Deck Your Ukulele for Christmas

This time of year, ukulele clubs are playing songs about snow, wassail, silent nights, and mele kalikimaka. To add to the festivities, why not dress your uke for the season? This instructable gives you two ways to decorate your stringed companion: one which requires a bit of sewing, and one which requires none.

Each Santa hat requires the following materials:

• scrap fabric, approximately 6"X6" for each hat
• needle, thread
• sewing machine (optional)
• fabric adhesive or hot glue gun
• feather or fur trim
• white pom pom

The headstock on my Flea is 3" wide and 1/2" deep. Using these measurements, I folded the fabric right sides together and cut an elongated cone approximately 3" wide and 5-1/2" tall. With 1/4" seam sewn along the open side, the hat  became about 2-1/2" wide turned right side out. That should allow it to stretch to a snug fit on the headstock.

My fabric was a lightweight fake fur, but fleece or any textured knit should also work.

Now add trim. I used a roll of white feather trim because the proportions seemed about right. Had I been able to find 1/2" white fur trim, I might have used that instead, but the feathers worked fine.

Glue the trim to the base of the hat, using either a hot glue gun or a fabric adhesive such as Fabri-Tac.

Next, glue the pom pom to the peak of the hat.

The final step is to fold the hat over so the weight of the hat doesn't pull it off the headstock. For the cleanest look, add a dab of adhesive to the seamed side of the rim, fold the peak down, and press to secure.

As you can see, it takes little more effort to make several hats at once. These are going to the ukulele club Christmas party.

For a non-sew alternative, you can make a Rudolph headpiece in about 5 minutes. Each uke requires only

• a couple of 12" brown chenille stems
• a small red pom pom
• fabric adhesive or a hot glue gun

Make a little hook by bending the end of one stem around something flat and thin, like a ruler. Place this hook in the back of the headstock, and wrap the stem around it, catching the hook and turning upward.

Bring the end of the chenille stem over the top and around the bottom of the stem in front. Secure this with another wrap. This is your basic frame, which can now be taken off and on using the hook in back.

Glue a red pom pom nose on the front.

Finally, add your antlers. Fold a second chenille stem in half, hook it under the top of the frame, and make a few bends and twists for the individual points.

The Flea's headstock shape makes it particularly conducive to this type of frame. For my other uke,  I wrapped a bit differently, threading the chenille under the strings and bringing it up in 2 parts on either side of the midpoint.

Turning your uke into Santa or Rudolph is a simple way to add a little more fun to the season. Happy Holidays!