Happy Friday friends and what a fun weekend ahead we have!  So many fun things to celebrate this weekend.  The Kentucky Derby on Saturday and Cinco de Mayo on Sunday.  Both definitely call for a hat either a party hat or a fancy derby hat.

I’ve been wanting to put this tutorial together for almost a year now.  I made DIY paper party hats for my son’s first birthday.  And after they were so easy, I knew I needed to share them with all of you.

So let’s get into how to do this so you can whip one up before all of the celebrations this weekend.

DIY Party Hat Tutorial

The first step is to gather your supplies.

I used mostly things I had around the house.  And bought Cinco de Mayo themed paper on sale at Hobby Lobby.

They have such a great scrapbook paper selection with themes, colors, and styles that would work for every kind of celebration.

Supplies Needed:

• Scrapbook paper
• Scissors
• Fringe Scissors
• Stapler
• Elastic Cord
• Tissue Paper

It only cost me $1.00 to make the four party hats for this post because I had most things already.  If you don’t, just click the links above to get what you may need.  I love that scrapbook paper pack is called “Mint Julep” perfect for the derby tomorrow!

DIY Party Hat Tutorial

Next, you’re going to print off any of the one million party hat templates from Pinterest.  Trace the template onto your paper and cut the party hat out.

Then you’ll roll the party hat into a cone shape and staple it at the bottom to help hold it in a cone shape.

For a super easy hack on keeping your seams together be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post to see my video tutorial as well. Or check it on my Facebook page.

Next, you need to secure the seam of the paper so it stays flat. I used my hot glue gun, but regular glue, or even a piece of tape would work for this as well.

Then you’ll add the elastic cord that creates the chin strap.

One tip with this step is to tie a knot in each end so once it’s stapled, theres not a chance that the cord will slip out of the staple.  I didn’t do this when I made my son’s birthday hats and all of the strings kept coming out when people were wearing the hats.

Just be sure to staple the cord with the knot above the staple.

At this point your basic party hat is done.

I like to add things to the hat to make it a little more festive.  In this case I added fringed tissue paper.  Which is really easy to make using those fringe scissors I listed above.

No need to cut a bunch of fringe when one stroke of those scissors can do it for you!  And the size of the fringe is uniform!

Then I just hot glued the fringe around the edge of the party hat.  I also added some rolled up fringe to the point of the hat to cover the small gap there.

Such a super easy DIY that can make any party more festive.

DIY Party Hat Tutorial Video

If you need to see this process in a more visual way, be sure to watch the video below.

And if you make any party hats for this weekend’s festivities be sure to tag me on Instagram so I can see how creative you are!

So what will you be celebrating this weekend?  I love the added touches of pink to the Cinco de Mayo themed party hats.

Pink is such an unexpected color choice for a normally very colorful celebration.

If you want to try this for the Derby, use rose themed paper and add green fringe to replicate the Kentucky blue grass.  Or stick to a color scheme and add several other flowers just like those big Kentucky Derby hats.

Happy celebrating this weekend!