There were a couple of things that inspired me to start sewing and quilting again. One was my trip to Keepsake Quilting. Seeing all the fabric and beautiful quilts definitely motivated me. The other thing, though, was making ribbon streamers for Dale’s birthday party earlier this summer.

You may recall that we had a carnival theme for this party and I really wanted the tent to explode with color. We had brightly colored table cloths and candy, giant tissue paper globes and more, all in an attempt to bring lots of color to the party. I didn’t want to spend money on flowers or balloons so I decided to make ribbon streamers for each corner of the tent.

I bought a whole mess of ribbon on sale at Michael’s. I got lots of colors and patterns, along with different widths and textures. I cut them into 7′ lengths to that they would be long enough to hang from the edge of the tent to the ground.

Then I routed through fabric scraps from my quilting days. I think I used one orange, one green, one red and one blue. I cut rectangles that were 24″ long by 4″ wide. I folded those in half and pressed them. I also pressed in the edges so that they wouldn’t fray.

I then laid out a fabric “pocket” against a ruler and evenly placed the ribbons across the length of the fabric. I wasn’t too fussy about this part and mixed up the colors a lot. I tried to make sure each piece of fabric got at least a couple of sparkly ribbons mixed in with the satin and grosgrain ones. And I tried to mix up the colors as much as possible.

I pinned each ribbon in place and then sewed a seam along the edge of the fabric.  It was, as Lois calls it, quick and dirty sewing, but it had great results.

The day of the party I hung a ribbon streamer from each corner of the tent.

They added color and life to what would have been just a plain tent.

They danced in the wind and really looked beautiful.

I think it cost about $30 for all the ribbon and the rest of the supplies were things I already had. It took me just over an hour to make all four pieces.  DIY Ribbon Streamers  are a very good decoration.

I don’t want to give too much away concerning Dale’s upcoming birthday party since some of my readers will be guests but I guess I can tell you that we are having an old-fashioned carnival in honor of the birthday boy. It’s quite appropriate for my husband since he’s truly just a big kid. I’ve been gathering ideas for decorations and activities for months and one of the things I wanted was colorful pinwheels. I decided to make them myself and I thought you all might enjoy seeing how I did it.

For supplies you will need 12X12 scrapbook paper in coordinating colors and patterns, wooden dowels, glass head pins in assorted colors, spray adhesive, and beads. You might also find it helpful to have a quilting mat and rotary cutter.

Begin by matching up your scrapbook papers – I chose one solid paper and one printed paper but you could put coordinating solids or prints together. Use the spray adhesive to glue the wrong sides of the paper together and let them dry overnight.

Now you need to cut those 12X12 sheets into four 6X6 squares. I used my rotary cutter and quilting mat for this but you could do it with scissors or an exacto knife.

One you have all those squares cut up you need to mark the center of each square with a dot – I used a black sharpie. Make 4 more dots 1/2 inch from that center dot to make a square. You should have  a total of 5 dots at this point. Use your rotary cutter to cut diagonally from each corner to each dot, leaving the center uncut.

To make the pinwheel shape, gently bring one of the points to the center, being careful not to crease the paper.  Continue around the square bringing every other point to the center and then hold them in place with a glass head pin. Push the pin through all four points and through the black dot you made at the center of the square.

Put a bead or two, depending on the size of your beads, on the end of the pin on the backside of the pinwheel and then carefully push the pin into the end of a wooden dowel.

Use pliers to bend the end of the pin back into the wood to secure it in place.

And there you have it – a fun, festive, and colorful pinwheel.

Truthfully, not all of these spin very well. The paper is a bit heavy and I probably could have used bigger beads.

I honestly don’t mind, though, because they look just the way I pictured and they will be awesome as centerpieces on the tables.

Now go forth and make your own pinwheels!