DIY Birthday Hat!

Some of you might recall Ria mentioning on her blog that I made my daughter’s birthday hat, you can see it in this post. I made one for her first birthday too and hope to continue making them for every birthday until she’s embarassed by it. I should be able to make it to atleast 7 right?? wishful thinking? Anyways, I wanted to show everyone how to make their own birthday hats because it’s pretty simple and you can customize them as much as your heart desires, or as little as your heart desires. The main reason I wanted to make my own for Liv was to make sure the hat coordinated with her outfits (yes I’m THAT mom) and because it was something special just for her. All you need are some fabric scraps or scrapbook paper, maybe some felt, maybe some sticky back foam, a hot glue gun, elastic cord and an empty cereal box. It helps if the kids are in bed and you can have a cold beverage nearby, but those aren’t requirements. 

Don’t ask me why the pins are in this picture, I didn’t use them, I just thought they’d give the impression that I know what I’m doing… So, first things first, you’ll need a template. I used this one for the basic shape. Cut it out, grab a snack, and turn on some tunes. Then pull apart your cereal box and trace the template, it works great to line up the straight side with a straight edge.

Cut out the cardboard and pick your favorite fabric. I couldn’t wait to cut into this cute owl fabric. Of course you wouldn’t have to use fabric, you could use felt, or just scrapbook paper too. Or just spray paint it. But if you do the fabric you’ll want to cut it out so that there is an extra half inch around the edges. Then cut the corners at an angle and cut slits in by the tab.

Did you remember to plug in the hot glue gun? Sorry, I should have mentioned that at the same time as the snacks. So now we start gluing the fabric down. It’s best to start with the bottom curve part and put down an inch of glue, fold the fabric up, wait for it to set, then make a bit of a pleat to keep the fabric smooth. Hopefully you can see what I mean below. Just keep gluing and pleating through the curve and then glue the rest of the fabric around the edges. Pause for some chocolate.

Ok, now we need to start rolling it into the cone shape. The very top is the most reluctant to comply with this, just roll it tight and don’t be afraid to fold it a bit. Looks pretty good so far huh? But it needs a little something extra…

Everyone has orange pom-pom trim right?? No? Maybe? Well I had some, so why not. My glue gun had the pom-pom’s secured in no time. You could also add buttons along the bottom, or some ric rac, or just a felt strip. Lots of options here, pick one and go for it. Now we just need to add a number! It works best to print out your number and use that as a template. I cut mine out of foam that has a sticky back. Just had to peel the paper off the back and slap it on the hat.

Final step is to add your elastic cord, mark the spots right across from each other and cut out a couple of small rectangles from your cereal box. Guesstimate the length of your cord and get that cut. Then put some glue on the marks and sandwich your cord between the rectangles and the hat. Now admire your work, test it out, or see if the dog will test it. I happened to have a very cute newly-1 year old coming in to try my hat out . Thanks for modeling it baby G!

And here’s a close up look at Liv’s hat, I got a little bit carried away, but I love the little fabric yo-yo’s and buttons. 

So that’s all there is to it! Hope you’re inspired to try it for your upcoming birthdays. And be sure to bring in your birthday star to model that one of a kind hat! Be on the look out for more from baby G’s session later this week.