Paper Fan Tutorial

Hello crafty reader!  Yesterday I posted my paper fan project.  There's some story behind it, and now I'm really glad that I am able to share with you the tutorial today.  Here are a couple more paper fans that I made:

This tutorial will only cover the basic steps, as there are many ways to embellish this paper fan.  Here are the materials you will need:

1. Two 7" paddle sticks, or something similar.  I'm basing my measurements from the ones by Tree House Studio bought from Hobby Lobby.
2. Three pieces of double-sided designer paper, measured at 4 x 12 inches.
3. Paper piercer or similar.  The one I used is actually a paper quilling tool.
4. Stretchable cord or wire, oftenly used for Jewelry making.
5. Needle big enough for your stretch cord to go through.
6. Cardstock cut at 1/2 x 6 and 3/8 inches.  We will call this Cardstock A.
7. Cardstock cut at 3/4 x 7 and 5/8 inches.  We will call this Cardstock B.
8. Bone folder and/or scoring tool.
9. Your adhesive of choice.  I used Scotch ATG and Zips Clear Adhesive Lines.
10. Optional:  ink and edge punch to match your designer paper.

Let's begin by scoring our paper and cardstock.

For the designer paper, score all 3 pieces at 3/4 inches from left to right:

For Cardstock A, we will score each end at 3 inches, leaving 3/8" gap in between:

For Cardstock B, we will score each end at 3.5 inches, leaving 5/8" gap in between:

Now we can put our embossing tool away.  It's time to fold our designer paper like this:

After that, we will adhere them together.  We will call this our main piece.

Scrunching our main piece, we will apply adhesive to secure one end:

Then we will pierce a hole:

And with a needle and stretch cord, we will totally secure this end of the main piece:

Tie a knot three times:

*Side note: It's easier to pierce a hole and tie a stretch cord on your main piece before you apply the adhesive.

Next step:  generously apply adhesive on Carstock A and attach to the secured end of our main piece.  Here, I would add more glue to really secure the main piece to Cardstock A.

This is how your main piece should look like:

Next step:  apply adhesive on both ends of your main piece, and attach the handles on both sides like so:

At this stage, you can punch each end of your Cardstock B, or leave it as is:

Apply adhesive (generously) on Cardstock B, and attach to the main piece:

For closure, I just used a small clear rubber band:

This is how it looks like opened:

And that's it... we're done!  Easy, right?  Once you've made your first paper fan, it's a breeze to do the next ones. 

I would love to know what you think, especially if it worked for you or not.  When you do give this a shot, please give credit and link back to Tinker Planet.

'Til next blog!