Make a Patriotic Newspaper Sailor Hat with Your Kids

Visions of folded sailor hats come to mind when I think of hometown parades and barbecues for the Fourth of July. This vintage newspaper sailor hat is a wonderful reminder to support our troops and to thank them for protecting us and our country and giving us our freedom.

Provide an abundance of paper sailor hats in a large bushel basket at your Fourth of July gathering and enjoy reminiscing about the past. These sailor hats made from newspaper are easy to make and children will enjoy folding and decorating their own. Provide them with newspaper, tape and a short tutorial and they will make enough hats to provide decor all over your backyard.

Things needed:

Newspaper
Measuring tape, ruler or yardstick
Marking pen
Scissors
Scotch tape

Steps to make paper sailor hats:

1.
Use newspapers with large sheets and a yardstick to measure a piece of newspaper 13 3/4" by 22 3/4" and cut. Note: This may already be the standard size of your newspaper. This paper sailor hat pattern should fit most children. If making the hat for adults, use gift wrapping paper or large sheets of newsprint and adjust the size.

2.
Position the cut newspaper on your table. Facing the newspaper, the long sides should be on the right and left vertically and the short sides should be on the top and bottom horizontally. Match the two short ends and fold. Position the fold horizontally at the top and the raw edges horizontally at the bottom.

3.
Lay over the two vertical sides and match the edges. Press the folded edge. Unfold this folded edge. This fold line will be your center mark and guide.

4.
Bring the top corners to the center mark and fold. This fold will resemble the beginning of a the folded paper airplane.

5.
Fold the bottom edge of the paper sailor hat up to the bottom edge of the triangle fold and press with your hands. Fold the edge up again, overlapping the bottom edge of the folded triangle and press. Flip the paper sailor hat to the other side and fold the other bottom edge of the paper sailor hat up to the bottom edge of the triangle fold and press. Fold the edge up again, overlapping the bottom edge of the folded triangle and press. You have now created the cuffed brim of the newspaper sailor hat.

6.
Tape the short ends of the cuffed brim together on each side of the hat to hold them in place.