Hot Flash Fan!

Whee! It's Carol Baxter sailing in on a waft of cool air made possible by stencils, paint, and a dollar store fan.

I deconstructed, and by that I mean carefully pulled the fabric off the plastic spines, from a couple of dollar store fans (save the fabric to use as a pattern).

You will need butcher paper or kraft paper for the fan. I used freezer paper on the multi-colored one because that is what I had. That shiny slippery back did not make construction easy. I recommend butcher paper or kraft paper.

Do fans come in a standard size? I have no idea, so I made a pattern from the fabric I removed.

A protractor might have made this easier. My  inside circle (toss) was a diameter of about  4 inches diameter  and the fan part (stenciled part) is 5 to 5 1/2 inches larger.

Measure your fan and cut out your pattern.

Stencil your paper. I used the large stencil from:

Join StencilClub

and:

Get the stencil

The cloth I removed from the fan had 14 front folds with fabric on either edge to glue to the outer 2 spines. And the folds were approximately 2.5 cm apart at the top and 3/8 inch at the bottom. I made a crease at the center of my piece, measured a couple points around the top and bottom edges, then I folded my stenciled paper based on the previous fold.

Tip: You can use less tines, but an odd number of folds/tines is best.

I slipped the tines between the folds to double check that I’d done it right. 

Tip: Wrap the center tines so they don’t drive you crazy.

Glue the edges of the paper to the outer 2 pines and wait for them to dry and then glue (hardest part) the center spines. Let dry.

P.S. If you have basic wire wrapping skills, cut the wire out of the bottom. It makes gluing on the tines 100% easier. No rivet? Close the connection with a swirl.

I am now ready for my next hot flash! 

I hope you ready to create your own breeze!

Whoosh!

Carol