DIY:: Party Crowns

Is it just me, or is the popularity of the party hat dying? 

My son is 4, my daughter just turned 1 and I have to say, this is the first party hat for us..... weird....

I remember having them at EVERY party when I was a kid!

Maybe it's how plain they have become? Or flimsy... and feeling like a useless waste of money?

Well, let's spice up the party hat and do a little up-cycling at the same time!

My inspiration came from Helena at Craft and Creativity. Her tutorial can be found here.

 I instantly fell in love with this idea instead of the ones you get at the store, and how she used washi tape instead of paint. I ended up using Sparkle Tape by Darice for mine. It seemed perfect for the look I wanted for my crowns.

Not to mention, a crown is quite fitting for a Very Merry Un-Birthday!! Boy or girl! 

So, let's get started!

Supplies:

• Toilet paper or paper towel rolls
• Sparkle Tape (multiple colors)
• Elastic cord
• Hole punch
• Scissors

To start, I cut all my strips of tape that I would need. 

For the toilet paper roll, I used 5.5" strips. The paper towel rolls needed to be a tad longer.

Next, I layered the strips of tape on the toilet paper roll, starting at the bottom/top, creating a stripe pattern. 

Feel free to make whatever design you want. I just used the stripe pattern for this post :)

Continue adding strips of tape until the entire roll is covered. 

Note: I used 7 strips on every toilet paper roll. Some rolls ended up having a little bit of extra cardboard showing at the top, no fear, just trim that off! 

Now, cut the points of your crown. I cut a 'V' down to the third strip from the top.

Grab your hole punch and punch a hole on each side of the crown. (Make sure the seam of the strips is in the back! Don't want that bad boy showing...) 

Also, if you have a lazy hole punch, like mine, you may need an Exacto knife to help guide that hole out a little bit...leaving a slightly sloppy hole. It works though!!

Next, cut the elastic cord to the size needed. 

I used 17" for the smaller heads and 19" for all the larger ones.

Finally, put an end of the cord through each of the holes, meeting in the middle of the hat, and tie a knot. Trim the excess from ends and you're done!

Quick, easy and cute! Just the way I like it!

There are so many different ways to decorate your crowns:

Duct tape, washi tape, paint, stickers, jewels, stencils, markers, pom-poms, crayons.........

You can make them for a party, like myself, or have the kids create their own. Even using this as a rainy day craft or Earth Day project is great as well!  (Too bad I didn't post this yesterday!!)