Halloween How To- Easy DIY Floating Witch Hat with Iris Groveland

Three of my favorite words are cheap, fast, and easy, and when it comes to Halloween décor, this fun Flying Witch Hat couldn’t get any better. Much of what you’ll need can be found very cheaply, or you may already have creative solutions at home in your craft or fabric stashes. I’ll show you how I did mine and what I used, but you can put any kind of twist on you want. 

You will need:

1. A semi-sheer witch hat (or as many as you like)
** I found three matching hats in the Halloween bins at Goodwill. You can find them at any dollar store or wherever cheap Halloween costumes are sold

2. A sheet of gauzy, “ghost cloth”
** This is the loosely woven cloth usually sold in packages in the Halloween aisle, also available at most dollar stores.
** Also, check your craft stash. You can use leftover tulle, scarves, or old, sheer curtains.

3. At least one large paperclip (and several smaller ones to chain if desired.

4. Glow stick 
** This is optional, but can add a nice effect if you’re hanging these outside at night. 
** You can use any kind of safe light source you like, such as batter powered string  lights.

Step 1

Unfold the large paperclip. 

From the inside of the hat, poke one end through the tip of the cone. This will be your hook for wherever you wish to “fly” your hat. The bottom half of the paperclip will be utilized inside the hat. 

(Picture shows the whole paperclip poking up through the holes that I had made with my paperclip. My hats are now two years old, so the holes have gotten a little roomier. However, this also shows that, at this point, if you wish to simply hang your hat from a tree or porch corner, you are done!)

Step 2

Evenly fold or gather your ghost cloth so that you can tie a loose knot with a corner. This knot will loop around the bottom “hook” portion of the paperclip that is inside the hat. You can poke the paperclip through the fabric, but I like to be able to reuse my décor from year to year (as much as I am able) and this ensures that your cloth is securely fastened inside the hat, which is particularly important if these are to be hung outside. 

OPTIONS

There are variations you can play with at any point. You can hang the hat with just the ghost cloth. You can add a paperclip chain and use that to give you more coverage inside the hat for a glowstick (or other light source) or even other layers of spooky fabric. You can hang the hat with simply a glowstick and no material at all. 

I usually stick with just the hat and the ghost cloth until closer to Halloween.  Then I’ll pop in a few glowsticks on the nights leading up to, and the night of. This is also a fun way to identify your driveway if you’re having a party and people need to get to you in the dark. 
 
Lastly, hang where desired! 

I usually place three in the trees outside. The gauzy fabric looks great as blows in the breeze and it will get eerily caught in the leaves and branches and create a great affect. 

Happy crafting and Happy Halloween!