It’s Kentucky Derby time! Whether you live local to the big event or are going to be heading to a Derby party, one of the most prominent things you may see are the big Derby hats! These hats can be bought online or in stores for upwards of several hundred dollars! My friend Kim is headed to a party local to us and wanted to have a Derby hat to wear but she didn’t want to spend a fortune on something she will likely never wear again. I told her I could make her a hat and that is exactly what I did. See how I was able to make a Kentucky Derby hat for less than $10!
How to make a Kentucky Derby hat for less than $10
What you’ll need:
Hat – we found the hat pictured at the dollar store. It was intended to be worn for gardening but has a nice wide brim so it is perfect for a Kentucky Derby hat.
Wide ribbon – You will want to measure out how much you want but I would recommend just buying a spool of the ribbon so you have plenty to work with.
Fake flowers – Grab some flowers at the dollar store that match your outfit. Two bunches is plenty for what we needed.
Hot glue gun
What you’ll do:
I started by measuring out a very large amount of ribbon and loosely tying it around the hat. I left a long tail on both sides of the bow and left it be at this time. Hot glue the ribbon down, working from center front to the back.
Once you get to the sides, tie your bow securely. Make it a nice big and full bow! Add hot glue to the center of the bow to keep it closed.
Find the center front of the hat and lay out your flowers how you are going to want them to be placed. I chose to do a pattern of colored and off-white flowers. Start at the middle and hot glue the first flower. Work along the sides until you have the flowers all glued down. Don’t go all the way around; only cover the front portion of the hat.
At this time you can add jewels, feathers, lace, etc. We chose to keep this hat tasteful and simple.
Place the hat on the head and decide how long you want the bow tails to be. We decided to cut these at just below the shoulder blades.
This hat cost about $5 but even if we had spent more on additional bling, it still would have been less than $10 easily. For a one-time use accessory, that can’t be beat!
Have you ever been to the Kentucky Derby or party for the Derby?
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