If you have been looking for a birthday card design that goes beyond a standard sentiment and a bow, these watercolor party hat print and cut designs might be exactly what you need. Seven hand-painted designs are now live in the Silhouette Design Store, and the sample cards below show just how many different looks you can pull from a single hat design depending on the background you choose.
All the printable backgrounds used on the cards in this post are my own designs, also available in the Silhouette Design Store.
The Doodled Happy Birthday Banners are a separate print and cut set that coordinates with all seven hats. Keep reading to see each design in action and find the full supplies list for every card.
About the Designs
There are two distinct styles in this collection. Five of the hats feature a polka dot body with a pair of doodled curly ribbon streamers at the top. The other two are wide rainbow-banded hats with an explosive burst of multicolour curly streamers that really fill out a card front. All seven are hand-painted watercolor print and cut designs sized large so you can use them at full size for a bold focal point or scale them down in Silhouette Studio® for tags, smaller cards, or layered projects.
The Cards
Blue Purple Polka Dot Party Hat
The soft blue hat with purple and pink polka dots works beautifully against a mixed-media background with layered text and painted colour. The clipping mask on the background gives the card a shaped decorative edge that frames the hat without competing with it. Clear gems add a finishing touch without overcomplicating the design.
Designs used in this card:
Purple Blue Polka Dot Party Hat
The deep purple hat with pale blue dots takes on a completely different feel against a bright multi-coloured painted background in pinks, yellows and blues. This one uses scattered rhinestones in mixed colours for a party-ready finish. It is a good example of how much the background influences the mood of the finished card.
Designs used in this card:
Purple Pink Polka Dot Party Hat
The plum and pink combination is one of my favourites in the polka dot set. Paired here with a soft pink and lilac mixed-media background with text overlay, the hat sits beautifully without the two elements fighting for attention. The loosely painted magenta streamers at the top tie the hat colour back into the background perfectly.
Designs used in this card:
Rainbow Party Hat
The rainbow blues hat is full of vibrant colour and different just how differently it reads depending on your background choice. The first uses a cool blue and purple watercolor wash that lets the hat’s own colour range carry the card. The second pairs it with a soft blue speckled texture that gives the multicolour streamers room to really pop.
This design also works well for pride celebration projects. The rainbow bands suit a range of colour palettes beyond the traditional birthday context.
Designs used in card 1:
- Rainbow Reds Party Hat Print and Cut
- Turquoise Purple Watercolor Blend Canvas Background
- Doodled Happy Birthday Banners Sentiments
Designs used in card 2:
Rainbow Blues Party Hat
The cool-toned rainbow hat flows from cobalt blue and turquoise at the base up through green, yellow, orange and purple, finished with a wild burst of multicolour streamers. Shown here on an Alice in Wonderland text background in a soft pink and mixed-media palette. The warm tones in the hat pick up the pinks and reds in the background without being an exact match, which keeps the card from feeling flat. Red rhinestones scattered across the card tie the whole design together.
Designs used in this card:
Pink Green Polka Dot Party Hat
Hot pink with olive green polka dots is an unexpected pairing that works really well in print. The pink and green streamers keep the colour story consistent from top to bottom. A bright floral or botanical printed background would suit this one well. No card sample yet, but it is ready to shop now.
Orange Blue Polka Dot Party Hat
The warm orange-red hat with soft blue polka dots and red and navy streamers is a bold, high-contrast combination that would suit a vivid painted background or a darker textured paper. No card sample for this one yet, but it is available now in the store.
Designs in this preview:
Orange Blue Polka Dot Party Hat Print and Cut
Pink Green Polka Dot Party Hat Print and Cut
The Happy Birthday Banners
The Happy Birthday banners seen on every card in this post come from one set with several banner styles to choose from. It is designed to coordinate with print and cut focal elements and is available separately in the store.
About the Backgrounds
All the printable backgrounds used on the sample cards in this post are my own designs and are available in the Silhouette Design Store. Each one is a printable design sized to fill a standard square card base as a print and cut design. I like to have the background design cover both the front and back of the card but the options are endless in how you can style the background for your cards.
Browse the Full Collection
All seven party hat designs are now live in the Silhouette Design Store.
- Blue Purple Polka Dot Party Hat Print and Cut (SKU D-1347174)
- Orange Blue Polka Dot Party Hat Print and Cut (SKU D-1347175)
- Pink Green Polka Dot Party Hat Print and Cut (SKU D-1347177)
- Purple Blue Polka Dot Party Hat Print and Cut (SKU D-1347179)
- Purple Pink Polka Dot Party Hat Print and Cut (SKU D-1347183)
- Rainbow Blues Party Hat Print and Cut (SKU D-1347187)
- Rainbow Reds Party Hat Print and Cut (SKU D-1347189)
- Doodled Happy Birthday Banners Sentiments (SKU D-375342)
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