Make Your Own Piggie Party Hat!

Now you can have your VERY own Pig-On-Your-Head!  Make this awesome hat with things you probably have lying around your house, and then show it off at our Birthday Party Concerts!

Oink!

A few weeks ago, we were contacted by Emily who works for a company that makes earth-friendly fabric paints called Simply Spray.  We received a package of samples from Emily today of the paint - it's eco-friendly, non-toxic, and emits no fumes!  We were psyched about getting started on this project 'cause we were able to paint inside for once :)  If you've used this paint before, please let us know how you liked it. We are not affiliated with this company, but we were grateful for the samples and really liked how it worked!

Thanks for sending us the paint, Emily!

Without further ado...

Pig-On-Your-Head Party Hat

Step 1: Gather Your Materials

What You'll Need:

1) A hat - we used a pink baseball cap that we had in the office from when we were shopping for birthday hats.  You can use any type of hat you want!

2) A bottle cap or other small disk (for the nose) - we used a metal Honest Tea cap.

3) Fabric, felt, or batting for the nose.  We used batting left over from another project.

3) Fabric paint - we used the Simply Spray, but you can use any type of paint/markers that won't wash out.  You'll need pink/red and white/silver (unless your pig is a different color - get creative!).

4) A black permanent marker or fabric marker for making the eyes and nostrils

5) Cardboard OR felt for the ears.  If you use felt, get a heavyweight felt or double up your pieces so the ears don't flop too much.  We used a cardboard box cut into ear shapes.

6) Ribbon - we used pink sparkly ribbon for covering the ear cardboard; the same ribbon for the tail; and thin, sequined ribbon for the inside of the ears.

7) A large paper clip

8) Scissors (these should be sharp - grownups only!)

9) Hot glue gun (grownups only!) OR super glue (grownups only!)

10) Craft glue - we used tile mosaic glue because it's fast drying, but you can use whatever works for you.  This is only needed to fasten the ribbon to the cardboard for the ears, so if you are using felt, you can skip it OR sew/staple the ribbon.

11) Thick paper or thin cardboard (like a cereal box) for making a template to spray paint the eyes - if you are not using spray paint, you can skip this.

12) A cardboard party hat (optional) - you will be cutting this!

13) A medium-sized cardboard box to paint in (if you are using spray paint)

Step 2: Make your pig's ears

First, cut your ears out of cardboard or felt to the desired size.  We made our ears very big!  

Trace the first ear to make the second:

Hold the ears up to your hat to be sure they are the right size:

Mark the placement with a pencil:

 

Cover your cardboard ears with glue (If you are using felt, skip this step!):

Wrap your ears in ribbon or fabric of your choice.  We liked this fun sparkly pink.  It doesn't have to be perfect:

Once your ears are covered in ribbon, let them dry for a few minutes so the ribbon doesn't move around.  You don't need to cover the bottoms since they will bend backwards to attach to the hat with hot glue later.

Now, make the inside of your ears!  We chose this fun sequined ribbon:

Set your ears aside to dry!

Step 3: Decide on your placement!

Cut out small circles for eyes and use your bottle cap to figure out how you want your pig's face to look.  Once you decide, mark the hat in with a pencil or chalk

Step 4: Test your paint! 

If you are using spray fabric paint like us, you'll want to get the hang of it.  Put your hat inside your cardboard box.  First, test the paint on the bottom/side of the box, then try it out on the inside of the hat!  We used this cool silver color to make the brim sparkle and get ourselves ready to use it to make the eyes!

Mmm... sparkly!

Step 5: Make your pig's nose!

First, cover the bottle cap with fabric.  Using either hot glue or strong craft glue, line the inside of the cap.  Cut a piece of your fabric wide enough to curl around the cap and tuck into the inside where the glue is (if you use hot glue, be sure to use a paper clip or stick to do this so you don't burn yourself.

Glue the fabric - this is the inside of the cap:

Now, place your cap in the painting box and spray it pink or red.  Since we used batting, we sort of mushed the paint around after we sprayed it so it was evenly spread (MESS ALERT!)  This pic was taken as we were still spraying:

We thought the red was a little too bright, so we "pinked it down" by spraying a little silver on top of it. (not pictured)

Step 6: Make your eyes

Use your thick paper/thin cardboard to draw eyes.  We used a shipping label to do this since the back was plastic.  Trace circles using any circular object you have - a soda cap would be great!  We used nail clippers.  You want them to be the same width apart as the eyes you drew on the hat, then cut them out using sharp scissors (they don't need to be perfect - your spray paint will go a little beyond your template anyway)

Place your template over the eyes of the hat and spray!  If you are not using spray paint, skip this step and simply paint the eyes using your fingers, a cotton swab, or a paintbrush!

Your hat with the eyes sprayed:

Now, wait for your paint to dry!  The paint we used took about 35 minutes to dry.  We put all the pieces together to be sure it all looked good before moving on:

Step 7: Draw details on your eyes and nose.  Make piggy nostrils!

Step 8: Heat your hot glue gun (or get your super glue) and glue everything together! (Grownups only!)

First, make a glue ring around the bottom edge of the bottle cap (be VERY careful of drips - hot glue doesn't feel good on skin!!!) and glue the nose where you marked it in Step 3.

Next, bend your ears so you have about 1/2" of flat space on the bottom.  Add a zig-zag of hot glue (or super glue) and place your ear where you marked it in Step 2.  Repeat for the second ear.  You can sew the ears on if you don't wish to glue them.

 

Step 9: Make your piggy tail!

It took us a while to figure out how to do this, but we're VERY happy with the final results.  First, unfurl and flatten a large paper clip.  Next, cut a piece of thick pink ribbon to the length of the flattened paper clip.  Lay the ribbon on a flat surface that can get sticky (or on a piece of cardboard) - this is just in case the glue seeps through the ribbon.

Next, draw a small line of glue in the very center of the ribbon and place the paper clip on it.  Put a few drips along one edge of the ribbon. Let it cool for about 10-20 seconds (so the glue is still sticky but not too hot), then carefully fold the ribbon in half over the paper clip and pinch to secure (be ABSOLUTELY sure the glue isn't too hot at this point so you don't burn yourself!)

It should look like this:

Now, curl the ribbon around your finger or a dowel so it becomes a curly-cue.  Then, use the hot glue gun one last time to secure the tail to the back of your hat!  We also cut the end of the tail to taper off

Now, MODEL YOUR HAT!!!

Katie's got a pig on her head!

From the back

Step 10: (optional) Make your pig a party hat! 

We really hope to see your pig hats at our Birthday Party Shows - and you can make it even more festive by giving it a party hat!  Simply cut the top off of a cardboard party hat, add a little flair, and attach it to your piggie!  You can glue it or pin it - whatever works for you.  We didn't attach ours because we want to be able to wear it without the hat sometimes.

 

Send us pictures of your hat projects, or just wear them to our shows!  We can't wait to see how everyone's turn out!

Tips:

Make other animals

Change the colors (blue pigs are just as fun!)

Use different types of hats

Write your name on the brim

Paint "mud spots" on the hat

Give your piggie some legs!

Thanks again to Simply Spray for sending us the great eco-friendly fabric paints.  We love making crafts sustainably, so if YOU have earth-friendly tips or suggestions, send them our way!!

 

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