Sheet Music Santa Hat

Today I’m sharing how I made this Sheet Music Santa Hat from a basic Styrofoam cone.

Recently, I made a Cotton Ball and Jingle Bell Tree (seen in the image above) and decided that the leftover cotton balls would make the perfect fur trim for a Santa hat.

This Santa hat, however, has a bit of a rustic twist: I used vintage sheet music for the hat instead of a traditional red color. Jingle bells tied onto twine was the finishing touch!

Supplies:

FloraCraft Styrofoam 12-inch cone
Cotton balls
Jingle bells in red and green
Twine
Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue
Floral pins
Scissors
Antique Mod Podge
Foam brush
Plastic lids (2)

I had these painted cones sitting on my shelf, left over from a project I had abandoned.

Using the cones for Christmas decorations was a no-brainer!

Step One: Rip up sheet music into different sized pieces. I used some Christmas carols as well as other songs like Amazing Grace and America the Beautiful. (If you don’t want to rip up sheet music, you can find lots of free sheet music on the internet which you can then print out to use instead.)

Step Two: Decoupage the sheet music onto the Styrofoam cone, layering the pieces over each other as you go. I did a first layer to cover the entire cone and let dry.

Handy tip: Use a recycled plastic lid as a pedestal to easily turn the cone around as you work.

Step Three: Decoupage some of the music that you purposely want to be seen on the cone over the first layer of sheet music. I wanted some of the Christmas carols and song titles to be visible.

A) Apply Antique Mod Podge onto the first layer of sheet music.
B) Choose what piece of music you want to feature somewhere on the cone.
C) Place the music over the area where you just applied Mod Podge and press into place.
D) Apply another layer of Antique Mod Podge over the piece of music.

When you apply the Antique Mod Podge, it will appear cloudy, but will turn clear as it dries. This particular Mod Podge formula leaves behind a wonderful tint that makes everything look a bit vintage.

Step Four: Squeeze some Aleene’s Turbo Tacky Glue into a small plastic lid (A). Dip each cotton ball lightly to coat part of one side in glue (B), then press that side onto the cone.

I did two rows of cotton balls around the base of the cone, as well as four or five at the top of the cone to mimic Santa’s hat.

Step Five: Thread some twine through the back of a few jingle bells and tie them together onto a floral pin. Cut any extra twine off near the jingle bells and rub the end between your fingers to make it fray easily.