On the drive home from our family trip to Charleston, SC my family and I decided to stop over in Savannah, GA for the day and tour the city. We took one of those hop on- hop off bus tours that tells you all about the history of the city and one of the stops we decided to get off on was an area that had lots of little shops and places that sell souvenirs. Across from the Souvenir store we visited was a shop that had some really beautiful paper windmills on the inside of their door (pictured above). I instantly fell in love with them and thought that would make great wall décor for my home. Once we got back home and I got back to work I asked one of my coworkers who is an expert in craft if she would be able to make these paper windmills for me and she said she would look into it. She did some research and said that those types are usually made out of tissue paper and she didn’t know how long that would last as permanent decoration on my wall. She stated that she did come across some videos on how to make paper fans aka paper rosettes using cardstock (craft paper) and that she would get started on some samples for me. I liked the samples that she made so she proceeded to complete the project.
Supplies you’ll need
Hot glue gun
Glue stick
Scoring board
Craft paper
Bonefolder (this usually comes with the scoring board) or stylus
Scissors
Video she followed
How they came out
How I decorated my wall with them
It was a bit of a challenge getting them to stay layered this way on my wall without them falling off. After some trial and error I figured out that hot gluing some of the fans together and using command strips to secure them to the wall was the way to go. The large grey one is actually a portion of a paper blind that I had left over that I just folded into a circle and used clear command strips to secure the ends together. The command strips are best for securing these to the wall because if you ever want to remove them you’ll be sure not to mess up the wall (i.e. pull off any of the paint).
Other uses for Paper Fans/Rosettes
These paper fans are great decorations for birthday parties, baby showers and even weddings. For these types of events most people will attach streamers to the paper fans and line them across the top of the wall. I’ve also seen them stuck directly on the wall as pictured below. This makes a really nice backdrop for photos or can even be placed on the wall(s) behind the dessert or gift tables. You can find lots of great ways to decorate with these on Pinterest. If you’re crafty and haven’t made these before you should try them out and even if you don’t think you are you can still try them out. They are pretty quick and easy to make and look really nice, especially for those special occasions.
Author:
You showed a very versatile way to use them as wall decoration for a home (i.e. not just for an occasion). That is the thing with Crafts. We think of something for the use we see it for, but if we think a bit outside the box then we can find a multitude of uses for items. For example: Smaller versions of those can be used instead of a bow to decorate a gift. What do you think?
That’s a great idea. It’s great how once you see things used in different ways it can start turning the wheel of ideas in your head and before you know it more and more ways are discovered.