Today we are going to show you how to make a paper pinwheel. These are great decorations for parties, cake or cupcake toppers, or just to add some fun color to a bedroom wall! They are very simple to make and require minimal materials. Here's what you will need to make one:
-Card stock paper- the size of the paper depends on the size you'd like to make your pinwheel. I will be using a 12x12 piece of card stock for this tutorial but you can definitely make them smaller or even bigger. The main criteria is that your paper is a SQUARE.
-Brads or buttons for the center of your pinwheel
-Wooden dowel or paper straw
-Scissors and glue
-Ruler
-Pencil or push pins, or hole punch
*Optional- clothespins ( to attach your pinwheels somewhere) or punch board and punches (if you want them to spin). I have linked the ones I purchase off of Amazon.
Ok, so let's make some pinwheels! First step is to make sure you're working with a square piece of paper. If your paper is an 8.5x11 size then you will need to cut it into a square.
Using a pencil and a ruler, draw a line from one corner of your square almost to the center. Doing this on all four corners will form an X without a center. Mark the center with a small dot as well as one side of each line you've drawn ( as shown below).
Once you've created your pinwheel template you will take your scissors and cut along the lines you've drawn. Make sure not to cut all the way into the center of the paper or you will lose your shape completely!
Now it’s time to form the pinwheel. Start at the bottom and bring each left hand corner to the center circle and hold in place. If you are using your punch board, you will want to create a hole in the center where you've put your dot as well as the small dots you created on the corners so that you can feed the punch board piece through them to hold the pieces in place. I used a hole punch for the corners and just pushed the punch board through the center on its own.
If you aren't worried about your pinwheel spinning then you can simply glue your corners to the center, lining them up with the center dot. You can then embellish your pinwheel by adding something to the center like a button, rhinestone, or sticker.
Lastly you can add your pinwheel to a paper straw or wooden dowel depending on how you'd like to use it. I put my larger pinwheels on straws using the punch board kit and the smaller pinwheels on clothespins to create a pinwheel garland.
That's how you make a paper pinwheel! It's super simple and you can make them all different colors and for different occasions. I made mine for the Fourth of July. I hope you enjoy making some of your own!