How to: St. Patrick's Day wrap-around hat

Emma came home from preschool today with a note from her teacher that said she is to wear green on Wednesday. Emma made sure to tell me that she was allowed to wear a green hat if she had one. She does not, in fact, have a green hat; but I knew she really wanted to wear one.

I scoured the internet for easy ideas on how to make a St. Patrick's Day hat, but I couldn't find anything that I could make with the materials I already have. So I came up with my own idea. And here's how it turned out...

Cute, right? I am pleased with the results. And it only took about 10 minutes or so.

Here are the materials I used for the hat: one 8.5x11" sheet of black cardstock, one 8.5x11" sheet of green printer paper, one 8.5x11" sheet of yellow printer paper, ruler, pencil, scissors, paper cutter, glue stick, Scotch tape, and double-stick tape.

1. Cut several 1.5" strips long-wise of black cardstock.
2. Put together the ends of two strips and tape with Scotch tape on one side (this will be the inner side of the wrap-around headband). Put a small piece of double-stick tape on the opposite side between the two strips (so the tape doesn't show on the outside of the headband). Repeat with the amount of strips you need to fit around the child's (or your) head.
3. Wrap the band around the child's (or your) head and hold the strips together. Repeat Step 2, making a full ring out of the strips of paper. Set aside the ring.
4. Cut the green paper to 8x11". Measure and cut the hat how big/small you want it. In my hat, the brim is 2" high by 8" across. The tall part is 6" high by 5" across.
5. Cut a 1.5x6" strip of black paper for the band.
6. Cut a 3x3" square of yellow paper for the buckle. Measure down 3/4" from each side, making a square in the center. Cut out the center.
7. Glue/tape the yellow buckle to the black band, then attach to the hat.
8. Cut a 1.5x7" strip of black cardstock and glue to the back of the hat (this will help the hat stand up).
9. Put a 2" piece of double-stick tape on the back of the had in the center of the brim and attach it to the ring. And that's it!

I may add a sparkly shamrock (Emma loves using glitter glue) on the upper part of the hat. But we'll see. Feel free to embellish your hat to your heart's content.

It seems pretty sturdy on Emma's head. She was moving her head all around, and it stayed on well. So hopefully it will last on Wednesday at school. We'll see about that, too.

Happy early St. Patrick's Day!