How To Make A Dinosaur Party Hat
I decided that Austin’s first birthday party should be dinosaur themed, so we had balloons, a cake and of course special party hats.
So today I’m going to talk you through how to make a dinosaur party hat. It’s perfect if you are throwing a dinosaur party and want that wow-factor that can come with matching party hats.
Supplies Needed
Thin green cardboard, I used a glittery one as I like the finish on it. The thickness of my card was 250gsm which was ideal, but you could drop to 200gsm for the same effect.
Firm green felt. Again I used a glittery felt as it had a nicer finish.
Green pompoms. I used 4cm pompoms as these were the perfect size for the top.
Green elastic which is 1mm in thickness
Tacky glue
Superglue
Sharp scissors
Knife, cutting board and ruler or small scissors
Method
Start by making yourself a template. I used an old party hat to draw around. You can easily find party hat templates online if you haven’t got one. It will make the assembly much easier.
Once you have a template, draw around it on the back of the thin green cardboard. You’ll need to mark out where you are going to cut round to get the shape, but also where you want to score to make the flap and insertion for closing the hat.
Once you have drawn out your hat, carefully cut around it with the scissors.
Then using the knife or small scissors, cut through the insertion section with a knife and also the cut-outs for the flap.
Take the top of the hat, where the point would be and cut out a small section to make it flat. This is where you will affix the pompom so don’t cut too much away.
In this same section, using the ruler and knife/small scissors, score a few lines about 2 inches down from the top. This will help the hat bend into a conical shape more easily.
The next part of how to make a dinosaur party hat is making the spikes. To make the felt spikes. Draw a line along the felt and mark intervals every two inches. At the bottom of the felt start at zero and mark every two inches, and on the line you have drawn, mark every two inches, starting at one inch. Then join the dots up and down. This will create the dinosaur spike.
The cut the felt out. You’ll need to make sure you don’t cut to the bottom of the triangles, otherwise, your spikes will be separate. You’ll see I’ve rounded my cut on the corner, just as I’m moving on to the next spike.
On the felt, you can also use a template to produce a number which you can print, draw round and cut out. I find using a number template produces a better looking and more professional finish to the number than free cutting. If you are using a template and affixing to the back of the felt, remember to print your number in mirror reverse otherwise it will be the wrong way round when you have cut it out.
Once you have all your pieces, roll your hat together and fasten. Using the superglue, you can attach the pompom and elastic. Because of the nature of the felt, it won’t affix to the card easily with superglue, you’ll need to use something else. I used some tacky glue and left it to stick. This worked much better. Just squeeze a line of glue down the back of the felt for the number, and down the bottom of the back of the spike and fix into place. If you can apply pressure to help them stay put whilst they are drying, even better!
And voila! You have yourself a dinosaur party hat!
I hope you’ve enjoyed this step-by-step guide on how to make a dinosaur party hat. Please let me know in the comments if you’ve given it a go yourself and I’d love to see some pictures. If you are having a dinosaur party, I hope you have a roar-some time!
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