DIY Harry Potter Sorting Hat

When planning a Harry Potter party, I discovered that getting a Sorting hat was pretty expensive for a one day use. I then decided to try to make one and it turned out pretty good. The Harry Potter Sorting Hat that I made was used to sort the kids into their houses. We played a series of games as part of the Tri-Wizard tournament. I found a Harry Potter Sorting Hat talking key chain on-line. At the start of the party, I placed the sorting hat on each child’s head and pushed the button. The kids really thought the hat was talking and it was great. I placed house buttons that I made on each child so they knew their team and we started the games.

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This project is easy to make for any Harry Potter fan. I also made a smaller version for my son’s Christmas tree. See the picture at the bottom of this post.

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Sorting Hat Supplies

Foam board
Cutting Mat
X-Acto or crafting Knife
Mini Wine Bottle Holder – 7 inch ( 3 1/2 in diameter)
Paper coffee cup
Cardboard from leftover box
Scissors
Mod-Podge
Paint brush or Foam brush
Kraft packing paper, brown paper bag or newspaper – save the packing paper from any deliveries you have received.
Pen
Dual Temperature Mini Glue Gun and dual temperature mini glue sticks
2-3 colors of acrylic brown paint

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Harry Potter Sorting Hat Instructions

Cut out a 15 inch circle on a utility mat with an X-Acto knife. I used a large round serving platter as my template. If you have a large bowl or pot, that would work too. Use a 9 inch plate to cut out the inner circle with crafting knife on utility mat.

I used a mini wine bottle holder and a paper coffee cup to for the base of the sorting hat. Any container that is tall and cylinder will work too, like a tall Pringles can. Hot glue them together.

Cut out strips from the card board box. They should be about 9 inches long and 1 1/2 inches wide.

Hot Glue the cardboard strips to the center base cup. To do this you need to fold an inch of cardboard and glue under the foam circle. Space them apart as you glue them.

This is how it should look underneath.

Add the Kraft packing paper or newspaper by starting at the bottom and building up by wrapping the paper around the sorting hat. To do this, apply the paper in large strips while applying the Mod-Podge glue with a paint brush.

Allow the Mod-Podge to completely dry.
Paint with acrylic brown paints. Use at least 2-3 colors to get the depth and contrast of a weathered hat.
Allow to dry completely for 48 hours.

I made a smaller version for my sons Christmas tree.