How-to: Make a Perfect Paper Pinwheel

Pinwheels are a great way to add some vintagey flair to a Christmas present, birthday party or wedding decor, and they’re actually really easy to make. In today’s post, I want to share how I get mine folded just right every time.

Supplies

12″ scrapbooking paper/cardstock

paper scoring tool or a ruler and pencil

heavy duty packing tape

double sided tape

scissors

paper cutter (optional)

Directions

To achieve the perfect pinwheel, I always use my paper scoring tool (it was only $12 at JoAnn’s) and a paper cutter. If you’re really careful, you can use a pencil, ruler, and scissors in place of these tools. It will take longer, but it’s an alternative to buying specialized devices. All of the instructions in this tutorial will refer to the scoring tool, just bear that in mind. 

Cut your paper exactly in half by scoring it at the 6 inch point and cutting it with a scissors or paper cutter.

^^It was really hard to make the scoring lines visible in the pictures. Sorry about how saturated they are!^^

Then, cut one of those halves in half again at the 3 inch mark.

Then, score all all the way down the long (12 inch) side of each 3 inch wide piece of paper. Make a mark every half an inch.

Fold both pieces of paper accordion style, beginning as shown, with the colorful side folded back to start.

Cut four thin strips of packing tape and stick them someplace handy. Fold each accordioned piece of paper into a fan shape and secure with packing tape.

Then, use double sided tape (I prefer to use the double sided tape that comes on a roller) to stick the centers of each fan together. Flip the pinwheel over.

Place a thin piece of packing tape as shown below. Fold the tape over the gap between each fan piece and tape to secure the edges of each fan together. Repeat on the other seam of the pinwheel.

Ta da! Knowing how to make a good pinwheel comes in more handy than you’d think. Here are a few projects I’ve done using pinwheels:

The picture at the top of this post shows how I wrapped a Christmas present using the pinwheel from the tutorial photos, adding just a bit of baker’s twine to secure the pinwheel accent!