A grandmother from Washington State named Paula Lazardo has always loved art and creativity but never planned to make a living drawing children’s helmets. However, life has a fun way to lead us to where we are most needed and that is what happened to Paula. She considered herself a decent artist, so when a friend asked her to turn the children’s medical helmet into something less “medical” and a little more fun, Paula happily agreed to try it. Ten percent of babies are born with plagiocephaly, a condition that flattens part of their soft baby skull.
To correct this and help their heads to form correctly, these babies typically wear special helmets. When the first baby’s doctor saw the cute designs on his helmet, he immediately knew tons of other babies whose parents would love to have their baby’s helmet painted, too. When he started spreading the word among the parents of his patients, a new business was born for Paula, who said, “He saw value in having the helmet painted for his clients.” She added that it was just a “snowball thing” and now, it’s about 99% of what she does. Paula describes painting helmets for babies as the “best job ever.”
https://www.facebook.com/lazardoart/photos/a.1725248997538696/3409487895781456/?type=3&theater
The first children’s helmet was made in 1996 and since then Paula has drawn over 3000 children’s helmets. He still finds it hard to believe that something so simple has changed and touched many lives, including his own. She says that one day she did not wake up and decided to start making helmets, but it was a fluke she is so grateful for. One of the things that do what makes Paula so shocking is that these kids have to wear helmets day and night for months.
To get a helmet painted, Paula has the parents ship their baby’s helmet to her overnight. She in turn creates artwork and ships them back to the parents within 24 hours.
https://www.facebook.com/lazardoart/photos/a.1725248997538696/3353263348070578/?type=3&theater
The paint she uses is water-based non-toxic paint and she charges between $200-$350 per helmet. She also creates miniature helmets that are designed to fit on a doll’s head, so children have dolls who look like them. Watch the video below about Paula’s work and mission.
