The Classic Newspaper Hat Tutorial, Now with Your Choice of Paper!

Ever wondered exactly how to make a newspaper hat? Here’s a variation on the classic newspaper hat tutorial that can use any paper you like.

The simplest crafts can be the most fun. They’re often the most accessible to those without a lot of crafting skills, and they generally make the best use of materials at hand.

Yet it’s the simplest crafts that can be the hardest to figure out for those not already in the know. For instance, crafty types could figure out easily how to make a paper bag book cover, and so they’re not likely to spend the time to make and post a tutorial. But then how is that not-so-crafty dad going to figure out how to make his kids a paper bag book cover when they need one? If he can’t figure it out, he’ll just go to Target and buy a plastic one.

The ubiquitous newspaper hat may seem just as deceptively simple, but it’s certainly no one-trick pony. You can make this quick, easy, and versatile hat out of practically any large-format foldable material that you come across such as wrapping paper, large professional-quality artist’s papers, handmade paper, etc. Here’s how:

You will need:

– A sheet of newspaper or a large-format paper equivalent. Alternatives include wrapping paper, newsprint, fabric stiffened with spray starch, or drawing paper somewhere in the region of 18″x24″. My kiddos like to use drawing paper so that they can decorate their own hats. It also makes for a fun party activity.

Directions

1. Your paper shouldn’t be square. If it is a perfect square, cut off or fold down around six inches on one side of the paper to make it rectangular.

2. Turn your paper so that the longer sides form the rectangle’s height, not its length.

3. Fold your paper in half along the long side, then turn it so that the fold is on top.

4. Fold the paper from left to right to make a center crease, then unfold.

5. Fold the two top corners in diagonally, so that the edge of your fold on each side meets that center crease. These folds will make two triangles on the front of your hat.

6. Fold the face-up bottom edge of the paper up to meet the bottom edge of the triangles, then fold up again to form a cuff.

7. Flip the hat over and repeat the cuff fold on the back side to finish.

The beauty of this simple craft lies in its versatility. For Halloween, one of my daughters wants to be a princess ballerina, and the other wants to be a knight. Both of them plan to embellish newspaper hats as part of their costumes.