Tootsie Roll Wrapper Sun Hat

Thank you for taking a moment with me to learn how to make a tootsie roll wrapper sun hat. You will need the following:

Lots of Tootsie Rolls (I used 14 bags)

Something to hold the unwrapped tootsie rolls in

Duct Tape

Tacky Glue

Felt (if you decide that you would like to line your hat)

and time...

Once you learn how to make the wrapper chain you can watch tv while you link the links and it really does go rather quickly :)

Start with your first wrapper and fold it in half (narrow end to narrow end), crease it and then reopen the wrapper.

Fold the wrapper from the bottom to the middle (where you originally made the crease), then crease the new fold. Repeat with the top of the wrapper. Run your nail over the 2 new folds that you made so that they also have a crease.

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Now take the two folds that you just creased and bring them together.

Fold the whole thing in half (long ways) again. Crease both sides of the fold with your fingernail.

Now take and fold the wrapper in half length wise.

Unfold and then bring the edges up to the middle (where you had previously folded)... you are almost done at this point, honest. Fold again at the middle and you have your first 'link' for your chain. It will resemble a capital A. Repeat steps 1-6 and make another and then you will be ready for the next step.

Now hold one of your chain links so that the single edge is showing (like photo) grasp the top of the A and let the 'legs' of the A face up. Take the second link (single edge down) and holding the top of the A, put each of the 'legs' of the A thru one of the legs of the first A. I had a lovely video showing how to do this unfortunately I am unable to download it at this time... i will keep trying!

Once you have a chain that is approximately 8 to 9 feet in length you are ready to start assembling where your head is going to be in the hat. As you can see the links come together almost like a puzzle. Wrap the chain around your head so that it is secure but a little loose. Put a piece of duct tape on the inside to hold the size in place. Begin wrapping the next section of chain above the first loop, putting a pieces of duct tape around to secure it as you keep moving up. Once you are happy with the height of the hat then start to turn the chains so that they are getting smaller and smaller until you reach the top. There are 2 ways to finish off the top. Either you can put a wrapper on the under side of the hat or you can start a new chain and affix that to the top.

After smoothing out your wrappers, take and fold the white edge up at a 90 degree angle. Place the white side directly onto the inside of the brim.

Slightly overlapping the wrappers, affix one after the other until you have returned to the first wrapper. Affix the second row of wrappers to the first and so on.

Once you have finished with the rows of your brim you can put it on a piece of felt and draw a slightly smaller circle around the brim. Cut the felt out and glue it to the underside. Once it has dried, you can take a scissors and cut a small hole directly into the middle and then carefully make cuts to the sides so that you have room to put your head into the hat. I also cut off the white ends of the wrappers and then tapped the middle of the wrappers on some duct tape for a decorative 'ribbon'.

Enjoy!