How to Hang Floating Witch Hats for Halloween
Add a bit of whimsy to your Halloween Porch decorations this year with these DIY Floating Witch Hat luminaries! They even light up, making them a fun and only slightly eerie Halloween decorating idea.
If you like this project, you might also like these DIY Halloween Porch Decorating Ideas! (FYI: Images from this site are copyrighted. DO NOT use them without permission.)
Halloween Porch Decorating Idea: How to Make DIY Floating Witches’ Hats
Our front porch has a section that is long and narrow. It’s not quite wide enough for furniture, but I still love to decorate it. Last Christmas, I hung giant stars from the ceiling of that section of the porch- (see the stars hung at Christmastime)
It always made me smile a little bit when I’d drive by at night and find them lit up.
I’m always looking for clever front porch decorating ideas for Halloween. Building on that same idea, one year on Halloween, I hung floating light-up Witch Hats along the porch. (By the way, is it Witch’s Hat as in a hat that belongs to a witch, or is it Witches Hat as in multiple Witches with hats?)
I’m not sure, I think both. If you disagree, I apologize for my grammatical infraction in advance; there is no need to offer your opinion 🙂
The Floating Halloween Witch Hats project is straightforward and adds a fun and unexpected element to our front porch for All Hallows Eve.
Let me show you how to do it. If you’re a Harry Potter Fan like we are, then I think you’ll agree that they add a special “Hogwarts-Inspired” touch to our front porch.
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How to Hang Candlesticks on a Porch for Halloween
If you’d like to learn how to hang floating candlesticks on your porch, you can also check out our Floating Candlestick Tutorial.
The neighborhood kids always get a big kick out of the decor when they are out trick-or-treating. They would also be great to use as decorations for Halloween parties.
Floating Witch Hat Supplies
Inexpensive Black Witch Hats — available on Amazon
Light Options:
- LED light sticks – (linking to the product category on Amazon, not the specific item since the sellers keep raising the prices based on visits from this post, you want an LED light stick with a clip that is battery-powered and lightweight. )
- A reader told me they used battery-powered tea lights, and they worked well. They tied the fishing line around the wick. Someone else also suggested using glow sticks.
- In the video, I used LED Light pucks. I like these best since they have a hole in the backplate to run the fishing line through. They also have a remote and an auto-timer setting, so you don’t have to remember to turn them on and off each night. I noticed that the LED light pucks didn’t hold up as well to the weather as the light sticks, so I recommend using light sticks instead.
Safety Pins (don’t need if you’re using LED light pucks)
Outdoor Command Hooks for Lights
How to Hang the Witch Hats
Before you begin, you must decide how many hats you’d like to hang on your porch and where you’d like them to be. I recommend laying the hats out on the floor of your porch to determine the number and spacing.
Step One: Attach Command Hooks to the Ceiling
After you’ve figured out where you’d like the Witch’s hats to hang, attach one command hook to the ceiling in each spot. Let the hook set up for about 10-15 minutes.
Two: Add Fishing Line to the Witch Hats
String about 2-3 feet of fishing line onto the needle. Feed the needle through the point of the Witch hat on the outside of the hat. Bring the fishing line through to the interior of the hat. DO NOT pull all the fishing line through the hat; leave it on the outside of the hat.
Remove the needle and tie the fishing line around a safety pin.
Three: Add the Lights
Use the safety pin to attach the fishing line to the light stick. It can be LED or the temporary kind you can find in the Halloween section of stores. Just make sure it’s lightweight. I’ve had readers tell me that they used glow sticks or tea lights.
UPDATE: Since this post was first written, the quality and brightness of LED lights have significantly improved. You should be able to find a lightweight LED light easily.
Now just tie a loop at the end of the fishing line on top of the hat and hang it on the command hook.
Video Instructions
We’ve created a short video to guide you through hanging the hats on your porch. We used LED light pucks for the video. You can watch it playing on this page or view it on our YouTube channel.
Tips if you are making these to decorate your porch for Halloween!
- Most LED light bulbs will not last for 30 days straight. If you want to hang these up on Oct 1st and leave them on all month, that probably won’t work.
- I turned mine on and off each night. I did not plan for them to last all of October without burning out. In addition, one year, I only turned them on Halloween night. They look great lit up simultaneously as the jack o lanterns on my front steps.
- You can adjust the height of the hats as you like; just lengthen or shorten the fishing line.
- Even though we did this on our front porch, I think it would be adorable inside of the house too!
Want even more fun ideas? Follow me on Instagram to get your daily dose of creative inspiration!
This post has been updated from a previous version to include all of the wonderful tips and tricks shared by readers who have made these Hanging Witches Hats.
UPDATE: LOOK how cute they are on Ali Edwards Front Porch (image from Instagram) !!!
More Halloween Decorations & Projects You May Like:
- 15 Frightfully Fun Ways to Decorate Your Porch for Halloween
- Witch Costume Ideas for Kids, Teens & Adults
- FREE Printable Non-Candy Halloween Treats
- Recipe for Exploding Eyeball Cookies
- Free Printable Fall Bucket List
- Free Printable Halloween Treat Bags
If you love to quilt or sew, you might like:
- Halloween Haberdashery Quilt Pattern
- How to Make a Quilted Witch Hat
- More than 25 CUTE things to sew for Halloween!
Love the Idea, but where did you buy the led lights.
Cute idea! I’m thinking of using timed candlestick lights for use the whole season.
I am so excited to make these witch hats!! Thanks so much for sharing and for all the links to where to find everything. Makes my life much easier. 🙂
I can’t find the link for the led lights.
Just click on LED light sticks & the link takes you to Amazon for the led lights. 9.00 for 1 single light.
Thanks for the heads up. I changed the link. It looks like the seller raised the price after I linked to them 🙁
Just signed on & love the witches hats! They’ll absolutely be on my screened porch…..& front this Halloween ! So glad I found you !
I delight in the info on your site. Much thanks.|
I’m a little late to the party finding this cute idea. I’m curious how you hanged the stars for Christmas. Will you post a tutorial! Thanks!
I wasn’t going to but will now FOR SURE! I had no idea the everyone would like the idea so much :)… I’m kicking myself for not taking photos last December.
I absolutely love these! I will have to try this to decorate my house for halloween! Do you think glow sticks would be bright enough to shine through?
Yes, I think they would. My husband thought the LED sticks might be a bit bright. So glow sticks would work great!
So, so cute! Absolutely perfect for your porch. Now I need to get a porch to do this too! haha.
LOVE this! Where did you find the led light sticks?
Amazon, there’s a link in the post to them
Amazon, there is a link above
Wonderful idea! Thanks so much for sharing!
I love this project! For your stars at Christmas what did you use for your stars?
They were from IKEA, I don’t have a photo, I’ll have to do them again this Christmas.
Love! For the last two years, I’ve hung cheap black witches hats on our front porch, but I love the idea of putting the lights inside! Thank you so much for the idea. The kids will just love it!
This is a really neat idea. As to your question about the hats– it’s her Witches’ hat (possessive), the Witche’s hat (descriptive), and more than one are Witch hats. Hope that helps.
That is what I thought… Thanks for the clarification!
So cute!!!
BTW for your purposes, it would be “witch’s hat luminaries” because each one uses only one hat which belongs to one witch.
In any case, I’m sure everyone can understand what you’re intending to say whether it is correct or not, which it is.
Thanks! Crazy how complicated naming a project can be!
Which witch is which?? 😉 Yes, “witch’s” is singular possessive ad “witches'” is plural possessive. If it’s at the end of a sentence, the apostrophe always follows the ending punctuation. On another note, which this post was originally about, I love this idea and want to do something along these lines, also. I’ve also seen the lighted, wire ghost frames with sheer fabric on them. Love that!!
*and* instead of *ad*
I’m not an English or Grammar teacher, but I am a writer by trade and heart. PEACE
Actually, one hat is “Witch’s hat”; more than one hat is “Witches’ hats” or “Witch hats”.
What?! It’s her witch’s hat or the witches’ hats. Unless a person’s last name is Witche, there’s no reason to add an apostrophe between the e and s in witches.
I’m sorry are you a English teacher? Get real.Really
Actually, it’s ‘her witch hat’, ‘that witch’s hat was tall’, or ‘All of the witches’ hats were pointy.’
Exactly! 🙂
“Her witch’s hat” is singular (one witch) possessive. “Witches’ hats” is plural (more than one witch) possessive.
It’s always fun to find a project I like on Pinterest and when I click on it I end up at your site.
Do you have to turn on the light sticks each night? How long do they typically last?
Yes, you do have to turn them on at night. However I only plan on doing that the week leading up to Halloween. They are LED and will last a long time.
How do you secure the battery pack to the hat? Kinds of heavy
Ours were not heavy, did you get LED lights?
What a great idea! Perfect for your long porch – mine is square and I think they’ll be just right, there, too.
These are awesome! I’m going to put these up on my front porch. Thanks for the great idea!
i have for grand baby we will have fun this oct. thank you for sharing.