Metal Farmer Hat

If you have a lot of cans lying around and are in need of a hat this is a great weekend project. The hat should fit on most adults but, the project would need to be edited for smaller people.

- cardboard box

- scissors

- Exacto-knife

- 80+ Aluminum cans

- Duct tape

- ruler

- sharpie

- one screw

- one washer

- one nut that fits the screw

- three feet of string

- cleaning rag

Make sure all materials are in arms distance so you don't have to leave your seat. I suggest you work outside on a table because you are going to want to sit during this project.

On your piece of cardboard draw out a trapezoid that has a size of 0.75 inches on the top and 7 inches at the bottom and finally the height of the trapezoid is 10.5 inches. Then cut out the trapezoid of out the piece of cardboard.

In this step, you are cutting the top and bottom of the can to use the middle for the metal in the hat. When cutting the cans I suggest you wear gloves so you don't injure yourself and start at the top, because it felt easier, and then moving on to the bottom. Cut as close to the bend in the cans as you can while still cutting out the lip. When preparing the cans, depending on the look that you want you can either make the cuts rigid or straight. Rigid cuts will give a more apocalyptic feel while the straighter cuts will make it more like a satellite dish. After cutting off the two ends cut down the side of the can so you have a long sheet of metal. Finaly flatten out the metal as best you can by bending it in the opposite direction.

If you are using standard soda cans each piece will take approximately 8 cans. To construct the piece start by wrapping the metal sheet around the template as shown in the first two pictures. The next three pieces will be put on the same side in order to completely cover the template on one side as seen in picture 4. Next, repeat the process on the backside so that the whole template is covered on both sides,

On the side with the metal poking inwards, tape those flaps down because that is the bottom of the hat. After taping that tape the top of the piece and pull the template out of the metal through the bottom. Tape the bottom closed then pinch the edges so that the piece is flat. Finally, mark a point at the top of the piece and poke a hole through the top. You will need to repeat steps four and five 10 times to get enough pieces.

Constructing the hat is the simplest step. Put all the flaps in order from longest to shortest with the shortest pieces being on the bottom. Put the washer on the screw and then push the screw through the bottom of the stack like in picture two. Once all of the pieces are on the screw the nut on to keep everything on it.

Open up the hat so that it looks like picture 1. Finally, put a string 1/4 distance from the top facing one direction shown in the second photo and tape it down. Then lead the string onto the next piece like picture four and tape it down. Note: Make sure that you tape the string past the half waypoint on the next flap or it won't close correctly. Repeat this step until you have gone around the entire hat.

When you open up the hat you want to use the binder clip to hold the first and last piece so that it doesn't collapse on you.

If the hat doesn't want to stay on your head you can put a ribbon from one side to another like a neck strap using a stapler.