Harry Potter Mystery Dinner Trunk Printables & Sorting Hat Tutorial

Hogwarts wouldn't be official if there wasn't a Sorting Hat.

So for our Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party we had a Sorting Hat.

This was the only picture I remembered to take and you can't hardly see the face.

But it was an inexpensive and relatively simple Hat to make.

And with some Printables, a few plain trunks make perfect wizarding school trunks.

The printables are found at the bottom of the post.

How to Make Harry Potter Sorting Hat:

Materials needed- 

1 yard Muslin 

1 bottle Stiffy

Aluminum Foil

Masking Tape

Hot Glue & Gun

Brown & Back Spray Paint

Hat 

(I used a dress up Hat from the Dollar Store, 

with a large stiff round brim, but a which hat would be ideal)

Instructions

Step 1: Stuff the hat full of aluminum foil. Shaping the foil into a bent hat tip and plenty of wrinkles and ridges. Use masking tape to help secure the foil and its shape.  

(The foil gives the hat support and strength to keeps its shape and stand up under the weight of the fabric.)

*If you choose to make the sorting hat's face, be sure to shape the foil into a mouth, nose and brow bones.

Step 2: Secure the foil to the inside of the hat with the hot glue.

Step 3: Once the hat is sturdy and shaped as desired, 

cut Muslin into 4 inch wide by roughly 1 yard long strips.

Step 4: Dip strips of Muslin into a bowl of Stiffy.  

Then wrap/drape the soaked Muslin around the hat.  Begin with the brim. Then once the brim is covered, start at the top of the hat and work down.

Step 5: Let Muslin dry.  Secure any loose or lifting edges down with hot glue.

Step 6: Spray paint the hat with the brown, getting into all the cracks and folds of the material.

Step 7: Using the black spray paint, lightly spray edges and tips of wrinkles, to "shade" and "distress" the hat. 

*If you shaped a face on the Sorting Hat, use the black spray paint, to highlight the facial features.

For the Harry Potter Trunks:

Luckily, my husband found two trunks at a garage sale for $5 and they were perfect.

I had first considered constructing some out of cardboard boxes, or searching the internet for something inexpensive...but these saved the day.

I just collected some Quiddich, Hogwarts, and other Wizarding Images and trimmed them to size.  Then just print, cut, and glue them to the trunks!

Download Harry Potter Trunk Tag Printables: Here

For the rest of the Harry Potter Murder Mystery Dinner Party details, printables, and tutorials look: here

And for our first Harry Potter Party with tons of printables, recipes, and much more look: here