"That's A Hat Waiting To Happen": Quarantined Australian Crafts Elaborate Cowboy World Out Of Food Sacks

We've all had to get a little creative when it comes to quarantine pastimes. Personally, I ordered 10 packages of multicolored clay with the intention of making my own earrings. The clay currently lies untouched in my hall closet. I guess some innovators are just better primed for quarantine creativity—like David Marriott, who crafted an elaborate Wild West world entirely out of paper food sacks while quarantining in a hotel.

Marriott left Australia to attend his father's funeral in London, ABC News reports. When he landed back in the country, he was required to quarantine at a hotel in Brisbane for two weeks. Quarantine hotel guests obviously can't leave their rooms, so their food is delivered in disposable containers, including brown paper food sacks and bowls. Three days into Marriott's quarantine, the boredom set in—which is why he looked at his lunch packaging and thought, "Aha. That's a hat waiting to happen."

Marriott, an art director for TV commercials, used the food packaging to transform himself into "the paper cowboy." He crafted a 10-gallon hat, added a waistcoat and chaps, and constructed a horse out of an ironing board, coffee pods, and spare brown paper bits. He then filmed his escapades, even adding plot lines featuring a notorious horse rustler called the Clingfilm Kid. He's grown attached to his cowboy props and hopes to bring them with him when he leaves quarantine this weekend—especially the horse, who he describes to ABC News as "a bit of superstar now." He's even courting interest from a film center which wants to feature the horse in an art show. I'll raise a sarsparilla to that. Yeehaw!