Paper Whirligig

Lately my life has felt like I am a spinning Paper Whirligig. Thank goodness my mother has been visiting with our family for the last few weeks. She started at Debbie’s (the oldest) where she lives.

From there she went to visit Tracy (the middle child) for one of her grandchildren’s high school graduation ceremony. She left from there to visit us so she could be here for my son’s high school graduation. We are all three so grateful for all the effort she makes to be present for important family events.
Not only am I grateful for that, but also for all the help she gives me. When she leaves, I am going to have to do my own laundry and dishes again. I am going to miss her.

Even as a grown woman, having my mother here brings back the feeling of being a kid again.  It is nice to be taken care of. But even better than that is the sense of peace she brings to our household. Everything seems to spin a little slower and I remember to cherish the important things, like time with family.
I guess having my mom here has me feeling whimsical. This craft caught my eye on Pinterest right away. But when I clicked the image it took me to this site. It’s in Chinese. I don’t understand Chinese. I tried Google Translate, but that didn’t get me far. (Update: One of our wonderful readers found the original source for this craft. You can see it here on Organimaniacs.) 

It took me a while, but I came up with my own version. I think it turned out pretty well!   To begin, I needed a pattern. To copy the one on the website I began with card stock. I turned it horizontally and made two circles (about 1 3/4 inch) at the top and bottom a little offset from each other.

Then I used a quarter to create the little round tail. From there I drew a very slight S curve (about 1 inch wide) from circle to circle. I erased the unnecessary lines and cut it out. Here is how it looked:

For each whirligig you will need 8 or 9 pieces cut out from cardstock.  If you are doing 2 colors, it works best to do 8 pieces and for mulicolor I like 9.  I began by laying all the pieces together in alternating colors. Then begin to rotate the pieces making sure to hinge everything along the inside of the “hook”.

Once you have all the pieces rotated, flip it over. Take two pieces that are opposite each other and hook them at the top. Keep going around the circle, hooking them to each other until you have created your whirligig. These will be great as table toppers. If you wanted to use it as a gift container, or party favor, something very light can fit inside. They also look great hanging from the ceiling. To hang them, tie thread to a paper clip and insert the paper clip in between to layers of paper. Then just wind the thread around until you can pull it up through the center.I love the versatility of this craft. You can change the colors to fit any holiday, or any theme. It is a bit of work at first, but once you figure it out, the results are spectacular. 

This pin Rocks!

Today we are linking with: – The Girl Creative – One She Two She – Dessert Now, Dinner Later – The T 2 Women – Tatertots and Jello – Be Different, Act Normal – It’s Overflowing – A Peek Into My Paradise

For another beautiful paper craft try this Paper Rose Topiary.