How to Decorate a Graduation Cap: Simple DIY Tutorial

You need glitter cardstock with sticky backing (Chai picked up a stack of mixed colors), a sheet of glitter stick-on letters, a strip of rhinestones, and gorilla glue. Total bill came to about $15 from one craft store run. Glitter cardstock with adhesive backing is the key piece because it sticks to the cap on its own and only needs glue for reinforcement at the corners. If your craft store does not carry the sticky kind, grab regular glitter cardstock and plan to use more glue.

Set the cap face-down on a sheet of glitter cardstock. The cap should fit on a standard 12 by 12 inch sheet with a small margin. Hold a pen against the cap edge and run it around the perimeter, pressing firmly. The cardstock has enough give that the pen leaves a clear line you can cut along. Use any straight-edge tool to keep the four sides clean if your hand wobbles. You can skip the straight-edge and freehand the trace - the cap is small enough that small wobbles do not show in the finished piece.

The cap has a small button in the middle where the tassel hooks on. You need a hole in the cardstock at the matching spot. Press the pen tip through the cardstock against the button repeatedly until you mark a small circle. Punch around the circle several times so the outline is clear. Then carefully cut the small circle out with scissors. Slide the cardstock onto the cap to test that the button pokes through cleanly. If the hole is too small, widen it a millimeter at a time - too big and the cardstock sits crooked.

Peel the backing off the glitter cardstock and press it onto the top of the cap, lining up the tassel hole with the button. Smooth from the center outward to push any air bubbles to the edges. The adhesive backing alone is enough to hold the cardstock in place for indoor use, but for graduation day you want insurance. Run a thin bead of gorilla glue along each corner on the underside and press flat for 30 seconds. Add a small dot in the middle near the tassel hole. This means the cardstock stays attached even if the cap gets tossed at the end of the ceremony.

Pick the letters you want and peel them one at a time off the sheet. Arrange the full phrase or name on the cap before sticking anything down permanently. Most letter sheets have light adhesive on the back so you can move them around as you adjust spacing and alignment. Center the message visually and leave a little margin from the edges so the rhinestone trim has room to sit later. Chai went with a school nickname plus her university initials. Once the layout looks right, press each letter down firmly.

This is where you make the cap yours. Chai traced the continent of Africa from a map on her phone, then cut three pieces of glitter cardstock to fill the shape in Nigerian flag colors - green, white, green. Pick whatever represents you: state outline, sports team logo, religious symbol, hobby icon. Sketch it on plain paper first, cut the pattern out, then trace onto cardstock and cut. If freehand feels intimidating, print the shape, tape it to cardstock, and cut along the printed lines.

Once everything is positioned exactly where you want it, glue each piece down with gorilla glue. Lift one letter at a time, dab a small amount of glue on the back, press it back into position, and hold for 15 seconds. Do the same for the design pieces. The sticker adhesive alone might survive the ceremony, but bumps and humidity work against it. Glue is the difference between letters that stay put through the walk and a letter that lifts off in the middle of a handshake with the dean.

The rhinestone strip comes with adhesive backing. Start at one corner of the cap and press the strip along the edge, working slowly to keep it straight. When you hit a corner, gently bend the strip at a right angle. Keep going around all four sides until the strip meets back at the starting corner. Cut any excess and tuck the end under. The rhinestones frame the design and reflect light, which makes the cap pop in photos taken from the audience. Your cap is ready for graduation day.