How To Make A Witch’s Hat

Make your own paper witch’s hat for Halloween with a pointed cone, a wide brim and a few finishing touches. Follow the illustrated steps below to create a small decoration or size your hat to wear.

You’ll need A2 black sugar paper, scissors and glue. The sugar paper is strong enough for this hat and easy to cut, roll and fold. The important part is checking the cone fits before you glue it: the size of your starting sheet will determine how tall and wide your finished hat can be.

See the materials · Go to the instructions · Make matching Halloween decorations

What you’ll need

• A2 black sugar paper: allow paper for both the cone and a separate brim. Check your planned hat size before cutting; a larger wearable hat may need securely joined sheets.
• Glue: use a glue suitable for paper, such as washable PVA glue.
• Scissors, a pencil and a ruler
• A tape measure if you’re making a hat to wear
• A compass, or round objects to help draw the brim
• Scrap paper for testing the shape
• Optional: masking tape or clips to hold the seam while the glue dries
• Optional decorations: ribbon, paper stars or a paper buckle

Protect your work surface and allow extra time for the glue to dry. Children should have adult help with cutting, especially when making the opening in the brim.

How to make a paper witch’s hat

1. Make and check the cone

Start by rolling scrap paper into a cone to test the height and width you want. If the hat will be worn, check the opening sits comfortably on the wearer’s head before making the final version.

1. Use your test shape to help mark a broad circular sector—a wedge of a circle—on your black sugar paper. Leave enough paper for an overlapping seam. A narrow quarter-circle makes a narrow cone, so use a wider sector or larger sheet if you need a wider opening.
2. Cut out the shape and bring its straight edges together to form a pointed cone. Adjust the overlap to change the opening size.
3. Check the fit again, leaving room at the bottom for the tabs in the next step. Apply a thin layer of glue along the overlapping edge and hold it with clips or tape while it dries.

Before you glue: increasing the overlap makes the opening smaller. Check the fit at the line where the tabs will fold, as this becomes the finished base of the cone.

2. Cut tabs around the base

1. Make short cuts about 2–2.5 cm deep around the bottom edge of the cone. Keep their depth as even as possible.
2. Fold these tabs outwards to create a flat ledge. This is where the brim will attach.

3. Draw the brim

1. Place the cone on scrap paper with its tabs folded out. Mark the opening at the base of the cone, not the outside edge of the tabs.
2. Transfer that opening shape onto the black sugar paper for your brim. Draw a larger outline around it to create the brim’s outer edge.
3. Check the amount of paper left between the two outlines: this determines how wide your brim will be.

For a hat to wear, test a scrap-paper brim first. Make sure the opening fits both the cone and the wearer before cutting your final sugar paper.

4. Attach the brim

1. Cut out the outer shape, then carefully cut out the centre opening to make a ring.
2. Lower the brim over the cone from the pointed top until it sits on the tabs. Check the fit before adding glue.
3. Apply a thin layer of PVA to the tops of the tabs and press them against the underside of the brim. Support the join and leave it to dry fully.

Use enough glue to cover the tabs without soaking the paper. If you need supplies, browse our PVA and craft adhesives.

5. Decorate your witch’s hat

Wrap a ribbon or paper band around the base of the cone. Add a paper buckle, stars or other lightweight decorations to make it your own.

For a Halloween table decoration, make a smaller version and stand it beside your other handmade crafts. If you’re wearing the hat, let every glued join dry fully before trying it on.

Help with your paper witch’s hat

The cone is too small

Reduce the overlap if there is still enough paper to make a secure seam. Otherwise, start with a wider circular sector or a larger sheet. Adding a brim will not make the cone opening bigger.

The cone seam keeps opening

Check that the overlap is wide enough for a secure join. Hold it with clips or tape while the glue dries, and reinforce the inside seam with a strip of tape if needed.

The brim feels floppy

Add a second sugar-paper support ring underneath, particularly if you have made a wide brim. Keep any decorations light so they do not pull the brim down.

The point looks blunt

Before the seam is glued, adjust the edges so they meet neatly at the top. Recheck the opening size after changing the cone.

Make a Halloween display to match your hat

Your hat is one part of the scene. Add glowing tissue paper ghosts for the table or larger ghosts for a hanging display.

Wet strength tissue paper stays strong when wet, so it can be soaked in diluted PVA and shaped for lantern projects. Once dry, its translucent finish lets light shine through.

• Make glowing ghost lanterns: shape small tissue ghosts and light them with battery-operated LED tealights.
• Try giant tissue paper ghosts: choose a larger ghost project for your Halloween decorating plans.
• Make DIY floating ghosts: follow another ghost-making tutorial using wet strength tissue paper.

Find the full collection, including printing and pumpkin ideas, in our Halloween tissue paper crafts hub.

We’d love to see what you make. Share your finished Halloween crafts and tag @CarnivalPapersUK.