One of my favorite childhood memories is getting to stay up late on New Year’s Eve, so I’ve always let my children stay up way past bedtime on this night, no matter the amount of over-tired whining sure to follow on New Year’s Day.
This picture is early seventies (my mother really was a beautiful, loving woman–the glasses and unfortunate pose make her look a little scary!) and we’re wearing homemade New Year’s hats, eating chips and dip and waiting for my dad to come home from work. He worked in TV and had odd hours, so my sister and I were not only excited to be up late to ring in the new year (and eating verboten junk food) but to be awake when he got home from work.
To create a little nostalgia for your own kids someday, here are directions for the hats. The onion dip was Lipton onion soup mixed in a pint of sour cream with Lay’s original chips for dipping, so that’s simple enough. And don’t forget to take a picture, because someday your grown children will want to laugh at your funny glasses and hairdo, with all the love in the world.
New Year’s Party Hats
You will need:
Sturdy construction paper or cardstock
Dinner plate
Pencil
Stapler
Ribbon
Tape
Glitter glue
Optional: elastic cord
1. Trace the dinner plate on the paper or cardstock, if you have large paper. This will make two hats. If you only have 8 1/2 x 11 paper, trace half the dinner plate (to make a half-circle) for one hat.
2. Cut the circle out and then cut it in half. If you want to decorate the hat with markers, now is the time.
3. Roll the half-circle in to a cone and staple in place to make the hat.
4. Cut at least five pieces of ribbon, about three inches long each. Poke the ends into the top of the hat and tape in place inside the hat.
5. Decorate the hat with glitter glue, if desired. Let dry.
Optional: Poke holes in the sides of the hat. Cut a foot-long piece of elastic cord. Poke the ends through the holes from the outside in. Tie a knot in the cord and tape in place on the inside.