Make a wind turbine – 8 simple ideas with instructions

The popular toys of the 19th century were those that were easy to make out of paper or wood. Anyone who was able to make a wind turbine during the great games on the street impressed their friends particularly well. Not only an object of childhood nostalgia, but also a magical decorative or creative hair accessory, it is an uncomplicated DIY idea. The tools and materials needed for this can be found in the nearest drawer at home. We hereby give you 8 ideas for making wind turbines out of paper and various materials.

Everyone has the tools they need for such a project at home:

  • scissors or a cutter
  • Cardboard for cutting out the templates
  • Straw or wooden stick for the handle
  • Pins for fastening
  • Ruler and pencil
  • Motif cardboard, scrapbooking paper or other depending on the idea you choose.

Because of its simplicity, crafting with children is fun and develops their creativity and dexterity. The colorful result enchants with its rotation in the air, tends to observe nature and lets the spring winds play happily in your garden.

Combinations of motif cardboard and plain-colored cardboard can be easily created when creating gift and table decorations with wind turbines. Choose appropriate shades and patterns depending on the theme of the celebration, as shown above. Red, blue and white are the perfect color trio for a child's birthday party. Glass jewelry was made from patterned paper in earth colors with a white back.

Wind turbines are perfect as decoration for the garden because they are simply turned by the wind. You can use this to make pretty garden stakes that add playful accents to your outdoor area. You should find a suitable place for the wind turbines in the garden where there is enough draft. Places protected from the wind are therefore considered unsuitable for such wind chimes.

To create windproof and waterproof garden stakes, we use plastic material from colorful folders, pins or thumbtacks in matching colors and wooden sticks - approximately 1 meter long. Below are simple instructions for making a windmill from a plastic folder.

Plastic folderuse as craft material

A square - the shape of the classic pinwheel - is cut out of each cover of the plastic folder. Diagonal cuts are made from each corner up to two centimeters from the center. A hole is punched into the 4 opposing 45° corners using a hole punch as shown. Then these corners with the holes are placed on top of each other in the middle and attached to a wooden stick. To do this, you can use a thumbtack to hold the pinwheel in place and some glue to attach it to the wooden stick.

With this idea you can decorate a boring fence with beautiful colors. To do this, you should make several wind turbines in any color and attach them to the fence using wire or wooden sticks. This way you can make the decorations for the garden party yourself instead of buying ready-made decorations. Let the wind continue to amuse your guests!

If you want to make really beautiful decorations yourself for special occasions, the thumbtacks are hidden by accessories glued to them in matching tones - roses, buttons, rhinestones, etc. The ideas are simply endless and can be adapted to any occasion and any theme. Just make sure that the color and design of the centerpiece goes well with your wind turbine. This is how you give your home-made decoration the finishing touch.

Windmillwith6 points – just like 1-2-3

Wind turbines have different sizes and shapes and can therefore be made in different ways. In addition to the typical design with 4 points, there are also those with 6 or more points. If you want to make such a wind turbine, the easiest way to do this is to use a suitable template. Print out the template given below, place it on a sheet of fun colored craft card, cut out the shapes and attach 6 pieces of each together.

Template

Follow these straightforward instructions if you like the 6-pronged pinwheels as flower pot plugs or a fun gift for kids. In the example given, the paper elements are attached to a wooden stick using a pin and adhesive tape. For smaller models, you can even recycle popsicle sticks and make a sustainable decoration yourself.

If you are looking for beautiful ideas for DIY party decorations, then you have found them here. Liven up the garden party with a string of brightly colored plastic pinwheels - thread a line through the center of each wheel and let it hang across the space. If there is wind, the wind turbines are rotated and create playful effects in the outdoor area. For this project you can make as many windmills in different sizes as you like and use them as decorations. Match the colors to the rest of the decoration to create a nice overall picture.

Wrap straw with bows andasUse stem

When making light table decorations, the wind turbines are most often attached to straws. However, the wheels should be smaller and made from a lightweight material. Paper is a good choice in this case. The given design in pastel tones is particularly suitable for a baby shower or children's birthday party.

However, wind turbines are not only suitable for balcony or garden decoration, but can also be used for table decoration. You can use this to decorate simple drinking straws and design them creatively. With different colors you can create great combinations and patterns that contribute to an atmospheric decoration. There is an incredibly wide variety when it comes to choosing materials and colors. It not only brings a cheerful mood, but also gives the table decoration a playful touch.

These 3D flowers are easily made from pairs of windmills secured together backwards with a brad clip. To achieve a truly floral design, you can use a template with rounded tips of the spikes. You can decorate flower vases and arrange creative flower arrangements with handmade paper flowers. The eternally fresh bouquets of flowers are ideal as decoration for the apartment or balcony and can be made in different colors.

For a poppy you need a total of two red pinwheels of the same size. You should first make a wind turbine from a square sheet of paper by following the instructions in the picture. Then make the second pinwheel and attach both of them together with the brads clamp so that the ends of the upper pinwheel are between the ends of the lower pinwheel. Now the poppy is ready.

If you don't want to make poppies but also other flowers from pinwheels, use craft cardboard in various colors - baby pink for roses, strong yellow for sunflowers. You can also use paper with a pattern, or paint different motifs yourself on white paper.

Instead of paper, you can also recycle various materials. For example, you can make funny wind turbines out of various PET bottles and use them as accents in your garden or balcony design. Such projects help to introduce children to the ideas of nature conservation and also serve as a simple anemometer.

For this project, PET bottles of any size and color can be used and converted into atmospheric wind chimes. You should first cut each bottle in half. Wind turbines can be made from both parts. Now cut out the individual rotor blades with scissors and slowly bend them down one after the other and bring them into the desired position. Then screw a hole into the cap so that the wind turbine can rotate.

from the balconyout ofPET bottles

If you use transparent PET bottles, you can paint them with a color of your choice and design them individually. With several wind turbines you can create a beautiful decoration for the balcony that would certainly attract the attention of the neighbors.

Let the wind play in your hair. But give him the right toy. A delicate pinwheel can be made from two layers of fabric and decorated with a beautiful button in the middle. Suitable materials for this are felt or artificial leather for winter and silk or cotton for spring and summer. The color duo for the hair accessories depends on your imagination.

Full instructions can be found here: 1.Pinwheel made from plastic folder

2. Pinwheel with 6 points

3.Poppies