April is the month of things delivered in safety envelopes! Tax Documents! Refund Checks! Credit Card Offers! Wouldn't you rather have flowers? Or better yet whirly gigs? These simple pinwheels are easy to riff on with any type of paper, but my re-use aesthetic insists on creating a bouquet of safety!
🛠Supplies You’ll Need
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Safety envelopes (or any paper that can be made into a minimum 2"x 2" maximum 6"x6" square
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Straight pin or thumbtack with a 1/2" to 1" point (they do exist)
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Pencil with some eraser still intact!
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Optional: Scissors! But highly recommended
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Optional: Ruler
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Optional: Pliers
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👩🎨 Meet the Teacher:
I grew up in the Eastern Washington desert—criss-crossed by rivers, punctuated with nuclear power plants, surrounded by a loving, auto-didactic family full of natural history collectors, gardeners and teachers. I developed a desire to recreate in expansive, pseudo-scientific ways by re-appropriating materials. I reside in Los Angeles in a ramshackle apartment bursting with plants and pieces of esoteric furniture- pigeons and parakeets on my shoulders, humming tiny tunes. missmollymacmacmac.org
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đź‘Ł The Step by Step Project
Step 1: Collect your supplies! You'll need paper (here we are using safety envelopes) that can be made into squares that are at a minimum 2"x2" and a maximum of 8"x8". So, you might want to use a ruler and scissors, but also feel free to be more free-wheeling!
Step 2: Cut (or tear) the envelope so you can have a flat side to measure against.
Step 3: Fold up a corner to create a square and cut or tear it away from the rest of the envelope.
Step 4: Fold your square in triangles so that you have an "x" across it.
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Step 5: Also fold your square in halves so you have a "+" across it.
Step 6: Draw a 1/4"-1/2" circle where all your lines cross in the middle of the square. Next, draw "s" shapes that starts at an "x" corner and swing across the next side of the "+" and then end back where the "+" intersects with the circle. Do this to all the corners.
Step 7: Cut or tear along the "s" down the radiating lines to the circle.
Step 8: Puncture each "x" corner about 1/4" from the corner. 
Step 9: Puncture a hole where all the lines cross in the center of the circle.
Step 10: Next, take your pencil and roll the bellies of the "s" to separate them.
Step 11: Push your pin through the center of the pinwheel.
Step 12: Next push each arm of the "x" onto the pin going clockwise- you don't need to push them all the to the center- they actually need some room to spread a way from the hub in order to spin!
Step 13: Next, push the pin into the soft middle of the eraser. If you have 1/2" pins you won't need to push it all the way through, but anything longer you will end up with a pokey extrusion! Take Heed! You can also un-pin and bend the pin down with piers so as not to be quite so aggressive.
Step 14: manipulate your pinwheel until each arm of the "x" can catch wind! The more you refine the more satisfied you'll be with the shape. Blow into the petals from the side to make the pinwheel spin!
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‼️Important Notes, Tips or Tricks
Envelopes are rectangles, so you can probably create at least 1 more from the envelope you started with. By experimenting with the shape of the "s" you can make the petals completely different shapes! You can also un-pin and add more circles to the front to accentuate the center.
Also, feel free to experiment with thumb tacks or upholstery tacks or or or! Manilla folders make great, durable pinwheels. So do paper plates, with some variation. The combinations of office supplies/ house hold detritus are endless!
đź’¬ Join the Fun & Share!
Did you try this project? Do you have your own pinwheel technique to share? Drop a comment below with your tips or show us what you made! We’d love to see your projects!
