Do you have a collection of silly hats that never get worn but you don’t want to toss? Maybe you needed that craft foam top hat for a costume one year and you’ve never worn it again. Perhaps after some housecleaning you’ve discovered four witch’s hats and three Santa caps – wait, before you send them to the thrift store or the rubbish, consider turning them into stylish mobiles that you can hang.
Make a Mobile
The hat is the item that you will hang smaller objects from. Look for items that stick with the theme suggested by the hat. For a magician’s top hat, gather a small plastic rabbit, some playing cards from a mismatched set, a magic wand, etc. You could hang dress-up jewelry that you no longer wear beneath a tiara. Decorate a cowboy hat with tiny plastic horses and a sheriff’s badge.
You can also hang ticket stubs, stamps, and small pieces of art that you first seal in a laminator or between sheets of clear contact paper or clear packing tape. It’s better to start off with more stuff and then decide what to eliminate than to put together half of your mobile and realize you have nothing else to add.
You’ll also need filament, to hang the items, and sturdy yarn or string to hang the hat mobile. You may also need a cup hook to hang the finished mobile.
Recycled Craft Project
Punch a hole in the top of the hat with a sharp pencil or bamboo skewer. Poke a doubled piece of string or yarn through the hole and knot underneath. You should have a loop on top from which to hang your finished craft.
You can use any hat that has holes around the brim (say, a cowboy hat that’s laced around the edge) or that is made from a material that would allow you to make holes in it with a metal paper punch. If the plastic is too thick to punch a hole, you may have to use clear duct tape to attach filament to the inside of the hat.
If you are afraid that a thin plastic hat will crack when you try to punch a hole, apply some tape to the top of the hat brim and punch the hole; the tape should prevent it from cracking – or, just tape the decorations in place. A tiara already has holes in the design, so there's no need to make any more holes.
Make holes for the three or four heaviest items. Tie filament around the items (add a bit of tape, if necessary) and then tie the other end of the filament through the holes in the hat.
Hold the hat by the loop and see how it tips. As you add other items, don’t knot them in place before seeing how the hat and other items balance and tip. Make the length of filament shorter or longer to adjust the balance. Punch additional holes in the hat to add more items. Always check the balance.
A hat mobile is a unique way show off a child’s interest or hobby – it even creates a display for any holiday. Even if you go to the store to buy items, this craft project is fairly inexpensive. Look for interesting small items and treasure from which to hang the hat.
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