Last week, I shared with y'all HDawg's Chicka Chicka Boom Boom themed first birthday party. It was such a relaxed, low-key, fun celebration for my little man and we enjoyed every minute.

I wanted to get H a custom fabric birthday hat but just couldn't find one that I liked (or was willing to pay $30+ for!) online. So, I decided to make my own. And y'all, this can be easily recreated for under $3!

What you need:

-paper party hat

-fabric scrap

-hot glue gun

-felt, pom poms, or cute trim

How to make it:

Simply start by deconstructing a paper party hat. I bought a set of eight from Party City for $2.

 

I adjusted the hat and lay it across the piece of fabric that I planned to use to cover the hat. Make sure that you aren't covering up the string so that it can still be used even once you cover the hat with fabric.

Next up, trim the fabric around the paper hat, leaving a couple of inches around the entire width.

Once you've got the fabric trimmed, fold the edges over the cardboard hat and hot glue. Hold each side down until the hot glue has dried before moving on to the next edge to be sure the fabric holds to the hat.

 

Once the glue dries, fold the cardboard hat back together into a cone the way it was originally constructed. You'll be able to tell that you've got it lined up correctly when the neck string hangs evenly. Run a line of hot glue along the seam and hold it down until dry.

Finally, the really fun part- decorate the hat to your liking! I decided to keep it simple with a felt "1" for the one-year-old birthday boy, but you could easily hot glue zig zag trim or pom poms to the hat. The possibilities are endless!

He certainly wouldn't wear the hat all day, but I think HDawg liked it enough to humor me for a few pictures.

His custom matching t-shirt was simply some fabric and felt that I cut out and ironed onto a t-shirt with hem tape. Easy, breasy.

Look, even David wanted in on the fabric birthday hat action!

All in all, the pack of hats (which I was able to use the other 7 for party guests!) cost me $2 and some change and I had all of the fabric and felt on hand already. So this cute little accessory rung in at a whopping $3, max. I love it!

Have you made any cheap DIY projects lately?!