DIY Juju Hat

Tara Marie
by Tara Marie
6 Materials
Juju hats are not a new trend but they are speaking to me right now so I decided I needed to try my hand at a DIY juju hat.
It is pretty easy to buy one off of Etsy and they run anywhere from $200-300. The authentic ones are even more expensive. You can also get a variety of colors. Of course, in my DIY heart of hearts, I had to challenge myself to create my own version for as little as possible.


Here is what I used:


-scissors


-hot glue gun and hot glue sticks


-ruler


-card stock or poster paper or basket for the back


-twine for the back so you can hang it on the wall


-feathers (a genuine Juju hat uses coque feathers. You can certainly find these and buy them by the pound, but you will pay for it)


-white duck goose feather trim fringe (3 yards)


-white strung bleached coque feathers (1/2 yard)


-ostrich feather trim (2 yards)


Now, it is easiest to use feathers that are already strung. This is for obvious reasons. Who has the time to glue on individual feathers?!? Not me!
First, I used a large embroidery hoop to trace on my poster paper. I estimate that the hoop is about 14-16" in diameter. Then you cut a sliver of paper out like you are cutting out a super skinny piece of pizza.
Then, you will pull one of the edges over and hot glue it down so that you are making a large cone. Basically, you do this so the base has some convexity and it is not completely flat.


It is best to glue your twine to the back at this point. I don't have a photo of this step but you glue a small piece of twine across the back of your "cone".
Next, you will start gluing your feathers on your circle.


I started with 3 rows of the goose feathers. You will want to glue the feathers on so that they curve slightly up. I messed up on this during my first 2 rows and was too lazy to redo it. It still turned out fine:)


I spaced out my rows by about 1 1/2".
This is what it looked like after the first two rows.


After I added a third row of the goose feathers, I put one row of the coque feathers.
At this point, I kind of started to panic. I realized that the goose feathers really didn't have the "look" I was hoping for next to the coque feathers. So then this project sat like this for about 2 weeks until I decided that I was determined to make this version work. So I ordered a string of the ostrich feathers to add between the 2nd and 3rd rows of the goose feathers. Then I put a row of the ostrich feathers on top of the coque feathers. (I apologize for my lack of pictures on this part of the tutorial. I finished this project on a whim at 11:00 at night and I did not have the correct light nor the time to grab my camera and snap some pics. Also, I was not yet convinced this would turn out at that time.) Then I used some more goose feathers and I just bunched them up in the center and glued them down along with some more of the ostrich feathers.


And here is the final product.
I hung it on my awkward wall in my sitting area in my dining room.


Originally, I thought it would go above the fireplace but I kind of need it here because I don't have anything else to put here right now.
So that is my version of a DIY Juju hat. I spend about $53 on feathers. I had everything else on hand so that was the total cost for this project. It is definitely different than the real thing but I think it turned out pretty good for a fraction of the cost!
Tara Marie
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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Frequently asked questions
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  1 question
  • Charly Charly on Jan 21, 2017
    Just exactly what is a juju hat?
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