Cheap Eats and Thrifty Crafts

How to Make Pinwheels with Junk Mail

by

Here’s a great recycled craft to kick off spring with whimsy – How to Make Pinwheels with Junk Mail.

Junk mail, as its name implies, tends to go right into the “circle file” as soon as it arrives in my house. Since I put it in a “paper only” can, I can easily pull it out when I need a surface to paint on and protect my work surface. But this time I decided to mix things up and try out my new Sizzix Pinwheel die cut with the colorful junk mail.

IMG_2637

The pinwheel die makes cutting perfect pinwheels a dream! They aren’t hard to cut by hand but kids love to turn the handle of the die cutting machine-they really think it’s magic and are amazed with what comes out. I have so much fun die cutting with kids.

IMG_2630

I made it mandatory that I use all recycled elements for this project as I was hosting a craft at the Burbank Recycle Center and I felt it was important to really keep to the recycled message.

IMG_2633

So I used recycled telephone wire to attach the pinwheel to the stick handle.

If you haven’t worked with recycled telephone wire you will love it. I grew up working with it as my Dad would bring it home from work occasionally and we would make wire wrapped jewelry with it.

How to Make Pinwheels With Junk Mail

Materials:

  • Junk Mail / Recycled Paper
  • Recycled telephone wire
  • Round nose pliers
  • Pinwheel die cut
  • Sticks from your yard

Instructions:

  1. I cut a piece about 10 inches long and made a small coil at one end with round nose pliers.

2. I threaded the straight end of the wire through the 4 holes at the corners of the pinwheel die cut and then through the center hole.

IMG_2634

3. Then I wrapped the wire around a piece of bamboo a bunch of times. I wrapped the remaining few inches of wire around the first bit of wire coming from the back of the pinwheel. This will aid in spinning.

Note: As I was making them with very little kids and I was sticking to only using recycled materials, I didn’t use straight pins, so getting these to spin really well takes a bit of time to get the backing wire smooth. I did make a version with small scraps of craft foam on the front and back of the paper pinwheel and they spun like a dream!

Note: For the handle, I simply went out to the yard and trimmed my bamboo. This stuff grows like crazy and it makes a great craft material. If you don’t have it in your yard, look around at your neighbors; if they have it, I bet they would be more than happy to share as it needs regular trimming. Sticks, I bet, would work too.

Do you have a spring recycled craft idea?

Latest posts by Stefanie Girard (see all)

Crochet

Main Dishes

Jewelry

Casseroles

Knitting

Slow Cooker