The day before the little fete I started to panic a bit…what to do with all the kids? As in many hosting situations, I took a page from my mother’s entertaining playbook. This called for goldfish crackers, a couple of classic movies and the old party hat activity.

This hat craft made its debut at my 7th birthday party, and still keeps little ones entertained today. It’s the perfect last minute activity, and what’s a birthday party without a hat? And, in the case of this party, friends spilling out onto front stoop, a fridge stocked with champagne bottles in pyramid formation, a homemade layered red velvet cake and a house full of people I hope to know for many decades more.

It all started with the hat. Here’s what you’ll need:

*Paper bowls (which also conveniently double as bowls for cake)

*Ribbon

*Glitter glue (a six-year-old guest told me that glitter glue is far superior to regular glue)

*Markers, crayons

*Stickers, pom-poms, glittery shapes, any sort of crafty bling

Pre-punch holes on either side of the lip of the bowl, string a ribbon through on either side and the kids can do the rest.