<< Quick-How-To's

Basic Cone Hat

Learn how to make a cone-shaped hat either from a half circle or quarter circle. Decorate your cone into a clown hat, witch's hat, wizard's hat, princess cone hat, or other cone-shaped fun hats.

Materials Needed

  • Construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Pencil
  • Ruler
  • Compass
  • White glue
  • Stapler

Safety Guidelines

  • Keep the stapler out of children's reach.
  • Watch out for this sign Ask for an adult's help. It means adult help is needed for the particular step.

Making a Cone Hat from a Half Circle

This makes a cone hat with a broad base. It's most commonly used for making small and medium-sized cone hats like birthday hats and clown hats, but can also be used for making tall hats like a witch's hat or a wizard's hat.

Step 1 Basic Cone Hat- Half Circle Ask for an adult's help1. Draw a half circle on construction paper with a compass or with a pencil tied to a string. You can use the following radius measurements as a guide:

Small cone hat - 6 to 8 inches (e.g birthday hat)
Medium cone hat - 9 to 10 inches (e.g clown hat)
Large cone-11 inches or more (e.g witch's hat or wizard's hat)
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Half Circle 2. Cut out the half circle.
Step 3 Basic Cone Hat- Half Circle Ask for an adult's help3. Form the half circle into a cone, leveling the cone's base against a flat surface and estimating its size to fit on your head. Remember to allow for a little extra space if you plan to add a brim or "hair".
Step 4 Basic Cone Hat- Half Circle Ask for an adult's help4. Staple at the base of the seams. Try on your hat and if necessary, remove the staples and re-adjust the width of the base before stapling again.
Step 5 Basic Cone Hat- Half Circle 5. When you're happy with your hat's fit, apply white glue along the seams.
Step 6 Basic Cone Hat- Half Circle 6. Press along the glued seams from the inside.
Step 7 Basic Cone Hat- Half Circle 7. You may remove the staples once the glue has dried.
Clown Hat 8. Proceed with any of these suggested Cone Hat crafts:

Making a Cone Hat from a Quarter Circle

This makes a slim cone hat with a relatively narrow base. It is ideal for making tall and slim cone hats like a princess cone hat or a wizard's hat.

Step 1 Basic Cone Hat- Quarter Circle Ask for an adult's help1. Draw a quarter circle with a radius of about 14 to 16 inches using a pencil tied to a string. It will be helpful to tape the string to the pivot point.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Quarter Circle 2. Cut out the quarter circle.
Step 3 Basic Cone Hat- Quarter Circle 3. If you plan to add some decorations at the tip of your cone hat (e.g. streamers or veil for a Princess Cone Hat), trim off a little bit from the tip or pivot point of your quarter circle.
Step 4 Basic Cone Hat- Quarter Circle 4. Gather your decorations on one end and compact that end tightly either by twisting or taping. Tape the decorations onto the tip of your quarter circle.
Step 5 Basic Cone Hat- Quarter Circle Ask for an adult's help5. Roll the quarter circle into a cone and staple at the base. You will notice that your cone will be quite narrow and may probably just barely fit your head. Because a quarter circle has less area than a half circle, there is less room for adjusting the base width. It will actually be helpful if you can estimate the perfect radius for a well-fitted cone hat by practicing first on newspapers.
Step 6 Basic Cone Hat- Quarter Circle 6. Glue or tape along the seams.
Step 7 Basic Cone Hat- Quarter Circle 7. Add a chin strap if you like. Punch opposite holes along the bottom edge of the hat and attach an elastic string.
Tall Cone Hats to Make 8. Decorate your cone hat into these tall Cone Hat crafts:

Making a Cone Hat Using a Printable Template

The resulting cone hat from either of our two templates has a radius of 7.5 inches when printed out on A4 or Letter size paper. If you need a larger cone, you can have the A4 or Letter size print-out enlarged in a copy center.

Step 1 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template 1. There are two templates to choose from:
  • Birthday hat template - the resulting cone hat has a small opening at the tip for gluing on fun hat toppers such as curly ribbons or a large pompom
  • Cone template - plain cone for making birthday hats without toppers
Whichever template you choose, print out on A4 or Letter size cardstock.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template 2. Cut out the template.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template 3. If you wish to add fun toppers like curly ribbons or crepe paper strips, flip the template over so that the wrong side of the paper is facing up. Tape or glue on a few curly ribbons or thin strips of crepe paper at the top of the template.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template 4. Flip the template over again. This time the right side of the paper should be facing up, with the toppers glued at the back. Decorate the template as you please. Remember to leave the tab bordered by a dashed line undecorated.

If you used patterned paper, you won't need to decorate the template at all or just add a few accents.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template Ask for an adult's help5. Before gluing the edges of the hat together, you will find it helpful especially if you are using heavy cardstock, to roll the template into a cone shape.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template Ask for an adult's help6. Unroll the hat. Apply glue or place double-sided tape onto the tab area. Bring the hat's opposite side towards the tab, aligning its edge with the tab's dashed line.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template 7. Punch a pair of opposite holes near the base of the hat. Tie the ends of an elastic string onto the holes to create a chin strap. Try on the hat and adjust the length of the chin strap for a comfortable fit.
Step 2 Basic Cone Hat- Printable Template 8. Use the cone template for any of these crafts:

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