How to Make a Tinfoil Hat

Make your own tinfoil hat to complete a Tin Man costume, ward off an alien abduction, block mind-control devices or just to amuse your friends and coworkers. You do not need any experience to create a tinfoil hat, which makes this project perfect for beginning crafters and young people.

To make a tinfoil hat that will last, use heavy-duty aluminum foil for the base. Along with the foil, if you plan to decorate your hat, gather work gloves, a hot glue gun with hot glue sticks and any doodads you want to attach, like plastic jewels or pompoms.

Tear off a 3-foot-long sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil to create the base of the hat. You can wrap the foil around your own head, a friend's head or a mannequin's head. As you wrap, keep the edge of the foil just above the eyebrows and wrap the foil all the way around the base of the head at its widest part. Keep the foil as taut as you can without tearing it. Use your hands to compress the tinfoil around the head and form the loose top edge of the foil into whatever shape you prefer. For example, you can squeeze the top edge together into a giant point like an antenna, or create multiple points like a crown. Remove the hat base from the head and fold 1/2 inch of the bottom edge under to make the edge more sturdy.

If you want to add embellishments to your hat, insert a glue stick into a hot glue gun, plug the gun in and preheat it for 10 minutes. (If young children are creating a hat, adults should perform the glue gun activity, and supervise older children in use of the glue gun.) Put on work gloves to avoid burning your skin. As a metal, aluminum foil conducts heat very quickly. If you hold onto the foil while applying hot glue, you could burn your skin.

Squeeze a pea-sized dot of hot glue on the hat and gently press the decoration into the glue, holding it in place for about 30 seconds. Some suggestions for decorations: sequins, plastic jewels, metal gears, old radio antennae, pompoms and googly eyes. Allow all the hot glue and the foil of the hat itself to cool completely before wearing the hat -- 10 to 15 minutes should suffice.

Foil can bend and crumple easily, so if you want to preserve your tinfoil hat for later use, store it on a foam mannequin head, inflated ball or balloon. This will help maintain the structural integrity of the hat until its next wearing. You can find a foam mannequin head at any beauty-supply shop or crafts store.