party hats

since i have nothing else to do these days, i thought i would attempt to make party hats for the upcoming 3 year-old bash. i've kinda always wanted to do this (yes, i'm weird) and it really is quite easy.

i rather enjoy a little variety so none of my hats were exactly the same. (not that i could have gotten them identical even if i wanted.)

i used mostly card stock and just rolled it into a cone. (for one i used lighter paper, but it is much flimsier and i'm not sure how it will hold up if a rambunctious little boy gets his hands on it.) for the taller hats, i rolled them long ways, for the smaller, i rolled them short ways.

for the taller ones, a little glue is needed to keep it together and i wrapped it in rubber bands while it dried. for the shorter ones, one lone staple on the bottom worked fine. (i just stapled it and then trimmed off the excess until it looked even and balanced.)

i hunted around the craft store for some sort of fun topper, but came up empty handed. so i just took a little scrap fabric, cut a small square, folded it accordion style, and cut some strips about an inch down. then, i just stuck it in the top of the hat and fanned it out. i secured it with tape on the inside.

since i wanted a little variety in color, and i didn't have any yellow fabric, i used some felt. i like the fabric better, but if all you have is felt, it works fine and the 3 year-olds aren't gonna care anyway.

a little decoration... ribbon, circles, stripes, etc... i had thought of letting the kids decorate their own at the party, but i don't have the energy for that. but should you be a better mom than me, you could let them use glitter, stickers, crayons, glue and gadgets, etc... this particular party is going to have a fish theme so i thought i might let them use some foam fish stickers to decorate their own hat, but i'm going to use those for a different activity.

and then... i got some elastic rope at the craft store and taped it on the inside... and hopefully the kids will actually wear them!