Free Printable Birthday Party Hats

These free printable birthday party hats are fun to make and wear -- whether for kids or adults with small heads. :-)

Even if you don't think of yourself as the crafty type and you never even considered that you could make your own party hats, the templates and detailed instructions on this page make this project easy and fun. It's also a great way to get kids involved with making their own party decorations. And the best thing is, these printable party hat templates are free!

I tried to provide a little something for everyone when designing the hat templates. I've included the following designs:

• Circus clowns
• Jungle safari animals
  
• Fairy princess
• Strawberries and ladybugs
  
• Western denim and cowhide
• Pirate skull and crossbones
  
• Stars (in two color schemes)
  

I hope you have fun making these free printable party hats. Please feel free to share your photos if you make them! I'd love to see how people use them.

Please scroll down to vote in my poll and see a video with easy and fun kids party game ideas.

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Supplies needed to produce the printable birthday party hats

• Printer and color ink (You can also have the pages printed professionally by a digital printer, office supply store, scrapbook paper printer, etc.)
  
• 8 1/2" x 11" bond paper, photo paper or thin card stock that will work with large amounts of color ink
• Scissors or a craft knife and cutting board
  
• Glue stick (recommended), glue or tape to make seams in the hats
• String, yarn or elastic to hold the hats on the kids' heads
  
• Small decorative buttons or medium-sized beads to anchor the string, yarn or elastic in place
  
• Glue to hold the buttons or beads in place
  
• Masking tape to place behind the string holes, so they don't tear.
  

Optional

• Glitter glue to decorate the hats
• Fringe for the bottom edges
• Plastic, yarn or paper streamers for the tops

Instructions

Step 1. Please read the Terms of Use in the right column before downloading any of the birthday party hats. To download, click on one of the hats to make it appear larger. Once you see that larger version, right-click with your mouse (if you use a PC) or control-click (if you use a Mac) to save the image to your hard drive.

Step 2. Locate the hat template on your hard drive and print as many of them as you need. If you'll be using an outside printing service, you may want to get extra prints in case you make mistakes when cutting.

Plain bond paper actually works well for these hats, but you might also want to try photo paper or thin card stock. Whatever paper you use, make sure the colors look sharp and defined. If the paper is too porous or thin, the colors will appear washed out.

Step 3. Cut along the outer edge of the hat shape carefully, with scissors or a craft knife and cutting board. There aren't too many projects on which I would actually recommend scissors before a craft knife, but this is one of them. If you use a scissors and go slowly, I think you'll find it's pretty easy to cut around the hat shape.

Step 4. Fold the flap along the white line, so when you look at the blank side of the hat, you'll see the colored flap. Then, use either a glue stick, glue or tape to affix the flap to the other side of the hat. I prefer the glue stick method, because I find it easier to work with. So these instructions are based on that.

Place a piece of cardboard or paper underneath the flap to keep the glue stick from getting on the rest of the hat. You'll be gluing the side that has printing on it. Once the glue is in place, align the flap and the other edge of the hat template so they bottom out at the same place. Gently squeeze the seam and rub your fingers up and down it for as long as it takes to make sure it's flat and the glue is holding. Once the glue is dry, round out the seam by placing your finger gently inside the point of the hat.

Step 5. Place a small piece of masking tape behind each small, white hole on either side of the hat, and then poke small holes with a pin or hole puncher. Use yarn or string long enough to tie under the chin of one of the children who will be wearing it, so you can get the right length. Alternatively, you can use thin elastic strung from one side of the hat to the other, using a child as a model to make it fit without being uncomfortable.

To attach the string, yarn or elastic, tie a bead or small button in a matching color to one end. Position this on the outside of the hat and then thread the string or elastic through the hole, toward the center of the hat. Repeat this on the other side if you're using string. If you're using elastic, thread the remaining loose end through the hole on the other side of the hat, and then tie a bead or button to it to hold the elastic in place. Put a little glue under the buttons or beads to hold them in place.

Once you get the length correct on one hat, cut two sets (if you're using string) or one set (if you're using elastic) for every hat you'll be making. That will ensure all the hats will be the same.

Step 6 (optional). You can also embellish these birthday party hats in the following ways:

• Add streamers that come out of the top, which can be cut from paper or thin plastic, or made of short lengths of ribbon. Curling ribbon will give the streamers a fun, distinctive look.
  
• Add touches of glitter glue to make some of the small details in the designs pop. Don't use too much, however, or the paper will buckle.
• Add ribbon, rickrack, fuzzy yarn balls, fringe or other embellishments to the bottom of the hats to make them more distinctive. Your local sewing or craft store will probably have many options to choose from.
  

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Other Free Birthday Images from WordPlay

• Free Birthday Clipart
• Free Birthday Scrapbook Paper
• Free Printable Birthday Invitations
• Free Printable 50th Birthday Party Invitations
• Free Vintage Birthday Cards
• Free Printable All Occasion Party Invitations
  
• Free BBQ and Cookout Invitations
• Free Sports Birthday Party Invitations
• Free Princess Birthday Party Invitations
• Free Quinceanera Invitations and Clip Art
• Free Pirate Birthday Party Invitations
• Free Beach Birthday Party and Luau Invitations
• Free Printable Birthday Cupcake Toppers
  

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Thanks to the following talented designers whose fonts and images were used in these printable birthday party hats or in the graphics on this page:

Kevin and Amanda (kevinandamanda.com/fonts/)

Helga Stolzenwald (GrannyArt.Blogspot.com)

Trina Clark and Clipart4Resale (DigiScrapKits.com)

Le Petit Scrap (YoyoScrap.Blogspot.com)

Artshare (Artshare.ru)

Delicious Scraps (DeliciousScraps.com)

Jamie Dell (JamieDellScraps.Blogspot.com)

Cajoline(Cajoline-Scrap.Blogspot.com)

FreePhotoshop.org

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