Make a Simple Brown Paper Bag Hat for Autumn

Recently, I’ve seen a couple DIY posts on making witch hats or other festive decor with brown paper bags, but the instructions typically call for obscure bags and other less common items. This page should cover the process of making this paper bag hat with the extremely common paper lunch-bag. I also tried to make this a simple as possible. These bag-hats will become the perfect center-pieces or decorations to get your home in the mood for leaves, pumpkins, and thanksgiving!

1. 2 Brown Paper Lunch-Bags
2. A Glue Stick or Tape
3. A Piece of Paper
4. Scissors
5. Water

Use the scissors to cut the brown paper bags along the creases until they can lay flat on the table. I also like to cut off the rectangle bottom-piece as it is a little thick due to some extra folds and layers. One bag will be the base, and one bag will help make the point of the hat.

Run the cut up bag under faucet until it is completely soaked. Try to be gentle, as it is soft and could rip. After it is soaked, wad the bag into a ball and squeeze the excess water out. Then un-crumple the bag so the paper looks like the picture below.

The base is critical for a Paper Bag Hat. Lay the wet paper flat on a plate. (I like to use plates because it is less messy and the plate helps the paper dry in good form.) Pinch the middle of the paper and turn your hand clockwise as if winding up the paper. The paper will start to scrunch. At this point I like to fold the corners under the paper to make a rounder base. Feel free to play around with the wet paper to get exactly the look you want for the base. Then… give it a few hours to dry!

Roll a piece of paper lengthwise into a cone. Try to make a wider base if possible as it will give the hat a better look. Use glue or tape to hold the cone together.

Follow STEPS 1 and 2 with the second bag. Once damp, wrap the brown paper around the paper cone. Make sure the top looks good, and don’t worry about the bottom. The bag should stick fairly well to the cone, but I recommend using some glue or tape on the inside edge of the bag after it has dried a little to help ensure it stays on the cone. Allow it to fully dry, and cut the cone to the height you would like. I recommend giving the cone about 7 or 8 inches.

It is easiest to place the cone in the center of the base and use clear tape to keep the pieces together. For a more professional Paper Bag Hat look, I took scrap pieces of brown paper-bag, cut them into small strips, and glued both sides. I then attached a side to the cone and a side to the base. You can hide the strips in grooves to make them basically invisible.