A Fun Way to Recycle Paper:
If you have left over paper with interesting colors or designs, this is a great way to turn it into a cool project. This project makes a nice finished decorative form. It has 24 different surfaces that can be decorated or to which a message can be added. They are sturdy enough to use as a throw- and- catch ball as well.
Begin With the Traditional Pinwheel Base:
It Takes Four!
You will need four Pinwheel Base Units to construct this project. All should be the same size.
Once you have folded these you need to pull up a corner point like a dorsal fin on a shark.
Assemble the Pieces:
Once you have collapsed all four corners you are ready to slide one side into the other like this:
It’s Time for the Glue!
Now that you know how to make the pieces, you need to glue them. To do this you need to allow the form to open back up a bit and add glue just on the edges underneath where the form will come together. You have a lot of surfaces to glue so apply only a small amount just on the edges, then close the form back up and hold it while the glue sets up. You need four of these units.
The Final Steps:
Now that you have four of these smaller units you will need to combine them to make the ball. Find the side of a unit that has a line down the middle. This is the side you will need to glue. Be sure each time to glue these sides together.
Once two are glued together you have a hemisphere. Create another one to complete the ball.
The Finished Form:
When gluing the two halves together be sure that the two pieces are going in the opposite direction when they come together. You can see that they fit together better this way than the other way which leaves a gap. Add glue and hold the two sides together to finish the form. If you have gaps on the seams you can take a three by five card and put a little glue on both sides of a corner and insert it into the gaps to apply glue to each side then pull the card out and press the edges together to close the gap.
This is especially fun if you can find paper with pictures of animals and plants on them. By combining the patterns you make little Ecological Realms that look like little planets. These can be hung from strings and dangled from the ceiling to make nice mobile units. They also make great objects to set into a room to bring out the colors of the seasons. How will you use them? Have fun!
If you want to see another project that can be created with these units, check out my blog pistons for September 27, 2017: Origami Octo-Wreath and Candle Holder. It is a fun project!
Detective Gluck 