Banjo Feminization

At first I called this project "banjo prettification", but "feminization" may be just as accurate. I suppose this is stage 1.  Stage 2 will have to do with the strap.

Before:

My banjo with a kitchen rag stuffed in the back.  The rag  keeps it from being too loud.  This works, but has downfalls.  First and most obviously, it isn't very attractive.  Second, it tends to occasionally fall out, which is annoying.  Third, sometimes I'm out of clean kitchen rags and I have to rob from my instrument.  Fourth, this paragraph forced me to use way too many commas for my comfort.

After:

My solution was to make a round pillow (my Fiesta plates were the perfect size round template) from some green material I had lying around plus some stuffed animal stuffins.  I then made 2 doilies and sewed their picot points together around the pillow.  I used the Ferris Wheel doily pattern, but had to make it smaller to fit correctly.  A lovely consequence to this whole doily thing is that the doily pattern shows through on the front of the banjo.

I love the look of it, except for the fact that banjos always seem to get dirty where thumbs and fingers strike the drum repeatedly.  I guess that means I practice enough.