Party Preps Day 2: Party Gear

I always think that birthday parties are just not complete without party hats! They encourage people to get into a party mood and to relax. It is hard not to smile when you're wearing a silly hat!

I want all the adults and the children to wear party hats, but I don't really like those conical dunce hats that are sold in the shops. True, they have bright and cheerful designs printed on them, but they are so uncomfortable to wear. The elastic bands always snap and there are never enough replacement hats around.

A good friend of mine introduced me to this great origami website, so I decided that I would fold newspaper hats instead of buying them from a store.

I made a few small hats to start with and tried them on Stardust. He absolutely loved them! They stayed on well when he was running around the house and they must have been comfortable to wear because he didn't try to take them off.

I made some bigger ones and tried them on myself - they stayed on pretty well when I was wandering around the house and were so comfortable that I forgot I was wearing them. MDH was very amused when he came home and found me doing the ironing or the cooking with a different paper hat on each evening.

This means that I can put out crayons and markers during the party so that the children can customise their own chapeau, and if anything gets destroyed, I can just fold them a new one!

I decided to fold several different styles so that not everyone would be wearing the same hat.

I made samurai-style helmets, flat berets, bucket hats and tall mitres for the grownups.

For the kiddies, I made simple paper beanies and army-cadet caps. These have a much more snug fit so they are better for them to run around in.

It was so much fun!

I made 40 hats for the adults and 20 hats for the kiddies.

Total cost: Less than the cost of one newspaper!