Off to the races!! (I wish I were)

For right now, I’ll have to settle to a “mock” derby party and watch this iconic event on the television while sipping on a mint julep, eating a piece of my Kentucky Derby Pecan Pie (find recipe here.) …but you can’t have a proper Kentucky Derby watching party without a big, festive derby hat! They got their start at the first race when promoters wanted to attract wealthy visitors by luring them in with the big extravagant hats.

I took a trip to the dollar store and challenged myself to make my own derby hat with a few simple things, so take a look and see how easy it is for you to do the same. Below you will find how to make your own Kentucky Derby Hat at a minimal cost. You can even have a fun “hat making station” set up at the party where guest can create their own before the race. You can also use this idea for the upcoming Mother’s Day, perhaps a ladies tea party would be fun!

Let’s begin!

How to make your own Kentucky Derby Hat:

Materials needed:

Note: Even though I took a trip to the dollar store, I had plenty of things in my craft arsenal at home to use, so look around your house and get creative with what you have also. Believe it or not, the dollar store had adult and kids hats in several colors. I picked out one white hat, and one black hat in adult size and a pink one in girls size…because “girls just want to have fun” too!

• Hats

• Scissors

• Glue gun

• Ribbon

• artificial flowers (I bought two $1 bunches for all three hats)

Optional:

To make the gold horseshoe, I already had some thin cardboard, paper, pen, black marker and Mod Podge glue (regular Elmer’s glue or tape can work also.)

Instructions:

Black Derby Hat

White Derby Hat

Pink Derby Hat

Hope you enjoyed this post about how to make your own DIY Kentucky Derby Hat. It’s amazing what you can do with a few bucks and a little imagination and creativity. Like I said before, these would also be cute for a fun lady’s brunch, tea party or Mother’s Day. If you make some, I would love to see your hats. Find me on Pinterest and post a photo and review. Have fun!

Enjoy!

💜Julie