Paper Plate Millinery - Easter Bonnets for Children

I've seen a number of versions of paper plate, newspaper, and paper doily Easter bonnet crafts for children, this year. So, when I saw Lisa McCue's adorably illustrated Easter Parade at the library, I knew we'd have to have a go at a little paper plate millinery ourselves.

McCue's illustrations tell the story of a father bunny heading out to the Easter parade with his daughter, in her homemade hat, sweetly decked out with bits of ribbon, and a few plastic eggs. Along the way, they pass a menagerie of dressed up, animal town folk, each of whom offers, and adds, a little something extra to the small bunny's hat, until she finally she is "the grandest lady in the Easter parade", in keeping with the words of the Irving Berlin song, that serve as the text to the story.

There is sheet music for the song, at the back of the book, in case you're not familiar with the tune. But, I suggest going straight to YouTube, skipping over the so-so Fred Astaire clips, to this Bing Crosby, Holiday Inn clip (it's always Bing over Fred, when it comes to singing). And then, if you're anything like me, you'll probably want to click here, to find the definition of rotogravure.

Finally, after looking at all the fun, and fanciful hats illustrated in the story, you'll probably want to decorate one of your own. We don't have an Easter parade in town, I think maybe those are more something of the past across the country, but we do have both sets of grandparents due to arrive in this weekend, which will most definitely mean a need a for hats for an Easter tea.

I started the girls off with plain hats, made from a paper plate, and bowl combination (similar to instructions I found, last week at Naturally Educational).

I cut away the center of the plates...

...so the bowl could fit through (with wrong sides showing), and glued them together.

I also added two hole punches on either side, in case anyone wanted a chin strap-type ribbon.

When the glue was dry, I sat them out with glue, scissors, construction paper, tissue paper, crepe paper, crayons, markers, and a few odds and ends scavenged from the craft cupboard. I showed the girls again, how to make spiral roses, and they went to work, each girl...

...creating her millinery masterpiece.

Of course, I'll need something to wear to tea, as well (or possibly for camouflage while bird watching).

For more story themed arts and crafts, check out this week's stART (story + ART) link-up, at a Mommy's Adventures.

It's great to be a homeschooler.