Sometimes after Christmas, when all of the decorations are taken down, the house can seem so empty. It always make me a bit sad to see all of it tucked away into boxes every year, which is why I love this project so much!
This mini winter hat garland is such a fun DIY to make and so cute that I can’t stop staring at it. I created a pink and gold color scheme to match my home office so it could hang throughout the winter season, but these mini winter hats can be made in any color. This garland could be red and green for Christmas, or blue and white for January, or pink and red for February, even green and white for March (if you haven’t busted out the spring bouquets yet). You could also do neutral colors to hang for Christmas and leave it up to admire until the last snowfall.
DIY Mini Winter Hat Garland
Step One: Gather Your Supplies
For this craft you will need:
- Yarn
- Paper Rolls (ex: Toilet Paper Rolls, Paper Towel Rolls)
- Scissors
- An Embroidery Needle
- A Tissue (or other insert to help the hats hold their shape)
- Your choice of any Additional Garland Add-Ons (ex: Pompoms, Tassels, Felt Balls, Wood Beads, etc.)
Step Two: Cut the Paper Rolls
Cut the paper roll into about half inch sections, creating rings, as shown below. Each ring will become a hat; so, cut as many rings as you would like to have hats for your garland.
Step Three: Cut the Yarn
Cut strips of yarn about 6 inches in length.
I recommend finding a small journal or similar tool, that is 6-inches in length, to wrap the yarn around to create strips. If using a journal, or similar tool, take the yarn and wrap it around the object, as seen below. Wrapping the yarn around the journal will help the process of cutting strips go quickly while keeping consistently measured strips, since you will be cutting a lot of yarn strips.
Keep wrapping until you feel as though you have enough yarn. More than likely, you will end up needing more yarn than what you originally cut. Once you have made a few hats, you will get a feel for how many strips of yarn you need and will become more confident in your estimated number of wraps around the journal. To remove the yarn from the journal, or similar tool, simply cut one side of the yarn wrap, as shown below in the photo to the left. Then, cut the other side of the yarn, as shown below in the photo to the right.
Step Four: Attach Yarn Strips to the Paper Rings
To attach the yarn strips to the cut paper roll, create a cow hitch knot with the individual yarn strips around the paper ring.
Start by taking a single strip of yarn and fold it in half. Next, place the folded strip of yarn through the paper ring, as shown below.
Then, take the open-ended half of the yarn and loop it through the looped half of the yarn, while keeping the paper ring in the middle of the knot, as shown below.
Once the knot has been made, pull on the knot until it is tightly secured to the paper ring, as shown below in the photo to the left. Repeat this process of adding individual strips of yarn to the ring until the entire ring is covered in yarn, as shown below in the photos to the right.
Step Five: Create the Hats
I am going to divide these steps into two parts based on the features of a winter hat.
Step 5.1: Create the Fold of the Hat
Take the attached strips of yarn and fold them through the inside of the ring, as if you were turning the hat inside-out, as shown in the video below.
Step 5.2: Create the Shape of the Hat
For the second phase of finishing the hat, take a tissue (or other filler) and crumble it into a ball. Next, place the tissue into the hat, as shown below in the photos to the tope right.
Step 5.3: Create the Top PomPom of the Hat
Take all of the yarn strips and gently shape them so that they are evenly laying across the paper ring and extended straight, as shown below in the photo to the top left. Next, take a piece of yarn (I just used one of the 6-inch strips) and wrap it around all of the strips of yarn from the paper ring. Then, use it to create a knot spaced on top of the tissue underneath, leaving a bit of extra yarn on the top of the hat for a pompom top. This knot should be tight in order to keep the hat together.
Once the knot has been made to secure all of the yarn in place, trim the top yarn into a pompom shape as the hat topper, as shown below.
Repeat steps 2-5 until you have enough hats made to create a garland.
Step Six: Attach the Hats to a String
To attach the hats to a string, use an embroidery needle to thread the string through the top of the hat, under the pompom. You can take this step to add any additions to your winter hat garland. I added gold balls, but you could use wood beads, ornaments, pompoms, felt balls, etc..
Step Seven: Hang and Enjoy!
I LOVE THESE.
Your project is going to look amazing and I cannot wait to see it! If choose to create your own winter hat garland feel free to share it in the comments below, or on Unplanned Whimsy’s Facebook page HERE or tag @unplannedwhimsy on Instagram.
