Floating Witch Hats – Halloween DIY

Hello guys and dolls! I’ve received a number of comments and questions about the floating witch hats I shared on Instagram, so I’ve thrown together a quick step-by-step guide. Here’s how I accomplished the effect:

• Step 1: Gather your supplies. I ordered the cheapest collapsible witch hats I could find on Amazon.com (these are like mine), grabbed fishing line from my husband’s tackle box, large paperclips, safety pins (preferably large), and a pair of scissors.
• Step 2: Layout the number of hats you plan to hang. After I chose the space I wanted to decorate I did a little mental planning. I wanted one for each side of the front door and an odd number in front of our largest porch window, so I laid out five hats.

• Step 3: Cut your fishing line. I cut mine approximately 3-4 inches longer than I wanted the hats to hang. I was going for a more whimsical look so I guesstimated and cut each around 18-24 inches.
• Step 4: Take one hat by the tip and poke it with a safety pin. Pierce one side so the pin is inside the hat, not through it. Wiggle the pin around just enough to see the hole when you pull it out and set it down. Set the hat aside. You’re going to place fishing line through the hole a bit later. (I found this method easier than stringing a needle, but you could try that if you prefer.)

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• Step 5: Attach your fishing line to the safety pin. Take the pin and close it. Tie one end of fishing line through the circle loop of the pin. Make sure to knot it well so it doesn’t slide or untie later. Fishing line can be tricky.

• Step 6: Flip your witch hat inside–out and fish the line through. This is probably the trickiest part. It’s not hard, you just have to pay a bit of attention. Once the hat is flipped, find the hole you poked in the tip. Fish the untied end of line tied to the pin through the hole and pull it from the open end of the hat. This will pull the safety pin up into the tip and flip your hat back to right-side out.

• Step 7: Attach the loose end of line to a hanger. I knew my hats were going outdoors so I chose paperclips to securely hang them. If you choose to display yours inside, feel free to skip paperclips and just tie a loop. You can always stick a push pin or ornament hook through. However you feel comfortable hanging your hats…do it up!

• Step 8: Repeat steps and hang away. The open paperclips provided me a cheap and easy way to affix my hats under our soffits. I stuck the open end through one of the slitted holes and wiggled until it came out through another.

I hope this tutorial helps inspire you to “spook-ify” your space for Halloween. If you are feeling extra adventurous, or want to spice things up even more, try adding glow sticks or paper lantern lights to the interior of the hats. Instant glow-in-the-dark Witch Hat Luminaries. I did that last year and they turned out super cute.

Make sure to share if you try this tutorial. I’d love to see.

Thanks for stopping! ~Ellie