Valentine Pinwheels

So, I haven't been a very attentive blogger recently, but I have been really busy with lots of various things... I know, not a very good excuse, but I will appease you by showing you these adorable pinwheels Z and I made for Valentines.
So, we could have just bought those cheap-o cardboard Valentines from the store, but those are so not us. LOL! Plus, Z had been begging for a craft day, so I thought we could kill two birds with one stone! My original idea was to get some cute Valentines scrapbook paper, but there was nary a paper with hearts to be found at the store. So, instead, I grabbed some various papers I thought were cute and pinwheel-ish.
Z and I really enjoyed making these together (even if he did poop out on my after the first few...) and our recipients seemed to really enjoy them as well. :0)
This is my first attempt at a tutorial, and please keep in mind that I was doing the main crafting/directions to Z plus taking the pictures. It wasn't easy, but I think the idea comes through pretty well. :0)

Step 1: Gather materials
You will need:
Pencil (for tracing pattern)
Scissors
Glue
Patterned paper (if you can find double-sided, that would be ideal; otherwise you will just have to glue your paper back-to-back)
Pushpins (in colors to match your paper)
Pencils ('stems' for the pinwheels)

Step 2: Trace pattern onto your paper (I found pattern here) and cut out your squares





*Skip this if you have double sided paper
Step 3: Glue paper back to back



Step 4: Hold pattern on your paper and use it as a guide to cut slits in the corners (tip: have two different patterns; one just for tracing and one just for cutting slits)


Step 5: Use a pushpin to poke holes in corners of your square (every other 'flap') and one in the middle of your square



Step 6: Start bringing flaps together by pushing pushpin through your holes
I found it easiest to go in reverse order and push the pushpin in the last flap first and so on...



Step 6: Push pin through eraser of pencil...and that's it!



We also added some little notes that we wrapped around each pencil. I just mounted a piece of white paper that I had printed (using Print Shop) with some cute little sayings (“You make my head spin” and “You make my heart whirl”) on one side and “Happy Valentine's Day on the other side onto a matching piece of patterned paper.








They turned out very cute and like I said, were really fun to make. I think it's a wonderful alternative to buying pre-made Valentine's, but could also be used for any other occasion (stick a couple in Easter baskets, make some patriotic pinwheels for 4th of July, or have a pinwheel themed birthday party!). Best of all, you have a fun, creative activity to do with your kids... I really can't say enough about getting hands-on and crafting with your kids!