Jester Hat Craft
Make a crafty cap for your junior jokester.
Submitted by
Kayla Chong
Kayla Chong
Your kid is the family jokester—all he needs is a jester's hat or his own late-night show and he's in business. We can't deliver the TV gig, but we can show him how to craft a cool, easy jester's hat, perfect for Mardi Gras or just a little har-de-har.
- Little jester:Your kid.
- Purple, green and gold felt:The Mardi Gras colors.
- Jingle bells:Got any left over from the holidays?
- Scissors
- A tape measure
- A ruler
- A marker
- Hot-glue gun and glue sticks:Kids and hot glue don't mix, so make sure you do all the gluing.
- Embellishments:Glitter glue, rhinestones, sequins, pasta, anything to add a little pizzazz.
- Needle and thread
Take a piece of felt and help your kid trace a long, thin isosceles triangle onto it. (That means two sides are the same length, one isn't. Hello, fifth-grade geometry!) The base of the triangle should be about 3 inches long and the sides should be about double that.
Have him cut it out.
Measure your kid's head to see how many felt triangles he'll need to circle the circumference of his noggin, divide by three and then double it. So, if his head is 21 inches around, he'll need 14 triangles. (Didn't think you'd be dusting off those old algebra skills, did you? Crafting is mathing. Ew, did we just say that?)
Then have him then trace the required number of triangles using the first triangle as a pattern.
Help him cut them all out.
Next, you can hot-glue two triangles back to back to make them sturdier. Have him double up all of the triangles so he's left with half as many sturdy ones. Encourage your kid's inner fashionista to bust out: Have him play with the different color fabrics and try pairing a gold piece of felt with a purple backing. Look out, Isaac Mizrahi!
Next, help your kid measure a 2-inch-wide band of felt to make the base of his hat. It should be about 2 inches longer than the circumference of his head. So again, if his head is 21 inches, then cut a piece of felt 2 inches wide by 23 inches long. If you don't have a piece of felt long enough, cut two shorter pieces and hot-glue them together.
Now, help your kid lay all the triangles in a row, the 3-inch side facing you, onto the felt base. Overlap or space as needed to make the triangles evenly spaced and hot-glue them on.
Next, help your kid sew a jingle bell onto each tip of the hat. You'll never lose him on the playground again!
Let your kid jazz up his hat with some embellishments. Glue on some sequins or trim the points in glitter glue for some fabulous sparkle.- Finally, fit the band onto his head and hot-glue it together to finish. That's it. Your kid is officially the fairest joker at the Mardi Gras parade. (Or at least the class clown!)
- A few jokes for your little jester:
A dog walks into a Western Union and says, "I want to send a telegram." He writes out the telegram he wishes to send. "Bow wow wow, bow wow wow." The clerk says, "You can add another "bow wow wow" for free." And the dog says, "Wouldn't that sound a little silly?"
What did the porcupine say to the cactus? "Is that you mommy?"
What do you get from a pampered cow? Spoiled milk.
Submit!
