If you’re a regular of 5 Dog Farm, you’ll know I have a love of hats. Mostly cowboy hats. I’m a real Annie Oakly type but I do own all kinds. Which even includes several motorcycle helmets (they may not qualify as hats exactly). My grey helmet does all kinds of cool things but I had to own the cute pink one too. I don’t even like pink!
I don’t use a hat as a prop. I use it as a part of me. ~Isabella Blow
So when Mr. Bluejeans gave me this beautiful black cowboy hat for Christmas I was disheartened when it fit like I had a 20 gallon bucket on my head instead of a sharp looking 10 gallon hat. What to do?
First thing I did was look on Amazon to see if someone sold a hat reducer…. so to speak. Anything to make it fit tighter. What I found was something called “Hat Size Reducer Foam” for $15 a roll. Hmmm, I thought, this looks a LOT like weatherstrip tape. The same weatherstrip tape that I bought at the local hardware store last summer for 75 cents on close out.
So, I grabbed my 75 cent “Hat Size Reducer Foam” and set about making 20 gallons into 10.
Here’s how I did it:
Turn your hat upside down. If it has a band on the inside you can hide your weatherstripping Hat Size Reducer Foam under this band. If it doesn’t have a band, that’s ok… better to stick the weatherstripping on it and have it show than to have a 20 gallon hat.

Band inside of hat
Cut the foam however you like. This hat was large side to side and not so much front to back so I decided to cut strips and add as needed, starting with the sides. You can do this however you like. I’m not gonna tell a hat wearing rebel like you what to do!

Placing the foam
Place the foam where you need it.

Ta Da!
Voila! That’s all there is to it! Can you see the difference? Me either but now my beautiful hat fits and it cost pennies to do!
Needless to say, we homesteaders wear lots of hats but I think the best hat we own is our thinking cap.
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