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You Will Need:
Wooden dowel (1 per pinwheel—sizes range from 1/8 inch to 1 inch; ours are 3/8 inch)
Acrylic paint for handle (we used white, but you should choose a color that complements your pinwheel)
Drill with a small bit
Manila file folders or other l ightweight cardboard (2 per pinwheel plus one for each template)
X-Acto® blade with multiple-size blades and cutting mat
Vintage handkerchiefs, bandannas, aprons, etc. (2 variations per pinwheel)
1/8 inch hole punch
All-purpose craft glue
2-inch nail (1 per pinwheel)
Permanent spray adhesive (such as Accent® Spray Adhesive)
Hammer
Getting The Goods
For a Kinko's near you, (800) 254-6567, www.kinkos.com. | 
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Produced By Lori Hellander And Barbara Elliot Martin �?Text By Vitta Poplar �?Photography By Tom McWilliam As The Swirl Turns
Using this template, you could go large or small—if you want to make a huge statement, have it enlarged and duplicated on a blueprint copier. We’re showing six different pinwheel sizes, which means we used 12 pieces of manila or light cardboard, and 12 different fabric patterns (we actually used less, repeating a single pattern in different sizes to make it look different). Keep in mind that crafts books for kids recommend just using a pencil as a dowel and folding the arms down and pinning them in place with hat pin. It’s not as sturdy, but it’ll do in a pinch.
How to make it:
1. Prepare dowel for handle by painting it with acrylic paint. Let dry.
2. Using small drill bit, drill hole about an inch down from the top halfway through the dowel and set aside.
3. For each pinwheel, copy the template from the magazine on a sheet of paper at desired size. Trace copy onto cardboard and cut out using an X-Acto® blade.
4. Make color copies of fabric at sizes large enough to cover template. You’ll need 4 copies—two patterns—per pinwheel.
5. Take two additional pieces of cardboard and use spray adhesive to attach fabric color copies to front and back. Use a contrasting pattern on each side.
6. Place the template on each sheet of color-copy-mounted cardboard. Trace around the edges with a pencil. Cut out. You will do this twice. Reserve the scraps of color-copy-mounted cardboard for step 11.
7. Use the hole punch to punch holes in each piece of color-copy-mounted cardboard where indicated by dots on original magazine template.
8. Determine which side of each pinwheel you want to dominate and place these sides on a surface facing up.
9. Now turn over the top pinwheel and apply a few dots of glue on the middle underside.
10. Turn the top piece back over, press onto the bottom pinwheel part, and rotate so that it forms a diamond on top of a square. One by one, slip the “arms�?under each other so that the pieces are meshed. Your pinwheel is still lying flat.
11. Take a scrap of color-copy-mounted cardboard from step 6. Place a quarter on one and trace a circle. Cut out. Use the hole punch to add a hole in the middle.
12. Slip circle onto nail and slide down until it stops at the head of the nail.
13. Turn the “arms�?of the pinwheel in one by one, slipping them onto the nail by way of their prepunched holes (the ones you made in step 7). Start with one and work around consecutively from there.
14. Thread nail through hole in the center of the pinwheel so that it protrudes out the back.
15. Set nail in hole in top of dowel and tap in with hammer until it is embedded.
16. Rotate pinwheel a couple of times by hand just to get it going.
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