The legendary Sorting Hat is a highly significant Hogwarts object. We wanted to have it be part of the Halloween house. So, we purchased a Sorting Hat, but it didn’t have the characteristic “eyes” and “mouth.”  An online source provided directions for how to add those features back in, which included pinning the features in place and using spray starch to lock in those folds.

We pinned the hat, trying to replicate the ‘face.’

We tried using the starch, but even using several coats did not keep the features in their positions.  So, we tried spraying the hat with clear, matte spray paint.  That provided the stiffness we needed to keep those facial features.

From there we darkened the eye and mouth areas using some watered down black acrylic, so that it would be ready to greet visitors as they came to the Hogwarts Halloween House.