Party Hats!

Every kid needs a party hat for his birthday, and I knew that I would need a cute one for Greyson to wear for his birthday photos and party. I tried to find a cute one to buy, but they weren't that great, and they were too pricey (for one use) for me to justify the cost. So, I googled for cute ideas, and it really wasn't too difficult.

First, I had to find a pattern to follow. I ended up finding this one at Jones Design Company and it worked perfectly! I decided that the hat needed a bit more heft than one piece of cardstock would supply, so I took two sheets and used spray adhesive to stick them together. (You could probably use something like posterboard instead, but this is all I had on hand.)

Then, I printed the hat pattern on one side, and found these graphic patterns from Sprik Space to use on the other side. I used the cute aqua chevron pattern to coordinate with the red/aqua theme. Then just cut out the hat pattern along the lines.

Before you start decorating, I highly recommend that you purchase some Goop (I got mine from Hobby Lobby).


This stuff is great! It dries clear, adheres to EVERYTHING, and when you get it on your fingers, it just peels right off. I decorated the hat before I glued it into a cone. It was much easier for me to do it this way, but the directions said you could do it the other way as well.



I already had red ric rac, so I used that as a border for the bottom of the hat. I used felt circles to make a polka dot effect that would stand out more than just paper. I experimented with the felt that had a sticky backing, but I still ended up having to glue it down.


I cut pieces of ribbon and used a dot of glue between each one laid out in a criss-cross pattern.





After I glued the hat into a cone shape and let it set for an hour or two, I glued the pom to the top of the hat. I also found red cord for the chin strap. If you use cord instead of elastic make sure to measure the length on the birthday boy first. :)

My advice is to do all of this in stages so that the glue gets a chance to set before you move on to the next step. The most difficult part was getting the pom to set straight on the hat. It is a little crooked, but it was the best I could do because the ribbon made it harder to stick.

I think it turned out pretty well, and it even survived the photo shoot without getting destroyed! I promise he is happy about the hat even though he doesn't look it...more on the photos in another post.