DIY Giant Pinwheels Tutorial

Hello, everyone! I hope you all have had a wonderful start to your summer! The last few weeks have been pretty crazy for us: we've had to scrap my husband's car, our computer hard drive failed, our garage door needed to be replaced, and our deck is in need of repairs. When it rains, it pours, am I right? Plus, I've taken on a summer child-care job, even though I normally try to take the summer off. 

On the up side, we've had a lot of help from family, and we've been keeping pretty busy doing fun things despite our limited transportation. 

Yesterday, the kids and I made some giant pinwheels:

I love pinwheels! They're pretty and fun, and really simple to make. For these DIY GIant Pinwheels you will need:

  • 12x12" paper- either one double-sided piece OR two single-sided pieces per pinwheel
  • dowel rods (I used 5/16" x 36")
  • pencil-top erasers
  • ball-headed stright pins (quilting pins work really well)
  • pencil
  • ruler or yard stick
  • hot glue gun
  • scissors or craft knife and cutting mat

First, glue your pencil-top erasers to one end of the dowels and set them aside. Lay down two coordinating pieces of 12x12 paper, right sides together. On the back of one piece, measure and draw a line 6 inches in from each corner.

Keeping the two pieces face-to-face, use your scissors or craft knife to cut along the lines, making sure not to cut past the end. Flip your pages back-to-back so you have a pattern/color showing on both the front and back. On one side, mark the center of the paper. This will be the inside/front of your pinwheel.

Fold in alternating corner sections and secure with a straight pin. Push the pin through the mark in the center of your paper, and then into the eraser at the top of one of your dowels.

Push the pin all the way through the eraser so that a good portion of it sticks out the back. You want the pin to be in far enough that it won't pop out, but not so far that it's too tight for the pinwheel to spin. Secure the back with some hot glue. Use enough glue to cover the entire end of the pin so it is no longer sharp. 

Be sure to let the glue cool completely before using your pinwheel. You are done!

These giant pinwheels won't be easy to make spin by blowing on them, but they catch the wind really well, and walking quickly with them is a great way to get them spinning! Now, go make a boquet of them!