A Moose, Some Silly Putty ... And A Desperate Plea For Help [closed]

Question

Note: This event ended on Friday, December 22. This question is now closed to prevent submissions of new answers.

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Due to a rather unfortunate series of events that can be directly attributed to a surplus of egg nog, the company that provides our hat rentals has requested that we immediately return them without refund. We can't really get into the particulars of what went down, but we did our best to explain to them that I couldn't have known that a moose would react that way to silly putty.

Because of this, we need your help. We need to come up with approximately 20 - 30 more hat designs. Sounds pretty simple, right?

There is one tiny caveat (from an email I received earlier today from Jay Hanlon, VP of Holiday Cheer):

... because of holiday vacation schedules, we're short on people, so our kids are going to be doing most of the work on getting the new hats into the system. The designs will have to be done using crayon, construction paper, finger paints, water colors, popsicle sticks, paste & glue and other sorts of materials. Let them know that we don't recommend silly putty if they happen to be working near a moose.

That's right, you'll need to make hats that exist in the physical realm, from materials that aren't generally thought of as being choking hazards, suitable for developers ages 3 and above.

You'll need to provide at least one photograph of your creation as an answer to this question in order to qualify to win a box full o' swag containing a T-shirt and stickers and at least some of the following items:

• Nalgene water bottles
• Notebooks
• Sharpies & Other SE/SO branded office supplies
• Stickers from various SE sites
• Whatever else might be haunting our warehouse

The top voted hats may or may not be used as the basis of secret hats near the end of Winter Bash this year, or as totally new hats next year. We just can't say. We're talking silly putty and a moose here people, everything is up in the air at this point. I accept full responsibility for this.

Here are the rules:

1. You must come up with a creation that represents (in some way) a hat, consisting of artistic mediums that are not run as computer applications and suitable for children 3+ years of age. You can use Photoshop or Paint, but you'll have to print it and make it part of something else.

2. You must upload at least one picture of your creation, and provide any background or context needed for others to appreciate its brilliance. We suggest including only the hat in the image (though background 'noise' is fine), remember that all contributions are CC-BY-SA.

3. All submissions must be family friendly and adhere to our be nice policy.

4. Employees (former and current) may submit an entry, but won't be eligible to win swag. I MEAN HOW MUCH SWAG DO YOU GREEDY PEOPLE ACTUALLY NEED?!

5. Answers must maintain an aggregate positive score to qualify. All answers that have a net zero or positive score at the end of the contest will win.

6. Contents of prize packages may vary, depending on availability of items; every effort to ensure equal value of all packages will be made.

7. You are responsible for the creation and execution of your design. If you fancy lasers and explosions and things get out of hand, it's not our fault.

Contest begins today, Thursday, December 14, 2017 and ends on Friday, December 22, 2017 at 20:00:00 UTC.

Want to join in on the fun? Get your smock, grab some clay & finger paints and get to designing!

_{Note: We're not really giving back all of the hats, we're just pretending to so we can have some formerly age-appropriate fun}

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Update:

Thank you all for the amazing submissions! Not only did you help make the holiday a bit brighter for everyone, you've inspired quite a few of next year's hats!

Everyone that submitted a positively scored submission will receive a care package (even if it went in a tad after the ending); we'll be reaching out to you soon. However, we're no longer accepting submissions.

Happy holidays, everyone!

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You should have received an email by now :)

We've contacted everyone eligible to get something, if you didn't get something and think we might have missed you, make sure you check your spam folder and if nothing is there, contact us and let us know. Seriously, though, please check your spam folder - Hotmail and others are notorious about tossing stuff in the bin even from trusted contacts if the same email is sent to more than a few people using it.

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Status

Quoting the comment by animuson:

Anyone waiting for their swag, please keep an eye out here for updates.

Answer 1

I propose the hat:

Mark(er)s of the great asker

Awarded to users who ask 4 or more new questions in a single day, with a score of greater than 3 on each of the question.

Materials used:

• 1 x Small Lid (I've used copper lid since I couldn't find a silver or gold one)
• 4 X markers (have used Faber Castell Highlighers of different shades)
• Some magic tape

Building instructions:

• Tape the top end of markers closely to each other at the top, forming an arc of ~ 15 degree
• Tape the circumference of the lid in reverse
• Stick the bottom end of markers at appropriate distance
• Congratulations on your new hat!

Answer 2

Confuse-a-moose hat

The obvious position of the eyes and the reindeer nose should confuse a moose which expects to see a person.

For small children, sellotape can be used to combine the elements. Slightly older children could use a large blunt needle.

Suggestion:

Handle 10 automatic low-quality flags.

Answer 3

I Am Jon Skeet Hat

Materials

• Ball cap (I chose black, but the color doesn't matter)
• Cellophane tape
• Cut out pencil sketch of Jon Skeet's face

Assembly

1. Take two strips of tape and loop them on themselves so that you have two loops of tape with the sticky around the entire outside
2. Stick the tape on the back of the sketch
3. Use the tape on the sketch to attach it to the back of the ball cap (The ball cap should be worn backwards.)

Suggested trigger

Hit the rep cap 14 days in a row during Winter Bash.

Why this cap?

Come on, the rest of us want a chance (however small) to feel like just a bit Jon Skeet for a few days...

Answer 4

Tape Hat

It's a hat made entirely out of tape.

No frame, no base hat, just duct tape*. You can actually wear this, and it won't stick to your hair. It was a pain to make, though.

Possible trigger:

Edit a question that you posted and got closed, and it later gets reopened.

Materials:

• Duct tape*
• A hard hat to shape it around (this isn't part of the final hat)

^{*Masking tape was used for the logo on the front.}

Answer 5

Extremely simple to make "out of order" hat

In this comment I just read that the point of Winter-bash was to get people to be more active.

Oops.

My idea was well-intended and has the extra side-effect of making it easier even for new people to at least get some hats and lead a well-balanced life with friends and family over the holiday.

Tim, this is just outrageous. Having those poor children work before Christma, tss, tss, tss. That's the only solution you came up with after the great moose fiasco?

And don't even get me started on the staff not getting any swag. You people are brutal.

My idea

does not harm any animals and most of the work should be done by grownups. And it is finished in a jiffy.

Note: This idea calls for the grownup to pre-draw some animals that the little children can color in and put sticky stars around. If you think your children might cry, when you try to draw a kitty or unicorn, do not do this at home.

Disclaimer, I warned you.

What this hat is for

This hat is for members with ABSOLUTELY no activity on SO on Dec 31, 2017, any timezone.

It is called

Out of Order

or (alternatively)

Get a life. 

What you need:

• a felt tip pen, preferrably in black or ordinary pen (for the grownups)
• any sticky stars or glitter you still have from last year
• some cardboard (use an old Ipad box, the cardboard feels endlessly superior to ordinary cardboard)
• crayons in all colors
• a hat, cap, antlers or anything else you can put on your head
• a clothespin, prefereably in pink

Or, whatever, get wild and use whatever deems fit.

Instructions

• The grownups write "out of order" on the cardboard, and predraw some kittens or unicorns
• The children color it in and add glitter and sticky stars
• Bonus points if you can make the SO logo not look like someone throwing up in a pail
• The cardboard is pinned to the hat with a clothespin. Add extra staples or glue for support

Answer 6

I have a series of hats, themed together!

Materials:

• Five Pokemon plushies: Eevee, Fennekin, Espeon, Pikachu, and Umbreon
• Loads of tape
• The plastic lid of some kind of candy container (children may consume candy with parent's permission)
• USB cable for the chin strap (may be substituted with paper straps for the little little ones.)

First up, our "Normal" hat:

Evolve! - Edit your own negatively scored question. Its score becomes +3 or more.

Next on the list, a fire-based hat:

Use Flame Charge! - Post 5 answers or questions within 15 days, all of them scoring at least +3. No negatively scored posts in this time.

Coming in next, we have a bit of a psychic:

Premonition - Vote up on a negatively scored post (or down on a positively scored post) and have the score go positive (or negative) within 3 days. Post must be at least -2/+2

Now, an image we all recognize, "shockingly" as a hat:

Shockingly Recognized - Receive 10 comment pings within as many days.

And finally, my personal favorite for last, the "Moonlight" Pokemon:

Asking by Moonlight - Post a question between 9pm and 5am anywhere.

You may notice white covers on all faces... I made some slight alterations to my plushies for (hopefully) obvious reasons.

Answer 7

When I told my kids about this my daughter was all over it.

This baseball cap is made out of the crumpled up previous attempts at making a hat, so I would suggest:

Persistance - Edit your own post at least twice, taking it from a negative to a positive score.

Answer 8

Nobody Calls Me Chicken

Improve a post from 2015 and in the present year.

Marty McFly went Back to the Future, and so can you.

1. Edit any question or answer originally posted in 2015, having it subsequently get upvoted by another user, AND
2. Edit any question or answer originally posted in the current year, having it subsequently get upvoted by another user.
   • I.e. if this were for this year's Winter Bash, Winter Bash 2017, 2017 would be the "current year".

Answer 9

The Unicorn Hat:

Awarded for attempting to Bribe the SE officials with Unicorn Dollars, in an attempt to "HAVE ALL TEH HATZ!"

Materials:

• Child that loves Unicorns
• Cardboard
• Mom's Markers
• Dad's Scotch Tape
• Rainbow Dash Hat
• Imagination
• Believing in Unicorns and Rainbows

Answer 10

Bamba Hat

Everyone love Bamba! It's really popular!

Actual usage:

                  

This hat can be awarded for getting 1000 views on a question posted during winter bash, but only when at least 10% of the views are from logged in users with at least 50 reputation.

Answer 11

His Appendage

(Yes, it is a colander. Not pictured is me wearing it to high school graduation to get one-over on my religion teacher, because that was embarassing).

It's a reference to the Holy Church of the flying spaghetti monster.

How to acquire: Post 3 comments with 3 upvotes each under 3 answers to questions you have answered.

Answer 12

The <insert three letter synonym for donkey starting with the letter A> Hat

Proposed achievement

The *ssHat: Vote the same question or answer once up and once down on consecutive days.

Materials needed

• Any baseball cap
• Paper
• Pencils
• Scissors
• Tape or glue

Answer 13

The Minimalist:

A very minimal hat, with a very basic (minimalist) look

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Tools Used

Paper, Scissors, Tape (Printer to print logo)

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Ideas on how to earn the hat:

1. Ask a question using the 15 character minimum for the title (no more, no less) which has a score of 3+

-

2. Make 5 edits that only consist of the minimum 6 characters*

-

3. Ask a question with the minimum 30 characters* in body (+3)

-

4. Post an answer with the minimum 30 characters* in body (+3

_{Maybe it can be a hard hat to earn, by combining 1 and 3}

_{*No More, No Less}

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More images:

Answer 14

The Super-Propeller

No longer limited to Nooglers, fans of the fan(-hat) can now enjoy the modernized and electrically operated variant of this classic. Recommended for achievements earned by Noog-stackers (name, and lawsuit, pending), this hat will start their journey to new heights.

Post your first answer and have it reach five upvotes.

Answer 15

Hat / Badge / Whatever:

• Answer appears on 100 other sites VIA ROBOT Stack-Exchange scrapers.

or

• Scraped 10,000 SE answers in 1 day - awarded to ROBOTS.

_____________________

Hat for ROBOT modelled here by my end-effectorless Meccano ROBOT.
Only somewhat decayed version for SE members worn modelled here by moi.
[It's late, I only saw this question earlier today, I want some SWAG, this seemed like a half plausible hat, other excuses, ...)

B.O.M. :

Inverted camera bag, aftermarket, used, shell for the formation of.

Junk box / workshop stuff. Non exclusively including:

• Resistors, bandoliered, misc, some of
  ribbon cable,
  AC SS relay,
  Fan.
  Reel of LEDs 12V operating,
  Pi, Raspberry
  Arduino mit bread-board.
  Stuff
  More Stuff
  ...
  PSU, 12V, stage lower off. Battery may be used in lieu.

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_____________________________

Left: ... Tasteful illumination. ..... Right: Top view from rear

_____________________________

Answer 16

The Sweet 2018 Hat

Award for any useful action done on 1st of January.

Creation:

• Wash your hands(there will surely be some licking involved!)
• You need a bowl, some silicone muffin liners, parchment paper and
  chocolate.
• Melt the chocolate in microwave (careful to not overheat it). Put one liner in the bowl and cover it with warm chocolate on the outside.
• Put it on parchment paper.
• Put some chocolate in a bag and pipe "2018" on the parchment paper
• Put the parchment paper and the liner in the freezer for a few
  minutes.
• Peel off the liner from the harden chocolate.
• Stick the year to the hat using a bit of warm chocolate.

The process can leave behind quite a mess, but it's easy enough for a child to be involved for most of the steps.

Answer 17

The knowledge Hat

Things used

• Paper
• sticky tape
• Pen
• My arcane knowledge of the programming world

Advantages

• Its versatile. It can change everyday with new knowledge to impart
• You wear the hat once you know all it has to impart.
• Children friendly.

Possible trigger

Earn a bounty on a question which has no or relatively less answers as compared to the number of visits.

Answer 18

The negative-space hat

Possible trigger: It's defined by what's around it rather than by what it says for itself. So it's awarded to someone who shares a link to a post that's visited by at least five distinct IP addresses, and who did not post that question, any answer to it, a comment on any of those, or a bounty on the question.

(The rules of this contest didn't say the hat must be wearable.)

Answer 19

Nice Try Hat

Made entirely out of packing material left over after assembling a cheap sofa:

• Foam tubes for the structural elements
• Packing tape for the ball on top
• Warning and instructional stickers (that the clever workers taped onto the foil packaging with more packing tape instead of removing from the backing paper and sticking it on directly as intended) as adhesive strips and makeshift duct tape.

The philosophy behind it consists of two major parts*:

1. Building something at least marginally useful out of something that others would consider as waste, thereby granting a second life to some material, unexpected for all participants (material, artist, viewer). Meanwhile by limiting the palette of usable materials it helps the artist and the viewer appreciate what is given instead of focusing on what is not given or taken away, thereby forming a small tranquil island of appreciation and simplicity in the sea of insatiable consumerism raging on these days and years. The usage of the stickers as binding elements represent the recognition of the possibilities inherent in a situation that would otherwise be thought of as a failure or a lazy hack.
2. Taking out the anger, hate, frustration and stress that got accumulated during assembling the aforementioned piece of furniture in two different configurations across three days and with a trip to the hardware store to buy screws that are long enough in a time when we're supposed to be quietly waiting for a happy event.

How to earn it

Edit a question that has a negative score, after the edit it gets downvoted even more and you edit it again.

This reflects the perseverance even in the face of futility, with the intent of saving or maybe just marginally improving something deemed unsalvageable, the sisyphean task of never giving up, never surrendering.

*: Warning, may or may not contain semi-intellectual bull$hit

Answer 20

OH MY GOSH SO MANY QUESTIONS NO TIME FOR HATS hat.

It's winter, there's so much to do and so many questions to answer, we have no time for hats!

I present to you the 'OH MY GOSH SO MANY QUESTIONS NO TIME FOR HATS' hat. As an invisible hat wouldn't really make a point, we had to go with the simple 'black' hat. (Also available in white and grey ;))

Materials required:

• A [Black|White|Grey] hat.
• A timepiece
• (Optional) blue fog to appear out of/disappear into.

Ways to earn:

• Add bounties to at least 3 questions
• Answer at least 3 questions in one day, all getting upvoted
• Have no hats after X number of days of winter bash

EDIT:

Another version in the wild was spotted:

Also optional are the lego sets, and wolverine / big daddy / JokerDino artworks.

Answer 21

This is a very basic hat and easy to build hat - If you remove the glue and paint, and use eadible paper even below 3y old could participate

Tools needed:

• nerves
• paper
• some glue or tesafilm
• nerves
• [pens, pencils, watercolor, ...] for decoration with colors (this step can be avoided by upcycling discarded christmas wrapping paper)
• washing agent to remove glue and residual paints from fingers, faces, clothing and livestock

Winning conditions:

• post "a" question after starting of actual years winter bash!

Answer 22

Pen and Paper Hat

Awarded to any new user who is active during his first winter bash. Pen and paper indicates solving things on his/her own before asking the question to the community.

_{* Thanks to my niece for the crayons!}

Answer 23

A Hat of Generations of Mobiles

Materials Used

1. Mobiles - 7

2. A Cube and a battery - to mock the head (can't fix it with glue because most of the phones are still usable)

Idea

This hat contains generations of mobiles.

My first Tata Samsung CDMA Black and White phone used 13 years ago, Nokia X2-01 used 7 years ago, Samsung wave 525 used 4 years ago, Yureka used 6 months ago, Jio Phone which I am using currently and few spare phones.

Can be awarded for hitting the rep cap on 4 consecutive days (We're currently on 4G. So each one indicate one generation. 1G, 2G, 3G and 4G)

Top View

Front View

Side View

Back View

Answer 24

Master of My Fate, Captain of My Soul Hat

You can get into the nautical spirit this season with this festive captain's hat! By participating in the StackExchange network, upvoting others' questions and answers, and providing your own questions and answers, you are truly proving that you are the master of your own fate (as well as others)!

This is no ordinary captain's hat. This is a convertible hat! With a few quick adjustments, you can turn your "Master of My Fate" hat into a sailing vessel worthy of sailing the seven seas, or the River of Fate, or ... maybe just a pail of water.

How do I get this Hat?

This hat is awarded by being the master of your own fate, of course! Post a question or answer and receive at least one up-vote, and you are now the master of your own (Stack Exchange) Fate!

Materials

• 2 sheets of paper
• Tape
• Marker or crayon
• (Optional) body of water.

Answer 25

A Unicorn Hat

This Idea is proposed by me and made by my cousin.

Made of

2 sheets of newspaper and few staples.

Story

I told about this to my cousin and he's very much interested to participate in this event. But since he's not familiar with Stack Overflow or any other SE sites, I gave him few ideas and he chose the Unicorn one.

Can be awarded for

don't know actually but may be for visit the site 10 days during winterbash and not winning single hat.

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^{Note : This account I used to post this answer belongs to the account Sagar V a.k.a Optimus Prime and is a sock(many mods and few SE staff knew that). And the reason for posting this from my sock is that it is actually a creation by a third person doesn't familiar with SE. If this worthy of any Swag, my previous entry should not cancel this one}