How to make a Tin foil alien hat

It's easy to forget in our workaday lives that there are aliens out there who want to eat our brains. However, you can make your very own tinfoil hat that should take care of this problem.

All it takes is some tinfoil (natch) and your own personal kicky style. I've been wearing my own homemade tinfoil hat for weeks now, and while I *have* gotten some looks, I comfort myself with the knowledge that at least my brain won't be sucked out through my occular cavities. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, various skeptic peoples.

TinFoil Hats [EricIsGreat.com]

You may not think you’ll need this, but that is exactly what THEY want you to think, man. Follow along here to make sure there won’t be any aliens pokin’ around in your brain or other parts. Swing away, Merrill.

Illustrations by Alex Balosie

1. Let’s get nervous. Stay up all night watching Ancient Aliens or read anything by Tom DeLonge. How do you fake a crop circles?! Take some caffeine pills, Stay up for two days. Don’t believe it’s your mom if she calls. They’re on to you.
   
2. Get your shine on. Gather your materials. You definitely have some tinfoil in your house somewhere, do you ever remember purchasing it? No. But has it always been there? Well, just like A1 sauce and takeout packages of Sriracha in the back of the fridge, yes it has always been there and it will never not be.
   
3. Make a Hat. Tear off a bit of aluminum, avoid cutting yourself on the serrated teethy bits, that shit hurts. Crumble that piece up because it’s too small. Try again. To be safe, tear off at least 48 inches worth of material. Carefully mold to your head, and gently alfalfa twist the top of the tinfoil down to just above the scalp, make sure it’s secure, but not too tight. Look in the mirror, be proud.
4. Go about your day. Well, aren’t you having a great day at work with no little green men or government overlords reading your thoughts? What did Jennifer just say to you? Walk over to her desk and let her know not to come crying to you or to try to get into your bunker when the aliens invade. Eat cereal in the breakroom and glare at her.
5. Stay creative. Alright, this hat is amazing and all, but do you want to wear the same one every day? No, let’s get some variety in there. Tinfoil berets, aluminum fedoras. Start your own line. Make it work, girl.

Make your own tinfoil hat to complete a Tin Man costume, ward off an alien abduction, block mind-control devices or just to amuse your friends and coworkers. You do not need any experience to create a tinfoil hat, which makes this project perfect for beginning crafters and young people.

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Collect Your Materials

To make a tinfoil hat that will last, use heavy-duty aluminum foil for the base. Along with the foil, if you plan to decorate your hat, gather work gloves, a hot glue gun with hot glue sticks and any doodads you want to attach, like plastic jewels or pompoms.

Form the Base

Tear off a 3-foot-long sheet of heavy-duty aluminum foil to create the base of the hat. You can wrap the foil around your own head, a friend's head or a mannequin's head. As you wrap, keep the edge of the foil just above the eyebrows and wrap the foil all the way around the base of the head at its widest part. Keep the foil as taut as you can without tearing it. Use your hands to compress the tinfoil around the head and form the loose top edge of the foil into whatever shape you prefer. For example, you can squeeze the top edge together into a giant point like an antenna, or create multiple points like a crown. Remove the hat base from the head and fold 1/2 inch of the bottom edge under to make the edge more sturdy.

Embellish the Hat

If you want to add embellishments to your hat, insert a glue stick into a hot glue gun, plug the gun in and preheat it for 10 minutes. (If young children are creating a hat, adults should perform the glue gun activity, and supervise older children in use of the glue gun.) Put on work gloves to avoid burning your skin. As a metal, aluminum foil conducts heat very quickly. If you hold onto the foil while applying hot glue, you could burn your skin.

Squeeze a pea-sized dot of hot glue on the hat and gently press the decoration into the glue, holding it in place for about 30 seconds. Some suggestions for decorations: sequins, plastic jewels, metal gears, old radio antennae, pompoms and googly eyes. Allow all the hot glue and the foil of the hat itself to cool completely before wearing the hat -- 10 to 15 minutes should suffice.

Store Your Hat

Foil can bend and crumple easily, so if you want to preserve your tinfoil hat for later use, store it on a foam mannequin head, inflated ball or balloon. This will help maintain the structural integrity of the hat until its next wearing. You can find a foam mannequin head at any beauty-supply shop or crafts store.

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