Decorate your yard for a barbecue – or just a pleasant summer day – with pinwheels made of pretty papers and a few inexpensive supplies.
This week’s craft project is one that both the young and young-at-heart can enjoy. Kids will be able to handle the job, but a bit of adult supervision to begin with is a good idea.
Check out the scrapbooking section of your local craft store for a wide selection of decorative papers.
Craft Mart, in the Marysville Town Center Mall, has papers ranging from whimsical to elegant and costing between 59 cents and $1.59 for a 12-inch square.
You can also use prepackaged origami papers, which come in a variety of colors, including holographic and metallic.
For our samples, we chose a multicolored M&M paper, a red and black Mickey Mouse pattern, and an assortment of solid-color origami papers.
The M&M and Mickey Mouse papers were $1.59 per sheet, and you can get four 6-by-6-inch squares out of each 12-by-12-inch sheet.
A 6-inch square works best; smaller is too hard to work with, and larger makes for a floppy and sloppy pinwheel that won’t spin correctly.
The ideal “stick” for the pinwheel is a plastic straw, because you can push the ends of the brass fastener (see instructions below) through the straw and secure the pinwheel loosely enough so that it will spin easily.
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What you’ll need
* Paper
* Pencil * Ruler
* Scissors
* One-hole punch
* Brass fasteners
* Wire cutters
* Skewers or craft dowels
* Clear adhesive tape
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Trouble is, we were unsuccessful at finding straws large enough to support the pinwheel or to accommodate the brass fasteners; dainty, skinny sippers must be in vogue these days.
In lieu of straws, we suggest using wooden skewers or small craft dowels. They present a bit more of a challenge as far as attaching the pinwheel, but work well enough in the end.
An alternative to making a spinning pinwheel is to string a bunch of completed pinwheels, sans sticks or straws, on invisible thread or fishing line to make a decorative garland for plants or bushes.
As mentioned above, this is a simple craft that will keep children occupied during vacation days, but we suggest that adults make a practice run through the instructions so that they can assist kids in the process the first time around.
Here are the step-by-step instructions:
1. Cut a 6-by-6-inch square of paper.
2. On wrong side of paper, lightly draw two diagonal lines from one corner to the opposite corner to form an X.
3. Cut along each of the lines, beginning at each corner and cutting toward the center of the X, stopping between 1/2 and 1 inch from the center point. Be sure to stop at the same distance from each of the four corners.
4. Using a one-hole punch, punch a hole at the exact center of the square.
5. At each corner, punch a hole near the tip of one side of the cut line, making sure to punch the hole on the same side of the cut at each corner.
6. Fold one corner with the hole down to line up with the hole in the center of the square and hold in place, repeat with each corner around the square, then secure all of the folded pieces in place with a brass fastener.
7. Using wire cutters, trim the ends of the prongs on the brass fasteners so that they just wrap around a wooden skewer or craft dowel.
8. Place the dowel or skewer at the back of the pinwheel, leaving about 1/4-inch above the fastener, and wrap the fastener ends backwards around the dowel or skewer. Secure in place using a very thin piece of clear adhesive tape.
Note: To make sure that the pinwheel will spin, don’t make the brass fastener too tight, and make sure the tape doesn’t touch the paper.
E-mail Jonetta Coffin at jrocoffin@aol.com.
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