Make Your Own Fancy Paper Birthday Crown!

For E's birthday, I whipped up a silly crown that was equal parts Rambo, Indian Sultan, Boy Scout and Monty Python. Here's how I did it:

A piece of cardboard rescued from the recycle bin (cereal or soda boxes are perfect), spray adhesive, scissors, pencil and some paper ephemera. (Mine is vintage Hallmark wrapping paper with little boys camping in the woods.) Don't forget to use a glue gun to add a nice thick ribbon so your crown can be tied on to the honored head! I also used foil candy wrappers, glittery plastic ferns and some guinea fowl feathers- but embellish with anything that moves you!

First, adhere the wrapping paper to the box. I wanted the plain brown side to be the inside of my crown so I wouldn't have to decorate it, but if you're feeling more elaborate, just adhere paper to both sides. Make sure your wrap is thick enough to completely hide the packaging.

Next you can draw a fun pattern on the crown. I just traced the outside of the spray adhesive can to do a series of circles.

Cut out carefully and trim the bottom. I left a blank space to adhere the ribbon to.

A nice gloop of hot glue along the bottom...

And a nice long strip of ribbon laid over it. Make sure your ribbon is long enough to tie around a head with some cool Rambo inspired tails hanging down.

I added an extra color for contrast and dimension.


Now you'll want to add your embellishments as you see fit. (The fun part!) In my humble opinion half the fun of a party hat is going all out and making it good zany fun.

The Birthday Boy was a great sport about letting me take his photo in his ridiculous head gear. We had a wonderful party for two filled with a wide selection of beers, including our perennial favorite Chimay ale, a cheese, sausage, fruit and cracker platter, a humble gathering of presents and a trip to the Atomic Testing Museum and Diane's wonderful Oatmeal Cake. (Posts on both of the latter forthcoming!) Be sure to let me know how your crown turns out!