How to Make a Paper Coonskin Hat

eHow may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.

Things You'll Need

  • Measuring tape

  • Poster board

  • Construction paper

  • Scissors

  • Stapler

  • Brown, gray and beige crepe paper

Coonskin caps were popular with American frontiersmen in the 18th and 19th centuries.

For many children, every day is an adventure, every hill a mountain to climb and every stuffed teddy a bear to fight. Davy Crockett or Daniel Boone has nothing on them -- except perhaps a coonskin cap. These hats were popular among the American frontiersmen of the 18th and 19th centuries who needed to make the most of the animals they hunted. But you do not need a hunting license to help your little adventurer make one of these. You can make one with common materials that are safe for little hands, such as construction paper and crepe paper.

Advertisement

Step 1

Measure your head just above the ears. Write the circumference down on a piece of paper.

Video of the Day

Step 2

Measure a section of poster board or construction paper 4 inches wide and 1 inch longer than the circumference of your head. Mark the boundaries of the strip with a pencil and cut along the lines.

Step 3

Wrap the band around your head and staple it closed, leaving an extra inch of flap where you will attach the raccoon tail later.

Step 4

Cut out strips of brown, gray and beige crepe paper that are 2 inches wide and as long as the circumference of your head.

Advertisement

Step 5

Make small cuts on the lower edge of the strip approximately 1/2 inch apart to create a fringe effect.

Step 6

Glue the strips to the head band in overlapping rows of alternating colors.

Step 7

Cut out an 8-by-10-inch strip of brown crepe paper and twist it into a rope. Staple both ends to keep it from unraveling.

Advertisement

Step 8

Cut 2-by-10-inch strips of brown, gray and beige paper and fringe them. Twist them around the rope, gluing them together at both ends. This forms the raccoon's tail.

Step 9

Staple the tail to the 1-inch flap on the headband.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

references