How to Make Paper Hats
Mia's Halloween Craft Ideas

How to make paper hats is just one of our Halloween craft ideas for you to try. Our free step-by-step instructions for how to make pirate hats are easy to follow.

Halloween Fun

The template is easy to adapt so you can make different styles of hat from one template.

The downloadable how to make paper hats template includes a skull and cross bones motif and an eye patch. You can use card instead of paper to make a sturdier, longer lasting pirate hat.

A pirate Costume

We have included an eye patch on our how to make paper hats template for you to make. Wear a waist coat and baggy trousers tucked into a pair of old boots to complete your pirate look.
The skull and cross bones can be used to decorate your paper hat or you could make your own 'Jolly Roger' flag. Cut out the skull and cross bones as carefully as you can, glue or tape to an A4 sheet of black paper or card. Hang your flag from ceiling or fix it to the door for a great Halloween decoration.

Mia’s Craft Ideas Guide

Difficulty: Medium Adult supervision: Children will need assistance as the template is quite difficult to cut out. Putting the hat together is quite tricky and some assistance may be needed.

How to Make Paper Hats Template

All our templates are PDF files as they are easy to use and print. You will need acrobat reader installed on your computer to view and print these templates. If you don't have it you can get download it free by clicking on the adobe reader button on the right.This link will open in new window.

Download the template below by clicking on the thumbnail.

Materials and Equipment

• Template
• Scissors
• Tape or glue
• 1 sheet of black A3 paper or card for the sides of the hat
• A strip of black paper or card measuring 62cm (24.5") x 5cm (2") for the band. You can use two strips of paper or card joined together allow a little extra for the extra join.

Printing the Template

Most printers will allow you to print directly on to thin card. If you are using patterned card make sure that you print on the plain side. If your printer will only allow you to print on paper then there are a couple of different ways to transfer the template to card.
If you are planning on making several items then making a card template is a good idea. An easy way to do this is to glue the paper template to the card you can use any type of glue suitable for paper. Spread the glue thinly across the card then lower the paper on top. Smooth out carefully removing any air bubbles. Make sure the glue is completely dry before cutting. Once you have your template in card you can easily draw around it to make as many items as you like.
If you are only making the one item then secure the paper to the card with paper clips, using a pencil and ruler, go over the lines on the template. Press hard enough to mark the card but not so hard you make holes in the paper.

Mia’s Top Tip

Divide the band into 3 sections 20cm (8") for each section, using a pencil make a light mark so it can be seen on the inside of the band later. Mark the centre of each of the hat sections with a light pencil mark on one side. When you come to join the pieces together line up the pencil marks on the hat section with the pencil mark on the band and stick them together working from the center. This should help you get each side piece in the right place.

How to make Paper Hats Instructions

	Glue or tape the strip of paper or card to make a band.
	Fold a piece of paper or card in half. Cut out the main hat shape using the template to make a full size template. Use your new full size template to cut three shapes out of your paper or card.
	Cut out the tabs and fold them back against the hat.
	Glue or tape the very end tabs to the inside of the shape.
	Glue or tape the tabs from each side of the hat to the band. Don't glue or tape the last one the you fixed back in step 4.
	Glue or tape the ends of the sides to each other.
	Your hat is finished, you can decorate it now. The skull and cross bones on the template is just the right size to fit on the hat.

Mia’s Craft Ideas

Cut out the skull and cross bones motif carefully, you can cut around the whole thing or cut each section out individually. If your pirates hat is black you don't have to cut the eyes out as they are already black. Cut out the eye patch from the template and use a large needle to make holes where the small dots are. Thread some elastic through the holes, checking that it will fit over your head.

More Craft Ideas

Now you have made one paper hat try adapting the How to Make Paper Hats template to make a slightly different looking pirates hat. Increase the curve or change the angle in the side pieces. Use different colour paper or card with different motifs.

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