Easter Bonnet & Hat Ideas

Easter festivities often include making and wearing colorful bonnets and hats.

Easter bonnets and hats are a traditional part of the holiday's festivities. They are often decorated with spring flowers or Easter bunnies or eggs, and can be made from materials that you may already have at home. You can always buy a hat and decorate it, or you can simply cut out paper or cloth to create a hat to top off the occasion.

Paper

You can use large paper plates to make Easter hats. Decorate one side of the plate with paint, glitter, flowers, plastic eggs and plastic grass. Punch two holes in the plate, each about 1 inch from the center of the plate. Run a 3-foot piece of yarn or string through the two holes on the top of the hat, making each end of the string hanging down from the plate. Place the hat on a head and use the string to tie the hat around the bottom of the wearer's chin to keep the paper hat in place.

Cloth

An Easter bonnet can be made from cloth. This material works for a bonnet because it easily folds around your head. Cut a circle out of a piece of cloth. The circle should have a diameter of about 1 foot. Make a cut into the circle from the perimeter to the center. Wrap the cloth around a person's head to mark the cloth for sizing. You will need to sew the cloth so that it is the correct size by pinning the cloth together for fitting, and then removing it to sew it together where the cloth meets. You can then cut off the remaining fabric from the bonnet. Add any Easter decorations, such as egg- or bunny-shaped cloth pieces or ribbon, to the bonnet.

Ears

Bunny ears can be fun for kids to wear and make for Easter. You will need pink and white paper, as well as a glue stick and a stapler. Make the ears by cutting out two pieces of white paper the shape of bunny ears, and then make the same shapes, only smaller, with pink paper. Glue the pink paper pieces so they sit inside the white paper pieces, and then glue the two ears about 8 inches apart onto a strip of paper about 3 feet long. Use the long strip of paper to go around the perimeter of someone's head, and staple the hat together where the paper meets on the back of the head. After the ears are fitted to a head, you can cut off the remaining paper from the strip.

Basket

A small Easter basket can be made into a festive hat. You may want to cut off the handle to the basket so that it does not extend too far upward when it is worn. Fill the basket with plastic grass and eggs, and glue the decorations in place. Use two pieces of ribbon to keep the basket in place by tying each piece of ribbon to opposite sides of the bottom of the basket, and then tying a bow from the two pieces of ribbon under the wearer's chin.

References

• Children's Parties: Easter Bonnets
• Artists Helping Children: Easter Hats and Bonnets Crafts for Kids