DIY thursday - pinwheels

want to use up some of that extra paper around your place...while also creating some festive new year's decorations? look no further than this pinwheel project!

i got the directions for this project from the blog evie-s because (1) i thought it would be easy and (2) i felt pressure to make something with all the paper i have accumulated. luckily, after a couple modifications, it was super easy and it did use up a little paper!

supplies to make 1 large pinwheel:
- 8 sheets of 8.5x11 paper (i cut down my sheets from an old atlas)
- hot glue gun
- double-sided translucent tape
- card-stock/heavy weight paper (like from a cereal box)
- scissors

1. take the paper portrait - not landscape - and accordion fold it. you can do a few sheets at once to speed up the process. make the folds about an inch wide.

2. after you fold your sheets, take ONE side of each of them and while folded, cut a round edge. i used pinking shears to get different edge effects.

3. start taping the folded pieces together using your double-sided tape. be mindful of the folds...i had to take a few apart when the folding flipped.

4. fan out this strip and make it into a round shape - creating a circle - and close it up using the tape.

5. cut out two circles from your card-stock/heavier paper and hot glue them to each side of your pinwheel to stabilize and add pizzazz. 

you are finished!

i love mobiles, so i added a little ribbon and hung mine in the kitchen with some fishing line. the pinwheel pleasantly twirls around...plus the map paper is thin enough for the window light to shine through it.

if you want to make a smaller pinwheel: cut the 8.5x11 sheet in half = 4.25x11...use 4 of these sheets. the instructions also suggests stacking different sizes to get a layered effect and using a decorative edge punch...so many possibilities!