Crazy Hat Night

Last night was "crazy hat" night at Vacation Bible School. With a rain forest theme I thought that a monkey hat would be both appropriate and cute. I found a pattern for a simple monkey hat on the net. The instructions were easy enough and the completion time was estimated at one hour. Of course, I didn't start the project until a few hours before it was needed and an hour turned into several. I did all of the cutting and attaching but I don't sew. For the final sewn details I called in reinforcements, Nana. Nana saved the day by adding some zig-zag stitching and a hem.

During assembly, my son watched adamantly saying over and over, "hat, hat, hat." Even though he wears a cap (like his daddy's and papaw's) regularly I worried that when the time came he wouldn't wear this one. While we were working diligently on this project I noticed that my child was gleefully wearing a small trash can. So I decided that if all else fails the trash can would make an appropriate substitute.

When we arrived at VBS, my son took his seat and readied himself for the entrance of Amigo, the Bible School monkey. Amigo is a puppet that makes an appearance every evening to get the kids motivated and to start the evening festivities. My son wore his monkey hat the entire time Amigo was present. It was so cute and so worth the time and effort it took to make it.

This is the finished product...to make your own go to http://ashbyfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/monkey-hat-tutorial-pattern.html for the pattern and instructions. I modified the original pattern by adding wiggly eyes, button nostrils, and a yarn pom-pom.