Learn how to make a miniature leprechaun hat you can use as a St. Patrick’s Day decoration or even as bait in a leprechaun trap. What self-respecting leprechaun could resist a shiny, new hat!? You could even fill the hat with gold coins.

This is an easy project the entire family can make together; however, an adult should be the only one to put the cups in and take them out of the oven. Everyone can certainly watch them shrink though!

Supplies Needed to Make a Miniature Leprechaun Hat:

• Styrofoam Coffee Cup
• Paint
• Craft Foam or Felt
• Craft Glue

Tools Needed:

• Cookie Sheet
• Paint Brush
• Scissors

To make this craft, the first thing you need to do it melt the Styrofoam cut. Heat the oven to 250 degrees F. Place the cup, upside down, on a cookie sheet. If you like, you can line the cookie sheet with parchment paper. If you are melting more than one cup, make sure you space them a few inches part because you never know exactly how they will melt.

Place the cookie sheet in the oven and watch it closely. You might want to make the first cup an experimental cup and time it to see how long your oven takes to melt it to the desired shape. It should take around 3 – 5 minutes. Once you are satisfied with how the cups look, remove the cookie sheet from the oven and let the cup cool – it should only take a couple minutes.

Once the cup is cooled, you can paint it. While I chose green because it is THE color for St. Patrick’s Day, but you can choose any color you like.  You can make several of them and paint them every color in the rainbow!  It might take 2 layers of paint to get good coverage.

While you are waiting for the paint to dry, you should cut out the pieces you need for the hat band. You can use either craft foam (like I did), felt, or even paper. For the hat band, you will want to cut a piece that is approximately 3 /4s of an inch wide by about 11 inches long (this should be a little too long and you will trim it when you glue it on).

You will also want a buckle for your hat band.  For this, you will want to cut a rectangle that is about an inch wide and just a bit taller than the hat band.  Cut a small rectangle out of the center of your rectangle.

Now all that is left to do is glue the hat band onto the stryofoam cup hat. First, attach the black band. Glue the center of the band to the front, center of the hat. Wrap around the two ends and glue them to the back of the hat. Trim them to fit if necessary.  Glue the buckle to the front, center of the band.

What will you do with your miniature leprechaun hat? If you use it as part of a leprechaun trap, please come back and tell us about it and share pictures!