How to Make a Lamp Shade Hat

Use a bell or empire lamp shade for an ideal head fit.

Constructing a lamp shade hat is a creative way to express your visual art skills. Instead of tossing old shades out with the trash, challenge a child to design his own hat with the assistance of several additional household tools. Be sure to dust and clean your lamp shades before turning them into hats. Show off the lamp shade hat during costume parties or to family and friends.

Things You'll Need

• Lamp shade
• Scissors
• Measuring tape
• 1/2-inch-thick high-density urethane foam
• Permanent epoxy
• 5 cups water
• 1 cup flour
• Pot
• Medium size bowl
• 1-by-3-inch newspaper strips (multiple)
• 1-by-3-inch paper towel strips (multiple)
• Acrylic paint
• Paint brush
• Faux beads and jewels (optional)

Instructions

1. Cut open the trim line at the top of the lamp shade with a pair of scissors. Remove any unnecessary hardware -- cross bars, for example -- at the top of the shade.

2. Cut a piece of 1/2-inch-thick high-density urethane foam to match the circumference of the inner lining of the shade. The foam acts as an inner rim for the hat to set snug around the top of the child's head. Bond the foam into the lamp shade with permanent epoxy.

3. Boil 5 cups of water and 1 cup of flour in a pot for three minutes to make a paper mache mix. Allow five minutes for the mix to cool. Pour the mixture into a medium size bowl.

4. Soak one 1-by-3-inch newspaper strip into the mix. Press the strip into the outer surface of the lamp shade. Continue until the entire outer surface is covered in one layer of newspaper.

5. Soak one 1-by-3-inch paper towel strip into the mix. Press the strip into the outer surface of the lamp shade. Continue until the entire outer surface is covered in one layer of paper towel. Allow four hours for the hat to dry. Paper towels provide an ideal surface for acrylic paint.

6. Coat the outer surface of the hat with acrylic paint. Allow two hours for the hat to dry. Bond faux beads and jewels to the outer surface of the hat with permanent epoxy if you wish.

References

• DLTK Kids: How to Paper Mache
• Lamp Library; Lamp Shades Styles and Shapes; Jim Hoyle