This entry actually comes from a non-geeky place: Yahoo! News, in an article by Makenzie Koch. 8-year-old Hope Laliberte has been wearing leg braces for the past four years, but not just any leg braces. Her first pair had skulls and crossbones on the back. Her second pair featured Batman and Spider-Man.
When it was time to get new braces, Hope didn’t even consider princesses or hearts and rainbows. She only wanted one thing — Disney villains.
Hope wanted braces that showcased Ursula, the evil sea witch from “The Little Mermaid,” and Cruella de Vil, the fashion foe of “101 Dalmatians.” But the brace clinic at Boston Children’s Hospital where Hope has her braces fitted didn’t carry such designs, only a limited sample book from which children can choose from. “They offer all different types of little girl designs, but she wasn’t having any of that,” says the mom.
So Laliberte-Lebeau turned to family friend and tattoo artist Aaron Guillemette to make Hope’s wish come true. She ordered light pink braces, and sent them to Guillemette, who owns tattoo shop Up in Flames in Fall River, to do a custom design.
The light pink braces are made of a resin and acrylic plastic, which made the process difficult when Guillemette tried to apply paint directly to the braces, according to a story published recently by The Herald News. Instead, he drew the characters on sticker paper and painted them with acrylic paint. After several drafts, he attached the papers to Hope’s braces and coated them in polyurethane to protect the art work.
Hope’s new braces now have her two favorite Disney villains on the back complete with evil eels, Dalmatian spots, and Hope’s name.
