DIY African JUJU Hat Tutorial

I have been holding onto this project for quite sometime and finally got motivated enough to begin over the weekend. I don't know what I was waiting for because it was super easy (with the right supplies) and only took about an hour to finish. My kind of project!! Anyway, I had searched high and low for the perfect tutorial online, but I couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. The most helpful tutorial was from Hollie at Vintage Farm. Like Hollie's tutorial, most tutorials used poster board as the support material. I will go ahead and put this disclaimer in: this is a cheaper version of an authentic juju hat, but not a CHEAP project. The feathers are quite expensive (if you are frugal like me), so I did not want to glue to poster board that could fail over time. I found the perfect support piece at Target and happened to get it discounted because it was broken (that part didn't matter because I was going to cut it down to size anyway). 

Here are some of my inspiration juju hats I found online:

Source: Houzz

Source: White Cabana

Authentic juju hats run anywhere from $235-$400. This project cost less than $120. Like I said, not a cheap DIY, but a cheaper version of an authentic hat. 

Supplies:

• Support piece (about 18" in diameter. Mine is from Target).
• Feathers: I used Rooster Coque Tails from the Feather Place (7-10 inches, Type: CCNSD, color: beige, quantity: 2) for $99.40
• Tools to cut your support piece. (I used a handheld grinder and snips)
• Hot glue gun
• Tape measure
• Scissors

This is my support piece I got from Target. It is 30" diameter. You can see the damaged section, but I cut that part off. The original price was $39.99, but I got it for $20 due to the damage.

I cut most all of the woven pieces with the snips, but found it had wire supports as well. Drew used the handheld grinder to cut those pieces for me. 

My diameter was about 18" after it was cut. This will create about a 30" finished juju hat. 

Before I got started, I laid out my feathers to make sure of the length and placement. I did not want to be short! 

Once you determine the best placement for your feathers, begin securing with hot glue. I glued my feathers to curve inwards. I felt this gave it the most authentic look. 

I measured and cut the section that was lacking. I did not want to overlap the feathers. 

Before gluing your next row, lay out feathers to get the correct spacing you desire. Again, you do not want to run out of feathers!

Once you determine the placement, glue your feathers as you did for the first row. *It is better to have left over sections of feathers. You can go back and add where needed.*

I cut small sections to fill the center. They didn't curve well as a connected strip. 

Filling the middle was the most difficult part to me. I trimmed the long feathers to make shorter, fuller feathers. Glue them around to fill any voids. 

There you have it! A finished faux African juju hat. There was already a hanging loop on the back of my support piece from Target. 

It is currently hanging above Ada Morgan's crib, but it will soon find a new home over our bed to make room for her wooden monogram.