picture perfect party hats

I absolutely love personalizing birthdays and making them special with small details. I had a request this weekend (from a sweet 5 year-old! haha) to make her a birthday hat just like the one I made for her brother. I'm telling you, people love these party hats! I made them for my father-in-law's 60th birthday as well and they're always a hit at the party and look adorable on children! I saw the idea in Martha Stewart last year and I still use the same template from her site... I made a few adjustments, you can read below for the how-to :)

How funny are these pictures Zan captured of our best friend's little boy?! It was his first birthday and I know these pictures will be memorable to him one day :) 

Download the template from here, I scale it to fit one size of regular paper rather than legal size. I like the size of them better this way and it's easier! Print out your favorite picture of the person you're celebrating.  It's best if you have the picture printed 8x11 so you have room to move the template around. A little smaller works too... 

Cut the template out and tape it to the photo. Hold it up to the light to see the picture shine through, so you know exactly where you're placing the template and what will bee seen on your hat. Then, cut around the template. 

Using an X-acto knife cut the straight line. This is where you will fold the hat together and insert the the flaps on the other side, so it stays put.

If you want to add fringe, fold a long piece of tissue paper and using Martha Stewart fringe scissors cut along the bottom of one edge.     

Tape the fringe to the inside of the hat and voila your party hat is done! 

There is the beautiful birthday girl, who wore her hat ALL evening! And that's the hat I made for my father-in-law's 60th birthday!