear it would be a smile. Smiles are the gateway to laughter and I love that laughter is the core of the Healing headbands Project.
First2print: What and/or who inspired you to start this non-profit?
It was a perfect storm. When my good friend Barbara Grapstein become certified as a Laughter wellness specialist and laughter yoga instructor, this was very inspiring for me. Yeah, it’s possible to get certified in laugher. She learned the skills to help people laugh with the use of fun laughter exercises. I didn’t know there were so many ways to bring laughter into an environment, especially as a coping tool to get through rough times. It was when Barbara returned home from visiting her daughter in Central America that sparked the initial idea for the Headband project. She brought back 20 colorful madras headbands, which she intended to give away as souvenirs. So beautiful in design but sized too small for adults. Barbara wondered if she could donate them to children who have lost their hair from cancer treatments in hospitals. The madras fabric was too rough for sensitive heads and headbands were the focus so we set out to find a fabric that was soft and silky to the touch. We found a super soft 4-way stretch, Poly/Spandex micro fiber blend with 50+ UV protections that came in three colors including white. The colors were staple but we wanted something very different and white was the obvious canvas we needed to create something extra special and I had remembered First2Print. That’s when the light bulb went on; to use Barbara's laughter exercises in combination with a painting project to help children feel better while staying in hospitals. What’s better than creating your own art and then wearing it? The next step was to design a workshop as a vehicle to bring the headbands to the children in hospitals. We tested out the workshop on our family and friends and the results were incredible. Within a few weeks, we were scheduled to present the workshop to one of the largest children’s hospitals in NY and we haven’t stopped since.
First2print: How did you find out about First2print?
I began a swimwear company in 2001. It was a beautiful concept that bridged European and American markets using exquisite Italian fabrics that were manufactured by my family in a small mountain village in Italy. The swimwear was designed to be worn from day into night. The premiere collection saw the pages of Sports Illustrated and it was decided our next collection would have original patterns and that’s when I found First2Print. I think First2Print was just starting out at that time too.
First2print: Have you ever used digital fabric printing as part of a creative endeavor prior to working with First2print?
Not digital fabric printing but I was asked to custom make 24 120” round tablecloths for a showcase house event. I will never forget it. I literally turned my kitchen into a dying factory and custom dyed 50 yards of white fabric in my 40qt. lobster pot. I had to climb onto the roof of my house to lay them out to dry.
First2print: Do you feel like having your student’s work printing digitally on fabric opened new doors for you, or did you find it limits your/their work?
(By students, do you mean the children who participate in our workshop?) When everyone, I mean everyone who sees and touches the example of how their art is turned into headbands the look on their face is pure WOW! The Healing Headbands Project is designed to encourage, empower and instill limitless possibilities for healing. The wow look is magic and the refrigerator is not the only place you can proudly display your artwork. You can wear it and feel great all the time.
First2print: Where are you from?
I was raised in New York along with my three siblings. Brought up in rural Long Island of parents with vastly different backgrounds resulting in a free spirited yes ma’am no sir James Dean meets June Allyson at the top of the sixes kind of upbringing. It was gumbo one night, Coq Au Vin the next mixed with Elvis and La Traviata. Still working it out. (Laugh)
First2print: Where do you get your inspiration?
I was taking care of my friend’s 3-month-old baby one evening and I went home with this persistent nostalgic feeling. I discovered it was baby smell, there’s nothing that comes close to it. New eyes to the world always inspire me.
First2print: Do you always provide the bright colors for your students?
It’s incredible what you can get from the primary colors plus white. There are no limitations, at least that’s what I like to instill. I always encourage mixing on and off the paper even when everything turns brown. We celebrate brown. Brown is beautiful.
First2print: Please help support this non-profit organization spread laughter, creativity and healing by making a charitable donation this holiday season to www.healingheadbands.com
