Pinwheels

I'm looking forward to spending time outside with my husband and boys over Memorial Day weekend. If it's warm enough, we might even break out the tent and some s'mores and go camping in the back yard. I thought it would be fun to make a little Memorial Day decor that can also be played with, because, let's face it, they're going to play with what I make whether they're supposed to or not. This is even a craft you can make with your kids, it's so fun and fast. Here's what you'll need to make your own, fully functional, pinwheels:

1 - 6" x 6" piece of paper per pinwheel (I used My Mind's Eye Breaking Free)
1 Craft Glue Dot® per pinwheel
1 wood dowel per pinwheel
1 large eyelet per pinwheel
1 large brad per pinwheel
drill with a small drill bit
scissors

Score 2 lines diagonally (corner to corner) across your paper. If you don't have a scoring tool, just fold your paper in half (to form a triangle), unfold, and fold again the other direction.

Cut along each score line towards the center of the square. Don't cut all the way to the center, stop about 1" from the center.

Place a Craft Glue Dot® in the center of your square. Fold every other corner to the center, overlapping it slightly and attaching it to the Craft Glue Dot®.

Set a large eyelet in the center of your pinwheel.

Take your wooden dowel (you can buy these at the hardware store, but chop sticks or wooden shiskabob sticks work just as well) and drill a small hole through it about 1" from the top.

Take your brad and place it through the eyelet in the center of your pinwheel and through the hole in your wooden dowel. You can leave the legs of the brad sticking straight out, or you can flatten them to the back of your stick. Now you have a pinwheel that will spin in the breeze!


I made 3 pinwheels and planted them in jar that I filled with 1/2 marbles. They'll make a pretty decoration, but the kids can easily pull them out to play with.

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots® Design Team.