We’re gearing up for a very family-friendly New Year’s Eve little fete in our house and my first project was to make up some reusable party hats for all the kiddos.

This was one of those projects where I had a very specific idea in my head as to what I wanted and how I hoped it would go and it actually all worked out that way. That honestly, rarely happens, LOL.

The first thing I did was to take a regular cardboard party hat and disassemble it to use as my template. Lay it on a piece of felt or other thick piece of fabric and trace a pattern, giving yourself a quarter inch to half inch seam allowance, depending on your preference.



Once I cut out my hat shapes, I took scraps of felt and made silly faces and added some embellishments as well. A better crafter would probably have sewn each of these on, but seriously ~ that would have involved repeatedly rethreading my sewing machine each time I changed colors and we all know I’m about instant gratification, right? So as usual, I simply glue-gunned everything on using the high temp setting.

Once everything was glued on, I sewed a seam at the bottom {this gives a little body to the hat where it’s going to rest on the head}, and then sewed the two straight edges together to form a back seam to the hat. Do this inside out and then turn it rightside out. You may need to use a chopstick or pointy object to get the tip of the hat all the way out.

Once you’ve done that, stick the cardboard hat inside your new one and mark where the elastic sides are attached with straight pins. I then sewed ribbons instead of using elastic {my children LOATHE the elastic on party hats and complain about them constantly}. Be sure to sew the ribbon pretty securely as it will be tugged on and abused.

Now get ready for New Year’s silliness!

And just because there’s something I love about each one, here’s a close up~

Gotta love a happy cyclops! This is Bob and his eyebrow and tongue are 3-D!

Little Cutie helped design Rita ~ her eyelashes are 3-D, and because Little Cutie is a bit of a Diva, of course she needed a wee touch of bling!



Big Cutie helped with Flo ~ she wanted her to have glasses like she wears. I was going for a retro 50s diner look and gave her a pom pom nose.

Finally, here’s Ed. He’s just plain goofy. You’d be too if you only had three teeth and very crooked eyebrows.

Little Cutie gives it her Party Girl Seal of Approval!

Clearly, these aren’t New Year’s Eve specific. You could make them for any party, especially children’s birthday parties. I think I’m going to make up a family hat that we can pull out for each person’s birthday. Now I wonder what I can make up that the puppy will wear for New Year’s…..

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