how to making a fancy pinwheel

How to Making a Fancy Pinwheel.

Pinwheels are a beautiful decoration and delight children of all ages. Use them to decorate your yard for a party, or happily watch your children as they admire the bright colors whirling together. Once you know how to make a basic pinwheel, you can make a fancier one with more spokes. You can also make a disc-shaped pinwheel. It won't spin, but it'll look lovely as a wall decoration or ornament.

1. Cut a hexagon shape out of paper. Draw or print a hexagon directly on the paper you will be using. Cut the hexagon out using a pair of scissors or a metal ruler and a sharp blade.

Scrapbooking paper works especially well for this, especially the double-sides kind.

2. Connect all of the corners so that they meet in the center. Use a ruler and a pencil to trace lines from corner-to-corner on you hexagon. When you are done, you will have a * shape in the center.

3. Cut partway along each line. Stop when you are about a third of the way from the center. Do not cut across the lines all the way to the middle, or the hexagon will fall apart.

4. Fold every other corner to the center. Start at the top, and work your way around in a circle until you are back where you are started. Make sure that the corners overlap in the middle of the pinwheel. Do not crease or bend the paper, however; you want to keep those nice curves!

5. Push a pin through the center of the pinwheel. Make sure that you catch all of the folded-over corners. Have the tip of the pin come out the back of the pinwheel. Wiggle the pin a little to help widen and loosen the hole.

6. Add a couple of beads onto the pin. You only need 1 to 3 beads. These will help lift the pinwheel away from the dowel and allow it to spin. Avoid using large beads, like pony beads, however.

7. Make a pilot hole in the top of the dowel. Use a thumbtack to punch a hole in the dowel, ½ inch (1.27 centimeters) away from the tip. If you need to, use a hammer to help drive the thumbtack into dowel, then pull the thumbtack out.

8. Push the pinwheel into the dowel. Give the pinwheel a test spin. If it gets stuck, pull the pushpin out a little further. If the pushpin comes out of the back of the dowel, bend it down with some pliers or a hammer. If the pin is too loose, pull it out, add some glue into the hole, then push it back in again.

Things You'll Need.

Colorful paper.

Pencil.

Ruler.

Scissors.

Pushpin.

Small beads.

Thumbtack.

Hammer (if needed).

Short, thin dowel.


Tips.

Make your pinwheel out of thin plastic, such as acetate, binder dividers, or stencil plastic.

Wrap a pretty ribbon in a spiral around the dowel before adding the pinwheel.

For an even fancier pinwheel, paint the stick with acrylic paint or spray paint beforehand. Let it dry before adding the pinwheel.

You can use a drinking straw instead of a dowel. It won't be as durable, but it will be easier to assemble.

Glue a bead, button, or charm to the pin on the front of your pinwheel for a fancy touch.

Make your own double-sided scrapbooking paper by gluing two sheets of paper back-to-back.

Decorate plain paper with rubber stamps.

You can make a simpler pinwheel by securing everything with a thumbtack to the side of a pencil eraser.